Hurricane Hussey scales heights

Hussey captained Australia for the first time against West Indies at the Kinrara Oval after just 40 international appearances and celebrated the occasion with a hundred. This week, we focus on the best performances in a first match as captain

Travis Basevi and George Binoy

20-Sep-2006

Hussey celebrates his maiden ODI century in his first match as captain © AFP

Michael Hussey has scarcely put a foot wrong since he made his debut in 2005. He captained Australia for the first time - because Ricky Ponting was rested - against West Indies at the Kinrara Oval after just 40 international appearances and celebrated the occasion with a hundred. Did I mention that he began his innings when Australia were struggling at 64 for 4? That innings lifted Hussey's ODI average to a whopping 84 in ODIs, miles ahead of Kevin Pietersen who is second-highest with 57, and at a strike-rate of 99. This week, we focus on the best performances in a first match as captain.

Hussey's innings, as magnificent as it was, couldn't prevent Australia from losing to West Indies. Sachin Tendulkar's hundred in his first match as captain also was in vain as Sri Lanka won by nine wickets. However, he did win his first Test as captain - a match in which he scored 10 and a duck - against Australia in 1996.

Highest individual scores in first match as captain - ODIs
Player	Runs	Result	Opposition	Ground	Season	Scorecard
GM Turner (NZ)	171*	won	v East Africa	Birmingham	1975	ODI 20
SR Tendulkar (India)	110	lost	v Sri Lanka	Colombo (RPS)	1996	ODI 1106
MEK Hussey (Aust)	109*	lost	v West Indies	Kinrara	2006/07	ODI 2417
RB Richardson (WI)	106*	won	v Pakistan	Sharjah	1991/92	ODI 679
ST Jayasuriya (SL)	102	won	v Zimbabwe	Colombo (SSC)	1997/98	ODI 1286
AC Gilchrist (Aust)	98	won	v West Indies	Brisbane	2000/01	ODI 1670
T Taibu (Zimb)	96*	lost	v Sri Lanka	Bulawayo	2004	ODI 2119
SR Waugh (Aust)	91	lost	v South Africa	Bloemfontein	1996/97	ODI 1199
MA Atherton (Eng)	86	won	v West Indies	Bridgetown	1993/94	ODI 880
KC Wessels (SAf)	81*	won	v Australia	Sydney	1991/92	ODI 719

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New Zealand's Graham Dowling scored 239 against India in his first Test as captain. It was the highest score for New Zealand at the time beating Bert Sutcliffe's 230 at Delhi in 1955-56. The match was also New Zealand's fourth victory in 81 Tests.

The most recent player to score a hundred in his first Test as captain is Andrew Strauss. He was standing in for Andrew Flintoff, who was standing in for Michael Vaughan, when he scored his 128 against Pakistan at Lord's . Incidentally, Strauss also hit a century on Test debut at Lord's.

Highest individual scores in first match as captain - Tests
Player	Runs	Result	Opposition	Ground	Season	Scorecard
GT Dowling (NZ)	239	won	v India	Christchurch	1967/68	Test 631
S Chanderpaul (WI)	203*	drawn	v South Africa	Georgetown	2004/05	Test 1745
C Hill (Aust)	191	won	v South Africa	Sydney	1910/11	Test 111
VS Hazare (India)	164*	drawn	v England	Delhi	1951/52	Test 339
CH Lloyd (WI)	163	won	v India	Bangalore	1974/75	Test 745
WW Armstrong (Aust)	158	won	v England	Sydney	1920/21	Test 135
WL Murdoch (Aust)	153*	lost	v England	The Oval	1880	Test 4
GHS Trott (Aust)	143	lost	v England	Lord's	1896	Test 50
MA Noble (Aust)	133	lost	v England	Sydney	1903/04	Test 78
AJ Strauss (Eng)	128	drawn	v Pakistan	Lord's	2006	Test 1809

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Waqar Younis became Pakistan's youngest Test captain at 22 years and 15 days when Wasim Akram, for medical reasons, sat out of Pakistan's first ever Test against Zimbabwe at Karachi in 1993. Coincidentally, the match was also Andy Flower's first as captain. Flower made 63 in the first innings but Waqar out-shone him by taking 13 for 135, his best Test figures, to lead Pakistan to victory by 131 runs. The next time he captained Pakistan was in May 2001 when Pakistan lost by an innings and nine runs at Lord's. However in his first ODI as captain a month earlier, Waqar leaked 65 in ten overs as Lara took West Indies to victory at Sharjah.

Best match bowling in first match as captain - Tests
Player	Figures	Result	Opposition	Ground	Season	Scorecard
Waqar Younis (Pak)	13/135	won	v Zimbabwe	Karachi (DS)	1993/94	Test 1237
AER Gilligan (Eng)	11/90	won	v South Africa	Birmingham	1924	Test 153
EP Nupen (SAf)	11/150	won	v England	Johannesburg	1930/31	Test 200
GOB Allen (Eng)	10/78	won	v India	Lord's	1936	Test 252
Imran Khan (Pak)	9/136	lost	v England	Birmingham	1982	Test 931
RGD Willis (Eng)	9/142	won	v India	Lord's	1982	Test 928
N Kapil Dev (India)	8/118	lost	v West Indies	Kingston	1982/83	Test 949
CA Smith (Eng)	7/61	won	v South Africa	Port Elizabeth	1888/89	Test 31
R Benaud (Aust)	7/112	won	v England	Brisbane	1958/59	Test 460
Fazal Mahmood (Pak)	7/124	won	v West Indies	Karachi	1958/59	Test 469

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Trivia

Don Bradman was dismissed for a duck in his first game as captain against England at Brisbane in 1936. He made another duck in his next innings at Sydney, the only time in his career when he's been dismissed for single digits in consecutive innings.

Mark Taylor, Rashid Latif and Habibul Bashar made pairs in their first match as captain, and ended up losing those Tests.

Courtney Walsh had a tough first Test as captain. He bowled 40 overs without a wicket, didn't bat and took no catches. He did win the toss however and Lara scored 375 after Walsh chose to bat.

Courtney Walsh Waqar Younis Glenn Turner Graham Dowling Sachin Tendulkar Andrew Strauss Michael Hussey Donald Bradman

Travis Basevi is the man who built Statsguru. George Binoy is editorial assistant of Cricinfo