Maintaining high ODI standards

Last week's List looked at which players had maintained excellent batting averages, or miserly bowling means, throughout their Test careers or for the best part. This week we look at the same achievement in the one-day format.

Keeping the batting average above 50 throughout an ODI career has proved so difficult that only one player has done it for a career spanning more than ten innings. Michael Hussey remained not out in his first six one-day internationals, so when he was finally dismissed, bowled by Steve Harmison, he had an average of 229. Only after his 33rd match did Hussey's average dip permanently below 100, and the lowest it fell to was 55.42 during the tri-series in Australia in 2007-08. Seven other batsmen - Lanka de Silva , Rob Bailey , Sunil Wettimuny , Arvind Kandappah , Ashley Woodcock , Kim Barnett and Khurram Manzoor - also had averages of above 50 but their careers were extremely brief.

Hussey, however, will have to remain incredibly consistent to match Michael Bevan, who averaged above 50 for nearly 98% of his career - 191 out of 195 innings . Bevan's average was at its lowest - 42.33 - after his fifth ODI and he pushed it above 50 permanently after his 12th game. The highest point was 82.09 during the tri-series in Australia in 1995-96, and a combination of 67 not-outs, six hundreds, and 46 half-centuries ensured that he finished with 53.58.

Kevin Pietersen also had a Hussey-esque start to his career: his first dismissal, in his fourth match, left him with an average of 104, and after his sixth game it was 234. However, it has been falling since and Pietersen's current ODI average of 48.18 is the lowest it's ever been.

Bevan, Hussey and Pietersen are also the only batsmen among those to have played over 20 innings to keep their averages above 40 throughout their careers. Dennis Amiss averaged over 40 but he played only 18 games.

Greg Chappell averaged more than 50 for the first half of his career but a slump in the second ensured that his final average was barely above 40. After 43 matches , Chappell had scored 1719 at an average of 52.09. However, in his last 31 matches Chappell scored only 612 runs at an average of 24.48, a period during which his overall average dipped below 40 for two innings before two not-outs in his final two innings propped up his final average to 40.18.

No one who has delivered at least 1000 balls in ODIs has averaged consistently below 20 throughout their career. Dayle Hadlee , Richard's older brother, and Vijay Bharadwaj have the longest careers for bowlers whose averages remained under 20, and they played only 11 and ten matches respectively.

Shane Bond had a below-20 average for 77% of his career - 50 out of 65 innings - which is the largest percentage for those who've bowled at least 2500 balls. Bond has the 65 innings best ODI strike-rate - 27.5 - and his career average of 19.32 is third best , after Joel Garner and Tony Gray. Bond's average nearly touched 30 after his second ODI but a four-for and a five-wicket haul in his next three games ensured that it dipped to its lowest - 13.80.

Curtly Ambrose is the only bowler to have played over 100 ODIs and kept a bowling average of less than 25 throughout his 12-year career. He began with consecutive four-fors against Pakistan, giving him an average of below 10, and it wasn't until his 56th match that it touched 20 for the first time. His final average of 24.12, after the home series against Pakistan, was as high as it got.

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