Twinkling in the twilight

In the last week of 2006, three players over 35 years brought the curtains down on their international Test careers. Brian Lara has hinted that the World Cup at home could be his swansong and we could have several other retirements too as age catches up with cricket's elite. Sachin Tendulkar, though not yet 35, had one of his worst years in 2006. Sanath Jayasuriya had a poor Test year too but brought back memories of 1996 with scintillating stroke play in ODIs. This week, we look at players who've fared the best and worst in the twilight of their careers.

Graham Gooch made a pair on debut at the age of 21-and-a-half in 1975. He scored 6 and 37 in his second and spent the next three years on the sidelines. After cementing his spot since his returned in 1978, Gooch led a rebel tour to South Africa for which was handed a three-year ban. As a result he had only 66 Tests and 4337 runs under his belt by the time he turned 35. However he scored more than half his Test runs thereafter. In his last six years, Gooch played 52 Tests and averaged 48.54 while amassing 4563 runs and 12 centuries. He was the top-scorer in 1990 and 1991 during which he scored 1264 and 1040 and was the only batsman to score more than 1000 runs in those years.

Batting average when 35 years and older greater than when below 35 (qualification: 20 innings when 35+, 20 when not)

Player	Span		Young	Runs	Ave	100		Old	Runs	Ave	100		Diff
Imran Khan (Pak)	1971-1992		70	2770	32.97	4		18	1037	61.00	2		28.023
JG Wright (NZ)	1978-1993		63	3635	33.34	7		19	1699	53.09	5		19.745
G Kirsten (SA)	1993-2004		87	6058	42.96	16		14	1231	61.55	5		18.585
EAB Rowan (SA)	1935-1951		12	727	34.61	0		14	1238	51.58	3		16.964
B Mitchell (SA)	1929-1949		32	2399	45.26	5		10	1072	59.55	3		14.291
JE Emburey (Eng)	1978-1995		46	1027	19.01	0		18	686	31.18	0		12.163
Zaheer Abbas (Pak)	1969-1985		46	3023	40.85	7		32	2039	52.28	5		11.430
TW Graveney (Eng)	1951-1969		49	2687	40.10	4		30	2195	51.04	7		10.942
GA Gooch (Eng)	1975-1995		66	4337	37.71	8		52	4563	48.54	12		10.829
MH Mankad (India)	1946-1959		18	796	25.67	2		26	1313	36.47	3		10.794

As Imran Khan approached his 35th birthday, he already belonged to the same class of allrounders as Garry Sobers. He had 311 wickets at 22.19 each and averaged 32.97 with the bat. In his last 18 Tests Imran averaged 61 and hit two hundreds and seven fifties in his last 25 innings . His form with his ball dipped a touch but he still winkled out 51 wickets at 26.56 apiece.

A three-year ban for leading a rebel tour interrupted Mike Gatting's career as well from 1989 to 1993. Before his ban he had out runs from 68 Tests at an average of 37.57. He was recalled for the tour of India in 1993. However, unlike Gooch, Gatting's career did not flourish post 35. He scored only 539 runs at an average of 25.66 in his last 11 Tests with just one century.

Batting average when 35 years and older less than when below 35 (qualification: 20 innings when 35+, 20 when not)

Player	Span		Young	Runs	Ave	100		Old	Runs	Ave	100		Diff
MW Gatting (Eng)	1978-1995		68	3870	37.57	9		11	539	25.66	1		-11.906
AR Border (Aus)	1978-1994		115	8701	53.38	23		41	2473	42.63	4		-10.742
ST Jayasuriya (SL)	1991-2006		88	5757	42.64	12		18	1003	32.35	2		-10.289
W Bardsley (Aus)	1909-1926		20	1490	45.15	5		21	979	34.96	1		-10.187
IVA Richards (WI)	1974-1991		87	6433	53.16	20		34	2107	43.00	4		-10.165
CG Greenidge (WI)	1974-1991		71	5033	48.39	12		37	2525	38.84	7		-9.548
MC Cowdrey (Eng)	1954-1975		92	6346	45.98	18		22	1278	36.51	4		-9.471
H Sutcliffe (Eng)	1924-1935		32	2960	64.34	12		22	1595	55.00	4		-9.347
WAS Oldfield (Aus)	1920-1937		20	699	27.96	0		34	728	19.15	0		-8.802
KC Wessels (Aus/SA)	1982-1994		25	1894	44.04	4		15	894	35.76	2		-8.286

