Who has had the most team-mates?

Who do you think has had the greatest number of team-mates in Tests and ODIs? Logic would dictate that the odds would be on someone who has played over 100 Tests and 300 ODIs. And who has had the least number of team-mates per match over the length of a career? Would you still back someone who has played 100 Tests and nearly 300 ODIs?

The table of players with the most team-mates is an English monopoly, filled with representatives from across the decades. England allrounder Frank Woolley played with 111 players during his 64-Test career, the second highest in our table. He played alongside quite a few of those during the 1921 Ashes, when England used a record 30 players in a five-Test series. Woolley and Johnny Douglas were the only two to play in all the games. Woolley has also played under 14 different captains, which is the most for a player in Tests.

Graham Gooch, whose tally of 118 Tests was well short of the record for most Tests, had 113 team-mates, the most for any player. Incidentally, Gooch played five of the six Tests in the 1989 Ashes, in which England used 29 players, the second highest for a Test series.

Player Span Matches Team-mates TM/Mat

GA Gooch (Eng) 1975-1995 118 113 0.957

FE Woolley (Eng) 1909-1934 64 111 1.734

WR Hammond (Eng) 1927-1947 85 106 1.247

L Hutton (Eng) 1937-1955 79 98 1.240

MC Cowdrey (Eng) 1954-1975 114 97 0.850

AJ Stewart (Eng) 1990-2003 133 97 0.729

DCS Compton (Eng) 1937-1957 78 96 1.230

W Rhodes (Eng) 1899-1930 58 95 1.637

JB Hobbs (Eng) 1908-1930 61 93 1.524

DI Gower (Eng) 1978-1992 117 91 0.777

MA Atherton (Eng) 1989-2001 115 91 0.791

TG Evans (Eng) 1946-1959 91 88 0.967

SR Tendulkar (India) 1989-2007 140 88 0.628

G Boycott (Eng) 1964-1982 108 87 0.805

MW Gatting (Eng) 1978-1995 79 87 1.101

JE Emburey (Eng) 1978-1995 64 86 1.343

AR Border (Aus) 1978-1994 156 85 0.544

Wasim Akram (Pak) 1985-2002 104 85 0.817

IT Botham (Eng) 1977-1992 102 84 0.823

EH Hendren (Eng) 1920-1935 51 82 1.607

The first non-English player in the table above is Sachin Tendulkar, at No. 13, who has had 88 team-mates in his 140 Tests. The other two are Allan Border and Wasim Akram, who both had 85 team-mates in 156 and 104 Tests respectively.

Players from the Australian teams post-1995 dominate the table of cricketers who have had the fewest team-mates. Adam Gilchrist has played with only 35 team-mates in his 90 Tests. This is largely due to the stability in the Australian set-up, for Gilchrist has played four three-Test series and two two-Test series with the same XI; one five-Test series (2006-07 Ashes), four three-Test series and a two-Test series in which Australia used only 12 players. Jeff Dujon also had only 35 team-mates in 81 Tests, an indication that the West Indies team of the 1980s and the Australians from the mid-1990s are among the most settled sides in Tests.

Playing with the fewest team-mates per match - Tests

Player	Span

Matches Team-mates TM/Mat AC Gilchrist (Aus)

1999-2007 90 35 0.388 ME Waugh (Aus)

1991-2002 128 51 0.398 SK Warne (Aus)

1992-2007 145 58 0.400 GD McGrath (Aus)

1993-2007 124 51 0.411 SR Waugh (Aus)

1985-2004 168 70 0.416 DL Haynes (WI)

1978-1994 116 50 0.431 PJL Dujon (WI)

1981-1991 81 35 0.432 RT Ponting (Aus)

1995-2007 110 49 0.445 JL Langer (Aus)

1993-2007 105 47 0.447 IA Healy (Aus)

1988-1999 119 55 0.462 JH Kallis (SA)

1995-2007 108 50 0.462 MV Boucher (SA)

1997-2007 103 48 0.466 IVA Richards (WI)

1974-1991 121 58 0.479 ML Hayden (Aus)

1994-2007 89 43 0.483 RB Richardson (WI)

1983-1995 86 42 0.488 G Kirsten (SA)

1993-2004 101 50 0.495 CG Greenidge (WI)

1974-1991 108 54 0.500 SM Pollock (SA)

1995-2007 107 54 0.504 JN Gillespie (Aus)

1996-2006 71 36 0.507 MA Taylor (Aus)

1989-1999 104 54 0.519

The one-day table for most team-mates is headed by the usual suspects, Tendulkar and Akram, who've played 403 and 356 ODI games respectively. Gooch, however, is a surprising entry at No 3. He played only 125 ODIs but has had 97 different team-mates in those.

