Rags to riches

Last week, The List looked at players who became cricketing giants after ploughing through relatively mediocre starts to their careers. This week we look at the one-day equivalent

Travis Basevi and George Binoy

21-Dec-2005

Some stats, like Bradman's average and the number of centuries Tendulkar has made are known to pretty much every cricket buff. But The List will bring you facts and figures that aren't so obvious, adding fuel to those fiery debates about the most valuable middle-order bat, and the most useless tailender. If there's a particular List that you would like to see, e-mail us with your comments and suggestions.

Last week, The List looked at players who became cricketing giants after ploughing through relatively mediocre starts to their careers. This week we look at the one-day equivalent.

Sanath Jayasuriya chose the perfect stage to make an impact in one-day cricket © Getty Images

Before the 1995-96 season, you wouldn't have lost sleep over having to bowl Sanath Jayasuriya the next day. Unless you are Richard de Groen. Batting in the lower-middle order, Jayasuriya took 30 matches to get his average permanently out of single digits and 70 matches to score his first century. He chose the perfect stage to explode, the 1996 World Cup. Until then, he still averaged below 20 but in that tournament, he averaged 36.83 and that, coupled with a strike rate of 131.54, made him lethal. But Jayasuriya had only continued what Romesh Kaluwitharana had started in Australia a few months earlier. Kaluwithara's career stats may not be too flash but he had a strike rate of 91 in the Benson and Hedges series in 1995-96 and it was his impish and swashbuckling hitting that set the tone for what was to follow in the World Cup.

For someone who has more than doubled Desmond Haynes's then world record of 17 centuries, Sachin Tendulkar's first hundred took 79 matches to arrive. He started his career with two ducks and then went on to average around 30 for a good number of games, satisfactory for a middle-order batsman but hardly the stuff of legends. Perhaps the turning point of Tendulkar's one-day career came when Navjot Sidhu was sidelined with a neck strain. Tendulkar was asked to fill in as opener against New Zealand at Dunedin. The 49-ball 82 that followed marked the start of a prolific career at the top of the order.

Poor Starts - Comparing Career Batting Average with Average After 20 ODIs (qualification: 10 innings in first 20 ODIs, 2000 runs in career)
Player	Span	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave	Runs	Career	Diff
DR Martyn (Aust)	1992-2005	18	276	51*	17.25	4691	41.88	24.63
ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL)	1989-2005	17	143	31	8.41	10207	31.79	23.38
CH Gayle (ICC/WI)	1999-2005	19	331	58*	18.38	4416	38.73	20.34
Saleem Malik (Pak)	1982-1999	18	230	41	12.77	7170	32.88	20.11
ME Waugh (Aust)	1988-2002	19	404	67	23.76	8500	39.35	15.58
SB Styris (NZ)	1999-2005	14	178	43	13.69	2320	29.00	15.30
Javed Miandad (Pak)	1975-1996	19	423	77*	26.43	7381	41.70	15.26
SR Tendulkar (India)	1989-2005	19	492	62	28.94	13909	44.01	15.07
Imran Khan (Pak)	1974-1992	15	184	39	18.39	3709	33.41	15.01
Shoaib Malik (Pak)	1999-2005	11	145	44	18.12	2631	32.88	14.76

Muttiah Muralitharan, the man most likely to be the first to take 1000 international wickets, had mediocre starts to both forms of the game. After 30 ODIs , Murali had just 30 wickets at an expensive 37.36 apiece. It was then that Murali toured Australia in 1995-96 and was called for throwing by the umpires. In the 30 games beginning with the triangular series in Australia, Murali took 47 wickets at an astounding average of 23.42. He hasn't looked back since.

Richard Hadlee had an unhappy first few ODIs as well. With just seven wickets in his first ten games, Hadlee averaged in the early forties. He soon got into his stride after the 1975 World Cup and repaired his average steadily to finish with 158 wickets at 21.56.

