There's no place like home

Cricket's equivalent of Julius Caesar's famous Veni, Vidi, Vici - to conquer opponents in their backyards - is a rare trait among batsmen. Bradman averaged 102.84 in England, while Wally Hammond and Ken Barrington also performed outstandingly on tours. Among current batsmen, Rahul Dravid's overseas record trumps his magnificent one in India , but by and large most batsmen thrive in the relative comfort of home. Today, we look at batsmen who have performed better at home than overseas and vice versa.

When Desmond Haynes retired in 1994, he held the record for most runs and centuries in one-dayers. He was no slouch in Test cricket either, racking up 7487 runs and 18 hundreds. But while he was prolific at home, where he averaged 56.05 in Tests and 67.71 in ODIs , he averaged only in the 30s on tour. In 118 Test innings overseas, Haynes managed only eight hundreds while he scored 10 in 84 innings at home. In ODIs, the difference is starker. On average, Haynes passed a hundred in every fifth game in the Caribbean while he celebrated a century in every 27th overseas game.

Home batting average greater than the away average - ODIs (qualification: 20 innings at home, 20 innings away)

Player	Span		Inns	Runs	Ave	100		Inns	Runs	Ave	100		Diff
DL Haynes (WI)	1978-1994		49	2573	67.71	10		188	6075	35.52	7		32.184
Yasir Hameed (Pak)	2003-2005		25	1185	49.37	2		23	620	26.95	1		22.418
A Jadeja (India)	1992-2000		56	2129	51.92	4		123	3230	31.66	2		20.260
MA Atherton (Eng)	1990-1998		21	908	47.78	2		33	883	27.59	0		20.195
Inzamam-ul-Haq (Asia/Pak)	1991-2006		63	2632	56.00	4		274	8782	36.43	6		19.560
JM Kemp (Afr/SAf)	2001-2006		20	546	42.00	0		22	392	23.05	0		18.941
Zaheer Abbas (Pak)	1974-1985		24	1236	58.85	5		36	1336	40.48	2		18.372
PV Simmons (WI)	1987-1999		41	1549	41.86	3		97	2126	23.62	2		18.242
RB Richardson (WI)	1983-1996		46	1769	47.81	1		171	4479	29.85	4		17.950
Abdul Razzaq (Asia/Pak)	1996-2006		38	1000	45.45	1		146	3201	27.59	1		17.859

However, Gordon Greenidge, Haynes's ballistic opening partner, had quite the opposite record. He averaged only 37.74 at home with only one hundred while in 97 ODIs overseas, Greenidge hit ten centuries and at an average of 47.29. Similarly, Vivian Richards did not score any of his 11 one-day centuries in the West Indies. His highest score at home is 82 and his average of 36.59 is the lowest among any country he played in. On the other hand, Richards never averaged less than 40 against any team on their home turf.

Home batting average less than the away average - ODIs (qualification: 20 innings at home, 20 innings away)

Player	Span		Inns	Runs	Ave	100		Inns	Runs	Ave	100		Diff
A Symonds (Aust)	1998-2006		51	1340	28.51	1		65	2357	50.14	4		-21.638
GS Chappell (Aust)	1971-1983		52	1568	35.63	1		20	763	54.50	2		-18.863
SO Tikolo (Afr/Kenya)	1996-2006		21	376	17.90	0		53	1687	33.74	1		-15.835
MP Vaughan (Eng)	2001-2005		35	667	21.51	0		36	1063	35.43	0		-13.917
RR Sarwan (WI)	2000-2006		42	1401	40.02	2		54	2064	52.92	1		-12.894
IVA Richards (WI)	1975-1991		26	805	36.59	0		141	5916	48.89	11		-12.301
MO Odumbe (Kenya)	1996-2003		20	349	18.36	0		39	1060	30.28	0		-11.917
HDPK Dharmasena (SL)	1994-2004		22	216	14.40	0		65	1006	25.79	0		-11.394
GR Marsh (Aust)	1986-1992		72	2477	35.89	3		43	1880	47.00	6		-11.101
M Kaif (India)	2002-2006		35	705	26.11	0		69	1968	36.44	2		-10.333
CG Greenidge (WI)	1975-1991		30	1019	37.74	1		97	4115	47.29	10		-9.558

Dravid, currently averaging 65.28, has the fourth highest overseas average - behind Bradman, Barrington and Hammond - among batsmen who have played at least 20 innings. He's miles ahead of Sachin Tendulkar, who is second highest among current batsmen with 55.52.