Given Pakistan's turbulent selection history, several of their players from the 1990s and 2000s have played under the most number of captains. Akram, the only player to have 13 different captains in ODIs, heads the list and is followed by several of his contemporaries. Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq have played under 12 captains; Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmed, Moin Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed under 11; and Saeed Anwar, Aamer Sohail, Waqar Younis and Mohammad Yousuf under 10.

Playing with the most team-mates - ODIs (Multi-nation teams excluded)

Player	Span

Matches Team-mates TM/Mat SR Tendulkar (India)

1989-2007 403 110 0.272 Wasim Akram (Pak)

1984-2003 356 106 0.297 GA Gooch (Eng)

1976-1995 125 97 0.776 M Azharuddin (India)

1985-2000 334 97 0.290 A Kumble (India)

1990-2007 269 97 0.360 Saleem Malik (Pak)

1982-1999 283 94 0.332 BC Lara (WI)

1990-2007 295 90 0.305 Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak)

1991-2007 375 90 0.240 SC Ganguly (India)

1992-2007 305 90 0.295 R Dravid (India)

1996-2007 329 89 0.270 AR Border (Aus)

1979-1994 273 88 0.322 PA de Silva (SL)

1984-2003 308 88 0.285 ST Jayasuriya (SL)

1989-2007 399 88 0.220 Javed Miandad (Pak)

1975-1996 233 85 0.364 Saeed Anwar (Pak)

1989-2003 247 85 0.344 Ijaz Ahmed (Pak)

1986-2000 250 83 0.332 D Gough (Eng)

1994-2006 158 83 0.525 A Ranatunga (SL)

1982-1999 269 82 0.304 Waqar Younis (Pak)

1989-2003 262 82 0.312 AJ Stewart (Eng)

1989-2003 170 82 0.482

Gilchrist, once again, has the fewest team-mates per match in ODIs. He has had only 55 in 274 games, but the Australian dominance isn't as strong as in the Test table. The West Indians - Richie Richardson, Jeff Dujon and Desmond Haynes - also rank high up, followed by the Sri Lankans Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas.

Playing with the fewest team-mates per match - ODIs

Player	Span	Matches

Team-mates TM/Mat AC Gilchrist (Aus) 1996-2007

274 55 0.200 RT Ponting (Aus) 1995-2007

284 59 0.207 RB Richardson (WI) 1983-1996

224 47 0.209 MG Bevan (Aus) 1994-2004

232 49 0.211 PJL Dujon (WI) 1981-1991

169 36 0.213 DL Haynes (WI) 1978-1994

238 51 0.214 ST Jayasuriya (SL) 1989-2007

399 88 0.220 WPUJC Vaas (SL) 1994-2007

304 70 0.230 SR Waugh (Aus) 1986-2002

325 75 0.230 MV Boucher (SA) 1998-2007

250 58 0.232 DPMD Jayawardene (SL) 1998-2007

256 60 0.234 M Muralitharan (SL) 1993-2007

290 69 0.237 Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak) 1991-2007

375 90 0.240 AL Logie (WI) 1981-1993

158 38 0.240 ME Waugh (Aus) 1988-2002

244 59 0.241 SM Pollock (SA) 1996-2007

286 71 0.248 A Symonds (Aus) 1998-2007

177 44 0.248 Mohammad Yousuf (Pak) 1998-2007

241 60 0.248 GD McGrath (Aus) 1993-2007

249 62 0.248 MS Atapattu (SL) 1990-2007

268 68 0.253

Trivia: Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath have played with only three wicketkeepers during their Test careers: Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist and who? Answer next week.