Cook's 294, and other revivals

India had Alastair Cook figured out. At Lord's and Trent Bridge, they dismissed him for 12, 1, 2 and 5. Cook had been England's run robot, scoring 1156 runs in the Ashes and against Sri Lanka, but India had him under control. Or so they thought. Cook's retaliation at Edgbaston was a remorseless 294 that gave England the No. 1 ranking. His average of 5.00 in the first two Tests is among the lowest for a batsman who's bounced back from poor form with a double-century.

Gary Kirsten, who once did to Andy Zaltzman what Cook did to countless Indian fans, ended two sets of four poor innings with double-centuries. During England's tour of South Africa in 1999, Kirsten made 13, 15, 2 and 11 - averaging 10.25 in the series - before he walked out to bat on the third day at Kingsmead, with South Africa trailing by 210 in the follow-on. The match ended in a draw only when Kirsten was dismissed on the final day, after he had batted for 878 minutes - the second longest innings in Tests - and scored 275.

In 2001, after having begun the tour of West Indies with 150, Kirsten ended it with scores of 0, 0, 8, 9, 0 and 14. A trip to Harare was his next assignment and he scored 220 in the first Test, in only 442 minutes this time.

The unlikeliest double-hundreds in Test cricket perhaps belong to Jason Gillespie and Wasim Akram, both of whom achieved their career bests in their 71st Test. Gillespie had the third-lowest average - 15.64 - for a double-centurion, and his average in the 10 innings leading up to the unbeaten 201 in Mirpur was 12.66. Akram averaged only 14.47 in 20 innings before scoring an unbeaten 257 against Zimbabwe in Sheikhupura.

Adam Gilchrist's last four innings before the start of the 2001 Ashes read 0, 0, 1 and 1. He had been undone in two memorable contests in Kolkata and Chennai by India's spinners. At Edgbaston, however, Gilchrist found his form and scored a century in an innings-and-118-run victory. From averaging 0.50 in his previous two Tests to scoring 152 off 143 balls is as dramatic as turnarounds come.

John Reid scored six centuries during his career as a New Zealand allrounder. The first one came after two dire years of poor form. In 1952 and 1953, Reid played six Tests, against West Indies and South Africa, and did not make a double-figure score in 10 innings. His average during this period was 3.60. And then, in his next innings, at Newlands in 1954, Reid cracked 135 in 196 minutes and ended the drought.

Lowest average in the previous 10 innings before a century - Tests

Player	Score	Opp	Start Date	Scorecard		Runs	Ave		List
JR Reid (NZ)	135	v SA	Jan 1, 1954	Test 379		36	3.60		0, 3, 6, 1, 9, 7, 6, 0, 3, 1
Mohammad Ashraful (Ban)	101	v SL	Dec 26, 2008	Test 1903		54	5.40		0, 4, 2, 0, 0, 1, 13, 1, 21, 12
BK Kunderan (India)	192	v Eng	Jan 10, 1964	Test 551		53	7.57		12, 0, 12, 12*, 1*, 5, 4*, 4, 2, 1
A Kumble (India)	110*	v Eng	Aug 9, 2007	Test 1842		69	7.66		6, 1, 0, 11, 0, 6, 1*, 11, 3, 30
RT Ponting (Aus)	144	v Eng	Aug 16, 2001	Test 1556		77	7.70		0, 6, 0, 0, 11, 11, 14, 4, 14, 17
C White (Eng)	121	v India	Dec 11, 2001	Test 1575		73	8.11		0, 8, 4, 0, 0, 27*, 0, 7, 5, 22
WJ Edrich (Eng)	219	v SA	Mar 3, 1939	Test 271		83	8.30		0, 10, 12, 28, 12, 4, 10, 0, 6, 1
TR Gripper (Zim)	112	v Ban	Nov 15, 2001	Test 1568		83	8.30		18, 0, 4, 41, 3, 11, 0, 1, 5, 0
A Flintoff (Eng)	137	v NZ	Mar 13, 2002	Test 1594		86	8.60		16, 16, 16, 12, 18, 4, 0, 4, 0, 0
GA Hick (Eng)	107	v SL	Aug 27, 1998	Test 1423		88	8.80		36, 8, 1, 6, 20, 4, 4, 6, 2, 1
Moin Khan (Pak)	115*	v Aus	Nov 1, 1994	Test 1273		81	9.00		12, 3, 15, 11*, 2, 3, 0, 18, 0, 17
MAK Pataudi (India)	203*	v Eng	Feb 8, 1964	Test 556		93	9.30		1, 14, 4, 0, 18, 10, 0, 2, 31, 13
R Illingworth (Eng)	113	v WI	Jun 26, 1969	Test 654		101	10.10		4, 2, 10, 4, 9, 27, 6, 8, 10, 21
SE Gregory (Aus)	112	v Eng	Jan 15, 1904	Test 80		104	10.40		0, 4, 1, 13, 11, 23, 43, 1, 0, 8
GW Flower (Zim)	106*	v India	Nov 25, 2000	Test 1517		104	10.40		4, 2, 0, 12, 24, 3, 49, 10, 0, 0
BR Taylor (NZ)	124	v WI	Feb 27, 1969	Test 648		106	10.60		9, 0, 18, 6, 7, 14, 17, 28, 7, 0
KR Rutherford (NZ)	107*	v Eng	Mar 3, 1988	Test 1094		97	10.77		24*, 6, 6, 12, 5, 11, 0, 2, 29, 2
AB Agarkar (India)	109*	v Eng	Jul 25, 2002	Test 1610		99	11.00		41*, 3, 34, 12, 0, 0, 6, 0, 1, 2
MA Taylor (Aus)	129	v Eng	Jun 5, 1997	Test 1368		111	11.10		10, 11, 2, 1, 16, 8, 13, 38, 5, 7
SE Gregory (Aus)	201	v Eng	Dec 14, 1894	Test 42		100	11.11		9, 2, 4*, 3, 7, 57, 9, 6, 0, 3

