Numerously number one

One has to consistently churn out strong performances to score the most runs, or take the most wickets, in a series. Ajantha Mendis topped the wicket-takers' list in his debut series against India, and in the process prevented Muttiah Muralitharan from taking the most wickets in a series for the 27th time in his career. Virender Sehwag's 344 runs made him the highest run-scorer in a series for the fifth time in his career, a feat Kevin Pietersen also achieved by scoring 421 against South Africa. This week's List looks at players who topped the runs and wickets charts in a series the most times.

Test cricket's leading run-getters - Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar - have scored the most runs in a series on nine occasions each, but Lara played 36 series to Tendulkar's 49. Tendulkar's best series aggregate came as recently as 2007-08, when he scored 493 runs in four Tests against Australia. He has never made over 500 runs in a series, nor has he been the highest run-scorer in a series of more than four Tests.

Lara, however, has passed 500 on seven occasions. He top-scored in a series for the first time in 1993-94, with 798 runs in eight innings against England, including a world-record individual score of 375. He came close to that tally the next time he faced England in 1995; he started the tour moderately, scoring 269 runs in his first six innings, before turning it on with large hundreds in the final three Tests to finish with 765 runs in ten innings. Lara almost touched 700 once again, in a three-test rubber in Sri Lanka in 2001-02, but fell 12 short as West Indies were beaten 0-3.

Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Viv Richards and Inzamam-ul-Haq are perhaps the most noticeable absentees from the table above. Border once held the world record for most Test runs, but he has top-scored in only four series: the 1978-79 home series against Pakistan, the tour of Pakistan in 1979-80, the 1981 Ashes, and the Frank Worrell Trophy in 1983-84. Waugh scored 10,927 runs in 48 series, Richards 8540 at 50.23, and Inzamam 8830 in 120 Tests, but all three were the highest run-scorers in only four series.

Don Bradman may not have top-scored as many times as Lara, Tendulkar or Ricky Ponting, but that's because he played only 11 series. He was the highest run-getter in nearly 55% of them (six series), all of which comprised five Tests. In the 1930 Ashes, Bradman's second series, he broke the record for highest series aggregate by scoring 974 runs in seven innings, including a personal best of 334. He went on to top run charts against South Africa in 1931-32; in the Ashes in 1934, 1936-37 and 1946-47; and against India in 1947-48.

John F Reid, not to be confused with his famous namesake John R, played only 19 Tests across seven series for New Zealand. He top-scored in three of them: scoring 250 against India in 1980-81, 243 against Sri Lanka in 1983-84, and 333 against Pakistan in 1984-85. His career batting average of 46.28 is the best among New Zealand batsmen who have played at least 20 innings.

Muttiah Muralitharan has been involved in more series than any other player, and he has been the highest wicket-taker in 26 out of 51 of them. Sri Lanka have never played a series of more than three Tests, so 14 out of Murali's 26 have come in two-Test series and the remaining in three-Test contests. He is likely to stretch his lead over Anil Kumble, in second place with 20, and the next closest current player - Makhaya Ntini, who has topped in nine series. Murali's dominance over his team-mates is emphatic: he has led Sri Lanka's wicket charts in 36 out of 51 series.

Richard Hadlee and the Australian offbreak bowler Joey Palmer are the only bowlers who have taken most wickets in a higher percentage of series than Murali. Palmer, who played in the 19th century, was the highest wicket-taker in 60% of the series he played in (three out of five). He topped on the tour of Australia in 1881-82, and the Ashes in 1882-83 and 1884. A fractured kneecap in 1886 limited Palmer's career to 17 Tests, and he developed as a batsman towards the end of his career with Victoria.

The other little known name in the table is that of Ken Higgs, the England and Lancashire medium-pacer. He took eight wickets on debut against South Africa at The Oval in 1965 before injury and illness restricted his next assignment - the 1965-66 Ashes - to one Test. Higgs made a strong comeback in the following tour to New Zealand, where he was the highest wicket-taker, with 17 scalps. His best performance came in England's next series against West Indies at home, where he took 24 wickets, the majority of which were top-order victims. Another 17-wicket haul followed against Pakistan in 1967 before Higgs missed the tour of West Indies. He played the first Ashes Test at Old Trafford in 1968, taking 2 for 121; that performance turned out to be his last for England.

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