Old men in a young game

Over the last decade one-day cricket has increasingly become a game for fitter, faster, younger men. However, there are some who have soldiered on despite creaking bodies. If Sanath Jayasuriya plays until June 30, 2009 he will become the only 40-year-old on the circuit - the 38th overall - and a highly successful one too. This week we've looked at players who scored the most runs and took the most wickets in one-day internationals after passing a certain age.

Netherlands batsman Nolan Clarke is the oldest man to have played one-day internationals. He was the oldest debutant as well, playing his first match, when he was 47 years and 240 days old, in the 1996 World Cup. His international career, though, lasted only 17 days, and ended with Netherlands' exit from the tournament. Decades earlier, however, Clarke may have had hopes of representing a greater cricketing nation: he had scored 159 for Barbados against England in 1973-74. His Netherlands team-mate Flavian Aponso, who also played in only the 1996 World Cup, was the third-oldest debutant at the time, at the age of 43 years and 112 days.

Clive Lloyd played 14 one-day internationals after turning 40, all of them in Australia. The first 11 games were during the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup in 1984-85 and Lloyd, who had turned 40 a few months earlier, topped the batting averages, scoring 329 runs at 82.25. His last three limited-overs appearances were during the World Championship of Cricket, and his overall tally of 368 runs at an average of 73.60 after turning 40 is the most for any player past that age.

Mat Inns Runs HS Ave 100

50 Career Mat Runs %

CH Lloyd (WI) 14 10 368

89* 73.60 0 3 1973-1985

87 1977 18.61 DS de Silva (SL) 31

22 298 37* 21.28 0 0

1975-1985 41 371 80.32

GJAF Aponso (Neth) 5 4 120 58 30.00

0 1 1996-1996 5 120

100.00 G Boycott (Eng) 7 7 113

75* 18.83 0 1 1971-1981

36 1082 10.44 GR Codrington (Can) 12

10 96 31 12.00 0 0

2006-2007 17 235 40.85

GA Gooch (Eng) 5 5 84 38 16.80

0 0 1976-1995 125 4290

1.95 AJ Traicos (Zim) 21 13 63

16* 12.60 0 0 1983-1993

27 88 71.59 RP Lefebvre (Neth) 5

5 57 30 19.00 0 0

1996-2003 11 171 33.33

BE Congdon (NZ) 2 2 54 52* 54.00

0 1 1973-1978 11 338

15.97 NE Clarke (Neth) 5 5 50

32 10.00 0 0 1996-1996

5 50 100.00 DB Close (Eng) 3

3 49 43 16.33 0 0

1972-1972 3 49 100.00

DL Houghton (Zim) 3 3 45 40 15.00

0 0 1983-1997 63 1530

2.94 CB Lambert (USA) 1 1 39

39 39.00 0 0 1990-2004

12 407 9.58 RB Simpson (Aus) 2

2 36 23 18.00 0 0

1978-1978 2 36 100.00

JE Emburey (Eng) 3 2 30 20 15.00

0 0 1980-1993 61 501

5.98 CG Greenidge (WI) 2 2 27

23 13.50 0 0 1975-1991

128 5134 0.52 AC Cummins (Can) 13

8 27 9* 4.50 0 0

1991-2007 76 486 5.55

RW Taylor (Eng) 11 8 26 8 6.50

0 0 1973-1984 27 130

20.00 CEB Rice (SA) 3 2 26

14 13.00 0 0 1991-1991

3 26 100.00 SW Lubbers (Neth) 4

4 24 9 8.00 0 0

1996-1996 4 24 100.00

Jayasuriya's career has threatened to end at several stages - the latest being when he was omittted from the ODI squad to West Indies in 2008 - but he has kept reviving it with stirring performances. He is the only player with over 100 ODI caps after turning 35, and therefore his tally of 3497 runs past that age is by far the highest.