Only Colin Milburn has a higher overseas average than Bradman. He averaged 39.61 in eight Tests in England before joining the team for the third Test at Karachi in 1969. He went on to score 139 in what was his only overseas innings. Unfortunately it was also his last innings for England. A few months later he met with a car accident and lost an eye that forced him out of competitive cricket.

Home batting average less than the away average - Tests (qualification: 30 innings at home, 30 innings away)

Player	Span		Inns	Runs	Ave	100		Inns	Runs	Ave	100		Diff
M Amarnath (India)	1969-1988		50	1370	30.44	2		63	3008	51.86	9		-21.417
KF Barrington (Eng)	1955-1968		73	3347	50.71	6		58	3459	69.18	14		-18.467
WR Hammond (Eng)	1927-1947		68	3004	50.06	9		72	4245	66.32	13		-16.261
APE Knott (Eng)	1967-1981		87	2191	26.71	3		62	2198	42.26	2		-15.549
R Dravid (ICC/India)	1996-2006		81	3761	51.52	8		95	5288	65.28	15		-13.763
JR Reid (NZ)	1949-1965		42	1031	25.14	1		66	2397	38.66	5		-13.514
SP Fleming (NZ)	1994-2006		77	2474	32.98	2		96	4071	46.26	7		-13.274
AR Morris (Aust)	1946-1955		46	1812	41.18	6		33	1721	53.78	6		-12.599
AW Greig (Eng)	1972-1977		49	1628	34.63	3		44	1971	46.92	5		-12.290
SJ McCabe (Aust)	1930-1938		31	1273	42.43	2		31	1475	54.62	4		-12.196

Ten of John Wright's 12 Test hundreds have been scored in New Zealand. That's the highest percentage of home Test centuries for any player with at least ten hundreds, but his inconsistency still has him with low averages for both home and away (41.86 to 33.24) and so he doesn't appear on these tables.

Clyde Walcott had a prolific run at home between 1954 and 1958 when he averaged over 75 in four consecutive home series. However, the large difference between his home and away average is primarily due to the fact that Walcott hardly toured during his purple years. In fact, the series in England in 1957 was his only tour during the last eight years of his career.

Home batting average greater than the away average - Tests (qualification: 30 innings at home, 30 innings away)

Player	Span		Inns	Runs	Ave	100		Inns	Runs	Ave	100		Diff
CL Walcott (WI)	1948-1960		42	2584	69.83	11		32	1214	40.46	4		29.371
Mudassar Nazar (Pak)	1976-1989		52	2467	53.63	8		64	1647	26.56	2		27.065
DCS Compton (Eng)	1937-1957		76	3963	60.04	13		55	1844	36.88	4		23.165
DB Vengsarkar (India)	1976-1992		80	3725	55.59	13		105	3143	32.73	4		22.857
DL Haynes (WI)	1978-1994		84	3868	56.05	10		118	3619	33.50	8		22.548
DPMD Jayawardene (SL)	1997-2006		71	3937	59.65	11		63	2177	37.53	4		22.117
PBH May (Eng)	1951-1961		57	2865	57.29	9		49	1672	35.57	4		21.725
Zaheer Abbas (Pak)	1969-1985		51	2444	58.19	8		73	2618	36.87	4		21.317
HP Tillakaratne (SL)	1989-2004		60	2522	54.82	6		71	2023	33.71	5		21.109
NS Sidhu (India)	1983-1999		33	1726	53.93	5		45	1476	33.54	4		20.392

Next week, we'll look at the differences between home and away averages for bowlers.