Sachin Tendulkar took 78 ODIs to score his first hundred, against Australia at the Premadasa in 1994. And immediately after that, he was dismissed for a hat-trick of ducks for the first and only time in his 453-ODI career. The first was against Sri Lanka, in the final of the Singer World Series, in September 1994. The second and third were against West Indies in Faridabad and Mumbai. He followed up with 8 in Chennai, and so was averaging 2.00 in his previous four games when be began the home series against New Zealand with 115 in Vadodara.

The lowest average for a ten-innings stretch immediately preceding an ODI century belongs to Nathan Astle. He was dismissed for 4 in the final ODI against South Africa at Eden Park in 1999, andhad a poor World Cup in England, scoring only 79 runs in nine innings, bringing his average in 10 matches to 8.30. Astle's next ODI was in Rajkot in November and he scored a match-winning 120 against India.

Lowest average in the previous 10 innings before a century - ODIs

Player	Score	Opp	Start Date	Scorecard		Runs	Ave		List
NJ Astle (NZ)	120	v India	Nov 5, 1999	ODI 1522		83	8.30		4, 4, 4, 2, 0, 11, 20, 9, 26, 3
Shoaib Mohammad (Pak)	126*	v NZ	Mar 8, 1989	ODI 557		69	8.62		6*, 3, 0, 15, 10, 2, 29, 2*, 0, 2
ST Jayasuriya (SL)	140	v NZ	Dec 8, 1994	ODI 958		91	9.10		0, 3, 4, 0, 1, 1, 37, 11, 26, 8
SC Ganguly (India)	112*	v Nam	Feb 23, 2003	ODI 1964		99	9.90		14, 0, 4, 2, 0, 23, 15, 8, 9, 24
DF Watts (Scot)	101	v Can	Jul 7, 2009	ODI 2856		111	11.10		24, 9, 24, 8, 19, 7, 6, 0, 0, 14
CZ Harris (NZ)	130	v Aus	Mar 11, 1996	ODI 1080		113	11.30		12, 16, 10, 3, 6, 18, 22, 10, 8, 8
DJ Callaghan (SA)	169*	v NZ	Dec 11, 1994	ODI 960		103	11.44		0, 10, 0, 6, 25, 1, 2, 26, 3*, 30
BM McMillan (SA)	127	v Zim	Oct 21, 1995	ODI 1013		81	11.57		48*, 0, 6, 1*, 0, 17, 2*, 4, 0, 3
XM Marshall (WI)	157*	v Can	Aug 22, 2008	ODI 2749		117	11.70		26, 6, 8, 19, 6, 0, 35, 0, 17, 0
AP Gurusinha (SL)	117*	v NZ	Apr 18, 1994	ODI 909		108	12.00		0, 9, 43, 22*, 1, 8, 6, 7, 11, 1
G Kirsten (SA)	102*	v Pak	Dec 16, 2002	ODI 1921		121	12.10		0, 10, 25, 2, 2, 21, 3, 2, 55, 1
DA Marillier (Zim)	100	v Kenya	Apr 5, 2003	ODI 1996		123	12.30		2, 1, 0, 14, 6, 0, 1, 21, 19, 59
SV Carlisle (Zim)	121*	v SL	Dec 18, 1999	ODI 1530		113	12.55		27, 14, 18*, 2, 27, 4, 0, 0, 21, 0
HH Gibbs (SA)	125	v WI	Jan 30, 1999	ODI 1397		126	12.60		15, 12, 2, 2, 8, 5, 33, 10, 10, 29
MN Samuels (WI)	100*	v Pak	Dec 13, 2006	ODI 2464		77	12.83		0, 5, 1, 1*, 5*, 3*, 5*, 7, 37, 13
MW Gatting (Eng)	115*	v India	Dec 5, 1984	ODI 279		90	12.85		1, 14*, 18, 0, 0*, 4, 9, 38*, 0, 6
PD Collingwood (Eng)	112*	v Ban	Jun 21, 2005	ODI 2252		130	13.00		16, 1, 7, 5, 40, 22, 11, 4, 10, 14
Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak)	121*	v India	Mar 26, 2000	ODI 1580		133	13.30		4, 8, 12, 6, 5, 15, 35, 0, 41, 7
L Vincent (NZ)	172	v Zim	Aug 24, 2005	ODI 2272		120	13.33		25*, 32, 12, 2, 13, 0, 1, 1, 12, 22
C Sharma (India)	101*	v Eng	Oct 25, 1989	ODI 583		67	13.40		0, 2, 16*, 12*, 0, 15, 2*, 6*, 7, 7*