The best average for batsman after 35 (with a minimum of ten innings) belongs to Matthew Hayden, who has 1899 runs in 38 innings at 54.25, far higher than his career average of 43.80. The only other two batsmen who average more than 50 after turning 35 are Zaheer Abbas and Mark Waugh.

South Africa's Peter Kirsten is the only batsman to debut after 35 and score 1000 ODI runs.

Runs HS Ave 100 50

Career Mat Runs %

ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL) 105 102 3497 157 36.05

11 11 1989-2008 421 12785

27.35 CG Greenidge (WI) 57 56 2146

133* 42.92 5 12 1975-1991

128 5134 41.79 SM Gavaskar (India) 64

60 2068 103* 42.20 1 20

1974-1987 108 3092 66.88

DL Haynes (WI) 61 61 2027 115 36.19

1 19 1978-1994 238 8648

23.43 Imran Khan (Pak) 73 66 1924

84* 38.48 0 14 1974-1992

175 3709 51.87 ML Hayden (Aus) 40

38 1899 181* 54.25 5 9

1993-2008 161 6133 30.96

AJ Stewart (Eng) 72 69 1877 101 30.27

2 12 1989-2003 170 4677

40.13 BC Lara (ICC/WI) 68 64 1835

156 32.76 1 10 1990-2007

299 10405 17.63 GA Gooch (Eng) 59

57 1682 136 31.14 2 8

1976-1995 125 4290 39.20

M Azharuddin (India) 61 56 1660 153* 33.20

2 11 1985-2000 334 9378

17.70 IVA Richards (WI) 59 51 1658

181 36.04 3 7 1975-1991

187 6721 24.66 CH Lloyd (WI) 71

57 1493 89* 37.32 0 8

1973-1985 87 1977 75.51

Zaheer Abbas (Pak) 33 31 1406 118 52.07

5 7 1974-1985 62 2572

54.66 RR Singh (India) 79 68 1394

75 25.81 0 6 1989-2001

136 2336 59.67 PN Kirsten (SA) 40

40 1293 97 38.02 0 9

1991-1994 40 1293 100.00

AR Border (Aus) 63 57 1261 86* 26.82

0 6 1979-1994 273 6524

19.32 AC Gilchrist (Aus) 40 39 1256

149 33.94 2 9 1996-2008

287 9619 13.05 M Amarnath (India) 38

38 1195 102* 37.34 2 8

1975-1989 85 1924 62.11

AJ Lamb (Eng) 39 37 1152 91 32.00

0 10 1982-1992 122 4010

28.72 Inzamam-ul-Haq (Asia/Pak) 42 38 1108

81* 38.20 0 5 1991-2007

378 11739 9.43

Former Sri Lanka legspinner Somachandra de Silva played more matches (31) and took more wickets (22) than anyone else after turning 40. He played in his country's first ODI, in the 1975 World Cup, and his best performance came against India in 1979, when he took 3 for 29 in a 47-run victory for Sri Lanka.

Mat Runs Wkts BBI Ave 5

Career Mat Wkts %

DS de Silva (SL) 31 1134 22 2/11

51.54 0 1975-1985 41 32

68.75 EE Hemmings (Eng) 20 756 17

3/31 44.47 0 1982-1991 33

37 45.94 AJ Traicos (Zim) 21 785

15 3/35 52.33 0 1983-1993

27 19 78.94 GR Codrington (Can) 12

470 14 4/33 33.57 0

2006-2007 17 16 87.50 AC Cummins (Can)

13 631 13 3/60 48.53 0

1991-2007 76 91 14.28

SW Lubbers (Neth) 4 187 5 3/48 37.40

0 1996-1996 4 5 100.00

N Gifford (Eng) 2 50 4 4/23

12.50 0 1985-1985 2 4

100.00 RP Lefebvre (Neth) 5 141 4

2/38 35.25 0 1996-2003 11

9 44.44 FJ Titmus (Eng) 2 53

3 3/53 17.66 0 1975-1975

2 3 100.00 BL D'Oliveira (Eng) 3

102 2 1/19 51.00 0

1971-1972 4 3 66.66 RB Simpson (Aus)

