Averaging 40 against everyone and everywhere

How many batsmen average more than 40 against all the teams they played, and in all the countries they toured? This question was raised by a reader, Raghav Bihani, who used a minimum of four teams and five countries and came up with Greg Chappell and Rohan Kanhai as the (correct) answers. If the qualifications are relaxed to three each, Jack Hobbs and Sid Barnes make the cut as well. So this week, we have looked at each aspect separately and dug up lists of batsmen with 40-plus averages against the most teams and in the most countries.

Ricky Ponting and Kumar Sangakkara are the only batsmen with averages of more than 40 against each of the nine other Test nations, Zimbabwe included. Ponting has an average of 50 against the ICC World XI as well, but we have excluded them from our calculations, or else he would have been all alone with a 40-plus average against ten teams. Ponting's lowest averages are against England and India - 48.22 and 47.02. He will play them both in 2010 and so has the opportunity to move closer towards becoming the only batsman to average at least 50 against all the Test nations.

During the recent Tests against India, Sangakkara's average broke into the ten best of all time, displacing that of Jack Hobbs, before slipping out again by the time the series ended. Unlike Ponting, however, Sangakkara is battling to maintain 40-plus averages against two teams - he has figures of 41.91 against Australia and 40.28 against England.

If and when Zimbabwe re-enter the Test fold, Kevin Pietersen will have the opportunity to join Ponting and Sangakkara. Pietersen presently averages 40 against all eight teams that he's played against - though his mean against Pakistan keeps fluctuating above and below that mark.

In the world of the modern Test batsman, where 50 is the new 40, it's surprising that Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid don't have 40-plus means against everyone. They both fall short against South Africa. Dravid averages 36.51 against them in 18 Tests, while Tendulkar's stats are 38.24 in 22 matches. The tour at the end of the year will probably be their last opportunity to lift their averages against South Africa and have means of more than 40 against every team.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul did the hard work and maintained an average of more than 40 against all the tougher Test sides, but fell massively short against Zimbabwe. In nine innings, Chanderpaul scored 259 runs at an average of 28.77 with a high score of 74, his only half-century against Zimbabwe.

Tendulkar has an average of more than 40 in the most countries - in nine out of ten. Once again, the exception is South Africa, where he averages 39.76 in 12 Tests, with three hundreds and three half-centuries. Given his recent form, though, it's likely that he'll make it ten out of ten by the end of the year.

Ponting also averages 40 in nine countries, but he's played Tests in 11, compared to Tendulkar's 10, with UAE being the extra venue. Ponting fell short of averaging 40 in Zimbabwe, but he played only one innings there in 1999, and was dismissed for 31. His below-40 average in India, however, is more legit. In 12 innings on the subcontinent Ponting averages 20.85, so it's unlikely he'll ever get near 40. In fact, before the tour in 2008, his average in India was 12.28 but he improved it with a century and a half-century during the four Test series.

So where does Don Bradman fit into all this? He played Tests against only four countries and his lowest average was against West Indies - 74.50 in five matches. He played only at home and in England, averaging 98.22 and 102.84 respectively.

Ken Barrington heads the list of batsmen with an average of at least 40 in every country they played in. His highest is in South Africa, where he played five Tests in 1964-65 and made 508 runs at an average of 101. Barrington's worst is in West Indies, where he made 708 runs in 16 innings at an average of 44.25. It's the only country in which he averaged less than 50. His overall average against West Indies, however, was only 34.73, largely due to his poor record against them in England. In seven home Tests against West Indies, Barrington made only 330 runs at an average of 23.85.

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