Players on a hot streak

Australia hold the records for the longest winning streaks in both Tests and ODIs: they have won 21 consecutive one-day internationals and 16 Tests in a row twice. But did any of the players feature in all of those wins? This week's List looks at players who have won and lost the most matches in a row.

Only four Australians - Justin Langer, Glenn McGrath, Michael Slater and Mark Waugh - were part of Australia's record-breaking winning spree of 16 Test wins that began in Harare in 1999 and ended in Kolkata in 2001. None of those players was involved in all 16 wins when Australia equalled that record, beginning their streak against South Africa at the MCG in 2005 and ending it against India at the SCG in 2008. Only Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee and Ricky Ponting played in all the games in the second set. However, Gilchrist with 31 comes closest to playing in all 32 games - he missed the first Test of their winning streak in 1999 before replacing Ian Healy.

None of the contemporary Australians appears in the table of most consecutive matches without a defeat, as on the rare occasions Australia haven't won, they've generally lost rather than drawn. Gordon Greenidge and Malcolm Marshall are No. 1 and 2 on that list. Greenidge played 38 Tests between 1980 and 1984 without losing even one. West Indies won 20 and drew 18 of those Tests. Greenidge built on the West Indies' run of 27 Tests undefeated by missing the Melbourne Test in 1981-82 which Australia won by 58 runs.

England's Ray Illingworth and three West Indians - Jeff Dujon, Desmond Haynes and Viv Richards - have all played 27 consecutive Tests without a defeat. Illingworth's 27 Tests, however, spanned more than five years, a period during which England played 39 Tests. Among current players, Stuart MacGill is on a 12-Test winning streak, although he has taken the last four years to play that many Tests for Australia.

The longest stretch of matches without a win belongs to Bert Sutcliffe, who played 42 matches for New Zealand and wasn't involved in a single win. He missed the last two Tests of West Indies' tour in 1955-56, when New Zealand won one Test in Auckland, their maiden Test victory. Sutcliffe also missed the tour of South Africa in 1961-62, which New Zealand drew 2-2.

Bangladesh players feature prominently in the table of most consecutive Test defeats: the longest streak belongs to Habibul Bashar who lost 21 consecutive Tests between 2001-02 and 2003-04. The first non-Bangladesh players in the table are England's Chris Lewis and Mike Gatting, both of whom lost ten Tests in a row.

In one-day internationals the longest winning streak is Australia's 21 wins in 2003. Hayden, Ponting and Brad Hogg played in 20 of those games but no player played in all 21. McGrath played in 17, but had his personal streak also extending to 20 after missing Australia's only loss of the 2002-03 VB Series, against Sri Lanka at Sydney.

Pakistan are currently on an 11-ODI winning streak, though most of their wins have been against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Misbah-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik are the only players to have featured in all those games. Pakistan's next one-day assignment is a tri-series in Bangladesh, followed by the Asia Cup and they have an opportunity to extend their streak.

Click here for the full tables.

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