2 95 2 2/30 47.50 0

1978-1978 2 2 100.00

CEB Rice (SA) 3 114 2 1/46 57.00

0 1991-1991 3 2 100.00

O Henry (SA) 3 125 2 1/31

62.50 0 1992-1992 3 2

100.00 GJAF Aponso (Neth) 5 257 2

1/57 128.50 0 1996-1996 5

2 100.00 R Illingworth (Eng) 2 34

1 1/34 34.00 0 1971-1973

3 4 25.00 PG Nana (EAf) 3

116 1 1/34 116.00 0

1975-1975 3 1 100.00 CH Lloyd (WI)

14 0 1 1/0 0.00 0

1973-1985 87 8 12.50

JE Emburey (Eng) 3 120 1 1/42 120.00

0 1980-1993 61 76 1.31

JL Louw (Namib) 1 60 1 1/60

60.00 0 2003-2003 1 1

100.00 CA Reid (USA) 2 63 1

1/37 63.00 0 2004-2004 2

1 100.00

Glenn McGrath took 75 wickets after he turned 35 - the record. He played 49 games and averaged 21.28, marginally better than his average of 22.42 in 221 previous matches.

Imran Khan, however, conceded 35.41 runs per wicket and had a strike-rate of 49.50 after the age of 35, compared to 22.39 and 35.70 in preceding years. His figures in his final tournament, the 1992 World Cup, weren't impressive: seven wickets in eight games at nearly 39 apiece. His inspirational captaincy, however, enabled Pakistan to win their only World Cup title.

Player Mat Runs Wkts BBI

Ave 5 Career Mat Wkts

% GD McGrath (Aus) 49 1596

75 4/16 21.28 0 1993-2007

250 381 19.68 Imran Khan (Pak) 73

2302 65 3/13 35.41 0

1974-1992 175 182 35.71 GB Hogg (Aus)

46 1480 64 4/27 23.12 0

1996-2008 123 156 41.02

Wasim Akram (Pak) 40 1334 62 5/28 21.51

1 1984-2003 356 502 12.35

PL Symcox (SA) 64 2335 59 4/28

39.57 0 1993-1999 80 72

81.94 ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL) 105 2061 57

5/17 36.15 1 1989-2008 421

310 18.38 EJ Chatfield (NZ) 50 1558

55 4/28 28.32 0 1979-1989

114 140 39.28 Mohammad Rafique (Asia/Ban) 43

1565 54 5/47 28.98 1

1995-2007 125 125 43.20 IVA Richards (WI)

59 1691 49 6/41 34.51 2

1975-1991 187 118 41.52

AA Donald (SA) 28 1091 46 4/43 23.71

0 1991-2003 164 272 16.91

S Dhaniram (Can) 30 971 39 5/32

24.89 1 2006-2008 30 39

100.00 JE Emburey (Eng) 25 990 34

4/39 29.11 0 1980-1993 61

76 44.73 RJ Hadlee (NZ) 25 849

33 5/38 25.72 1 1973-1990

115 158 20.88 EE Hemmings (Eng) 28

1119 32 4/52 34.96 0

1982-1991 33 37 86.48 RDM Leverock (Ber)

28 978 32 5/53 30.56 1

2006-2008 30 33 96.96

M Muralitharan (SL) 20 803 32 5/31 25.09

1 1993-2008 314 479 6.68

CA Walsh (WI) 29 982 31 4/25

31.67 0 1985-2000 205 227

13.65 SO Tikolo (Afr/Kenya) 31 764 31

4/41 24.64 0 1996-2008 105

76 40.78 RR Singh (India) 79 1525

30 5/31 50.83 1 1989-2001

136 69 43.47 TBM de Leede (Neth) 22

764 29 4/35 26.34 0

1996-2007 29 29 100.00