They did all right without hundreds

Ricky Ponting averages nearly 43 in one-day internationals; he has scored 30 hundreds. Sourav Ganguly averaged 41 in ODIs; he scored 22 hundreds. Pakistan's captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, averages 43 after 70 innings in 80 matches, but hasn't scored a century yet. This week's column is about batsmen who maintained acceptable averages without scoring a hundred.

Misbah's average is the highest among batsmen who have played at least 20 ODI innings and not scored a hundred. He has 17 half-centuries and the closest he got to a century was an unbeaten 93 against New Zealand in Napier.

Ian Chappell had an ODI average of 48, though he did not score a century. He played only 16 matches and made eight half-centuries: his best was 86 against New Zealand in Christchurch. He ended his career with four consecutive innings of 60 or more in his last five matches.

A couple of batsmen in the table below played more matches than Misbah and finished their careers without a century. Graham Thorpe averaged 37 with 21 fifties during an 82-ODI career but never made a century. Neither did New Zealand's Andrew Jones, who played the bulk of his 87 innings at Nos. 2 and 3, averaged 35, scored 25 half-centuries and had a best of 93.

It would be reasonable to assume a batsman averaging 77 in ODIs has scored at least one century. If the batsman is Michael Hussey, the assumption would be wrong. After his 39th ODI, Hussey had 16 not-outs and nine half-centuries in 31 innings. His average of 77 was the highest for a batsman before scoring a maiden hundred. In his 40th game, which was also his first as Australia's captain, Hussey made an unbeaten 109 off 90 balls against West Indies in Kuala Lumpur and lifted his average to 84.

Before Hussey, the highest ODI average leading up to a first century belonged to a batsman who performed a similar role for Australia, Michael Bevan. He scored his first century in his 55th ODI - 103 against South Africa in Centurion - and had averaged 54 in as many matches until then, with 11 half-centuries and 18 not-outs.

Among current players in Test cricket (at least 20 innings), Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews has the best average - 38.66 in 15 matches - for a batsman who hasn't scored a hundred yet. Mathews has got close to a century twice. He was run out on 99 against India in Mumbai, and in the first Test of the ongoing series against Australia, he ran out of partners and was eventually dismissed for 95, the ninth Sri Lankan wicket to fall in a 125-run defeat. Tim Bresnan, the England allrounder, averages 45 and hasn't scored a century, but he has played only eight innings in 10 Tests.

Chetan Chauhan, who was Sunil Gavaskar's opening partner for most of his 40 Tests, was the first cricketer to score more than 2000 runs without making a century. Chauhan scored 2084 runs at an average of 31.57, with 16 half-centuries and a best of 97. Even when he and Gavaskar put on 213 for the first wicket in pursuit of 438 against England at The Oval in 1979, Chauhan's contribution was 80.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored his first Test century in his 19th match, in his third year after making his debut. Before that unbeaten 137 against India in Barbados, though, he had an average of 49 in 29 innings, one of the highest for batsmen without a Test hundred.