Poor Starts - Comparing Career Bowling Average with Average After 20 ODIs (qualification: 500 balls in first 20 ODIs, 100 wickets in career)
Player	Span	Balls	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Wkts	Career	Diff
SB Styris (NZ)	1999-2005	890	16	4/57	47.06	103	30.65	-16.41
M Muralitharan (Asia/ICC/SL)	1993-2005	1014	18	2/6	38.77	392	22.39	-16.38
RJ Hadlee (NZ)	1973-1990	1168	19	2/20	35.26	158	21.56	-13.69
A Kumble (Asia/India)	1990-2005	1146	17	4/50	43.82	329	30.76	-13.05
CH Gayle (ICC/WI)	1999-2005	709	12	2/18	40.66	100	31.53	-9.13
M Prabhakar (India)	1984-1996	852	14	4/19	37.35	157	28.87	-8.47
Azhar Mahmood (Pak)	1996-2005	825	14	3/34	46.50	122	38.86	-7.63
GP Wickramasinghe (SL)	1990-2002	895	14	2/29	45.64	109	39.64	-6.00
SP O'Donnell (Aust)	1985-1991	1047	22	2/19	34.63	108	28.72	-5.91
GD McGrath (Aust/ICC)	1993-2005	1073	24	4/24	28.00	327	22.21	-5.78

Ajit Agarkar was a one-day sensation when he first made the international stage. He was the fastest to 50 wickets, performing the feat in just 23 matches. Normalcy soon ensued and though he continued to take wickets frequently enough, they came at a high price. Agarkar's strike rate at present is an extremely impressive 32 but is offset by a poor economy rate of 5.10.

Shane Warne, unlike Anil Kumble and Murali, had a marvellous start in one-day cricket. He preyed on New Zealand and South Africa, not the most renowned players of spin, in the tri-series in 1994-95 and snared 22 wickets in just 10 games at 13.68 apiece.

Ian Bishop made his debut in 1988 and at the time, he was just another incredible fast bowler that West Indies were blessed with. But in 1993, a stress fracture of the back sidelined him for two years and then its recurrence eventually ended his career. In 53 matches before his injury, Bishop took 88 wickets at an average of just 21.29. In his first 18 Tests, he took 83 wickets at just 20.45 apiece. If his performance before his injury was anything to go by, Bishop was destined for greatness until fate dealt a cruel blow.

Great Starts - Comparing Career Bowling Average with Average After 20 ODIs (qualification: 500 balls in first 20 ODIs, 100 wickets in career)
Player	Span	Balls	Wkts	BBI	Ave	5	Wkts	Career	Diff
CZ Harris (NZ)	1990-2004	894	24	3/15	27.87	0	203	37.50	9.62
HDPK Dharmasena (SL)	1994-2004	906	25	4/37	27.19	0	138	36.21	9.01
SK Warne (Aust/ICC)	1993-2005	1074	38	4/19	17.23	0	293	25.73	8.50
M Dillon (WI)	1997-2005	1039	32	4/20	24.50	0	130	32.44	7.94
PAJ DeFreitas (Eng)	1987-1997	1165	26	4/35	25.07	0	115	32.82	7.74
CEL Ambrose (WI)	1988-2000	1085	41	5/17	16.48	2	225	24.12	7.64
IR Bishop (WI)	1988-1997	1087	37	5/27	19.37	1	118	26.50	7.12
CL Hooper (WI)	1987-2003	564	16	3/27	29.50	0	193	36.05	6.55
AB Agarkar (India)	1998-2005	1068	44	4/35	21.22	0	232	27.26	6.03
RA Harper (WI)	1983-1996	1032	24	3/34	28.29	0	100	34.31	6.01

Great Starts - Comparing Career Batting Average with Average After 20 ODIs (qualification: 10 innings in first 20 ODIs, 2000 runs in career)
Player	Span	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave	100	Runs	Career	Diff
IVA Richards (WI)	1975-1991	19	971	153*	74.69	3	6721	47.00	-27.69
JC Adams (WI)	1992-2001	12	275	81*	55.00	0	2204	28.62	-26.37
M Kaif (India)	2002-2005	15	563	111*	56.29	1	2431	35.23	-21.06
AL Logie (WI)	1981-1993	13	298	88	49.66	0	2809	28.95	-20.70
GS Chappell (Aust)	1971-1983	20	843	125*	56.20	1	2331	40.18	-16.01
MG Bevan (Aust)	1994-2004	18	621	78*	69.00	0	6912	53.58	-15.41
JG Wright (NZ)	1978-1992	20	745	81	39.21	0	3891	26.46	-12.74
CL Hooper (WI)	1987-2003	17	432	113*	48.00	1	5761	35.34	-12.65
SM Pollock (Afr/ICC/SAf)	1996-2005	12	180	66*	36.00	0	2556	24.34	-11.65
AC Parore (NZ)	1992-2002	16	476	96	36.61	0	3314	25.68	-10.92

If there's a particular List that you would like to see, e-mail us with your comments and suggestions.

George Binoy is editorial assistant of Cricinfo