Jayasuriya was in brilliant one-day form in 2006 but his performances in Tests were woeful. Jayasuriya, currently 37 and counting, has scored just 403 runs in 13 Tests since 2005. He even retired after the home series against Pakistan in April but reversed his decision to join the squad in England.

Among the top ten bowlers who've performed the best after 35, nine ended their careers before 1980 when it was far more common for players to play well into their 30s. Courtney Walsh, who began his career in 1984, ended it in 2001, at 38 years of age. Unlike other fast bowlers at the end of their careers, Kapil Dev comes to mind, Walsh finished while he was still on top of his game . He has an astonishing 180 wickets from his last 39 Tests at 21.61 apiece.

Bowling average when 35 years and older better than when below 35 (qualification: 2000 balls when 35+, 2000 when not)

Player	Span		Young	Wkts	Ave	5		Old	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
TL Goddard (SA)	1955-1970		33	88	29.55	4		8	35	17.85	1		-11.699
R Illingworth (Eng)	1958-1973		23	35	38.80	0		38	87	28.14	3		-10.650
SF Barnes (Eng)	1901-1914		9	50	20.96	6		18	139	14.80	18		-6.154
H Trumble (Aus)	1890-1904		24	91	23.91	5		8	50	17.92	4		-5.992
CA Walsh (WI)	1984-2001		93	339	25.95	13		39	180	21.61	9		-4.341
GS Sobers (WI)	1954-1974		81	205	34.52	6		12	30	30.73	0		-3.788
JR Reid (NZ)	1949-1965		42	60	34.18	0		16	25	31.36	1		-2.823
G Giffen (Aus)	1881-1896		23	60	28.10	4		8	43	25.69	3		-2.402
BE Congdon (NZ)	1965-1978		38	26	37.57	0		23	33	35.66	1		-1.910
JC Laker (Eng)	1948-1959		32	139	21.75	7		14	54	19.94	2		-1.810

As John Emburey approached the end of his career, he gradually lost his potency with the ball and became more effective with the bat. Embury played his last 18 Tests over a span of eight years and took only 32 wickets at 55.96. However, his lower-order batting improved and he averaged 31.18 with the bat, compared to his previous average of 19.01.

Bowling average when 35 years and older worse than when below 35 (qualification: 2000 balls when 35+, 2000 when not)

Player	Span		Young	Wkts	Ave	5		Old	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
JE Emburey (Eng)	1978-1995		46	115	33.52	6		18	32	55.96	0		22.447
KD Mackay (Aus)	1956-1963		24	24	28.41	1		13	26	39.96	1		11.544
W Rhodes (Eng)	1899-1930		42	99	24.44	6		16	28	35.89	0		11.448
R Peel (Eng)	1884-1896		12	66	13.71	3		8	35	23.14	2		9.430
FE Woolley (Eng)	1909-1934		32	55	30.92	3		32	28	39.78	1		8.858
B Yardley (Aus)	1978-1983		25	95	29.66	4		8	31	37.67	2		8.014
RR Lindwall (Aus)	1946-1960		51	199	22.28	11		10	29	28.13	1		5.851
KR Miller (Aus)	1946-1956		41	119	21.39	4		14	51	26.66	3		5.271
LR Gibbs (WI)	1958-1976		50	209	27.54	13		29	100	32.32	5		4.774
PI Pocock (Eng)	1968-1985		17	47	43.04	3		8	20	47.65	0		4.607