The century count: overseas 5, home 0

Marcus North is presently playing his 19th Test, against India in Bangalore, where he scored a potentially Ashes berth-saving century in the first innings. The career-best 128 was North's fifth Test hundred, and like this one, the previous four were also made outside Australia. There haven't been too many batsmen who've scored more hundreds away before celebrating one at home.

Ken Barrington scored his first century in England during an Ashes Test at Old Trafford in 1964, nine years after his debut. He had nine hundreds in 21 away matches before that innings but had to wait until his 29th home game to reach a century in front of home support. When he finally did get to three figures in England, though, Barrington went on to score 256, his only Test double-century.

At the end of his career, Barrington's away record was significantly superior to his home one: he averaged 69 overseas with 14 hundreds, and only 50 in England with six centuries.

Two England batsmen of South African origin are in the table of players with the most hundreds at home before scoring one away. Allan Lamb made his debut in 1982 but scored his first overseas century only in his 58th Test, in 1990 - a match-winning 132 at Sabina Park. Before that match Lamb had played 31 home Tests, in which he scored nine hundreds, four of which were against West Indies. Robin Smith, who made his debut in 1988, went five years - during which he played 17 overseas Tests - before ending his away-century drought by making one at the SSC in Colombo. By that time he had scored seven hundreds in England in 24 Tests.

If North plays the 2010-11 Ashes, if he does not make a century in those five Tests, and if he is dropped by Australia forever after that series, he will be one of only two players - Chris Broad being the other - to have scored all their hundreds (minimum of five) away from home. Chandu Borde and Stanley Jackson are at the other extreme, having made all their five centuries at home.

Broad made six hundreds in his 25-Test career, all of them overseas. He scored three during the 1986-87 Ashes in Australia and was England's top run-scorer on his first tour. The last century in Australia was in the bicentenary Test in 1987-88. Broad, in fact, has the highest average for a visiting batsman in Australia, among those who've played more than one Test there, and was one of the subjects of the first-ever List, way back in October 2005. Broad's two other overseas hundreds were in Faisalabad in 1987, and in Christchurch in 1988. In 13 home Tests, however, he averaged only 26 with five half-centuries and a high score of 86.

Among bowlers, Andy Roberts took the most five-wicket hauls away before taking one at home in the West Indies - eight in his first 17 overseas Tests and none in his first eight home games. Roberts' first five-for in the Caribbean was a 5 for 56 that helped West Indies beat Australia by an innings and 106 runs at the Queen's Park Oval in 1978.

It's surprising that an Indian spinner appears at No. 4 in the table below, having taken six five-fors in 10 overseas Tests before achieving one at home. Subhash Gupte, whom Garry Sobers recently rated a better legspinner than Shane Warne, took three five-wicket hauls on the tour of West Indies in 1953 and three more in Pakistan in 1955, his first two trips outside India. His first five-for at home came in his fourth Test there - 7 for 128 against New Zealand in Hyderabad in 1955. Gupte didn't take a five-for in any more overseas Tests, and took five more at home to finish with six apiece.

Danny Morrison played 48 Tests for New Zealand between 1987 and 1997 and took 10 five-wicket hauls. The first nine were in New Zealand and only in the penultimate match of his international career - against West Indies at the Rec in 1996 - did Morrison take a maiden five-for away from home. He had no more opportunities to add to that because he played only one more Test, in Auckland. Morrison finished with an away average of 54, which was nearly double his home average.

Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have had such uncommon careers that they keep appearing in our tables. Amir was in last week's column and in the one the week before that for being the youngest in the Pakistan Test and ODI teams, and this time it's Asif's turn. He's taken seven five-wicket hauls in 19 away games (including neutral matches) but none in four Tests in Pakistan, where his best performance in an innings is 4 for 78 against India in Karachi in 2006. Whether he will get an opportunity to take that first five-wicket haul in Pakistan is anybody's guess.

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