Openers averaging 45 (years)

When India play England at Lord's - the 100th Test between the countries, the 2000th overall - their middle order will probably comprise Rahul Dravid (38 years and 191 days old), Sachin Tendulkar (38 years and 88 days) and VVS Laxman (36 years and 262 days). It will have an average age of 37.82. To find an older trio at Nos. 3, 4 and 5, you'll have to go back to 1974, when England's Colin Cowdrey, John Edrich and Mike Denness had an average age of 37.86 at the start of the MCG Test. This week's List is about cricket's old men.

In the winter of 1929-30, two MCC teams set sail from England: one for the West Indies and the other for New Zealand. The openers for the side that travelled to the Caribbean were George Gunn and Andy Sandham, who, in the timeless Test at Sabina Park, had an average age of 45.27. They did well, too, for a 50- and 39-year-old. Gunn made 85 in the first innings, and Sandham 325. Sandham never played for England again, though, and his effort remains the best performance in a final match. A little more than a month later, Jack Hobbs (47 years and 193 days) and Frank Woolley (43 years and 31 days) opened in the second Ashes Test at Lord's. They remain the oldest opening combination in Tests.

Most of the opening combinations in the tables are expectedly from the pre-war era, when cricketers carried on until they greyed, and not prematurely. The oldest in the 21st century is Sri Lanka's Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya, who were 36 years and 351 days and 38 years and 131 days at the start of the Brisbane Test in November 2007. The next Test in Hobart was Atapattu's last, but Jayasuriya did not open with him at the Bellerive Oval, batting at No. 5 instead.

The most recent top order in our table of 30 is from 1976, when Edrich (39 years and 17 days), Brian Close (45 years and 135 days) and David Steele (34 years and 283 days) were England's No 1, 2 and 3 against West Indies at Old Trafford. They managed only 89 runs in six innings and West Indies won by 425 runs to go 1-0, and eventually won the series 3-0, to make Tony Greig, the England captain, grovel.

No team has ever had three 40-year-olds at No. 3, 4 and 5. Australia came closest at The Oval in 1926, when their middle order comprised Charles Macartney (40 years and 48 days), Warren Bardsley (43 years and 251 days) and the captain, Herbie Collins (38 years and 205 days). It was the last Test for all three of them.

The oldest opening pair in ODIs is Netherlands' Nolan Clarke and Peter Cantrell, who were 47 years and 257 days and 33 years and 129 days when they played South Africa in the 1996 World Cup. Clarke remains the oldest cricketer to have played ODI cricket. He is also the oldest debutant, making his debut nearly 22 years after he had scored 159 for Barbados against England in 1973-74.

Sanath Jayasuriya's desire for a farewell ODI meant that he (at 41 years and 363 days) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (34 years and 257 days) recently became the second-oldest opening combination in ODIs, slotting in ahead of England's 1979 pair of Geoff Boycott and Mike Brearley. It didn't go well for Sri Lanka, though, with Dilshan and Jayasuriya falling for 1 and 2 in a 110-run defeat at The Oval.

Netherlands also fielded the oldest middle order - Flavian Aponso (43 years and 112 days) , Steven Lubbers (42 years and 330 days) and Roland Lefebvre (33 years and 10 days) - against New Zealabd in the 1996 World Cup. They beat the mark of 36.89 years set by England's Nos. 3, 4 and 5 - Close, Keith Fletcher and Basil D'Oliveria - in the fourth ODI.