500-Plus in 4 or fewer Tests

M. Shoaib Ahmed

March 27, 2001

Australia's Matthew Hayden and India's VVS Laxman became "just the tenth and eleventh player in Test history to aggregate 500-plus in a 3-Test rubber". Gooch, Zaheer Abbas, Nurse, Saleem Malik, Adams, Andrew Jones Mark Taylor, Shoaib Mohammad and Miandad are the other nine.

England's Walter Hammond, Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya and Zimbabwe's Andy Flower compiled 500-plus in 2-Test rubbers. In the 1932-33 tour to New Zealand, Hammond scored 227 in the first Test at Christchurch and an unbeaten 336 in the second at Auckland, in just two innings in the 2-Test rubber.

Let us expand this study to include all those who have aggregated 500-plus in 4 or fewer Tests, even if the actual rubber may have been of 5 Tests, as applicable to Doug Walters 1968-69, Gavaskar and Charlie Davis 1970-71 and Vivian Richards 1976 (see table below).

It is interesting to note that there are only 31 instances of 29 batsmen performing this feat, Sunil Gavaskar and Vivian Richards being the only ones to figure twice in the list. There are eight West Indians, six Australians, four Pakistanis, four Englishmen, four Indians, two South Africans and a solitary New Zealanders in this record section.

Only four of the 28 batsmen had the supreme distinction of performing the feat on their Test debut - West Indies George Headley (1930), South Africa's Barry Richards (1970) and Pakistan's Javed Miandad (1976).

In 2 Tests   Runs Opponents Seasons   Inns HS     100s   50s
Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) 571 v Ind in SL 1997-98   3 340    2      -
Walter Hammond (Eng) 563 v NZ in NZ 1932-33   2 336*   2      -
Andy Flower (Zim) 540 v Ind in Ind 2000-01   4     232*   2      2


In 3 Tests
Graham Gooch (Eng)  752 v India in Eng 1990   6 333    3      2
Zaheer Abbas (Pak) 583 v India in Pak 1978-79   5 235*   2      1
Seymour Nourse (WI) 558 v NZ in NZ  1968-69   5 258    2      1
Saleem Malik(Pak)  557 v Aus in Pak 1994-95   6 237    2      1
Matthew Hayden (Aus) 521 v Ind in Ind 2000-01   5 203    2      2
Jimmy Adams (WI) 520 v Ind in Ind 1994-95   6 174*   2      2
Andrew Jones (NZ) 513 v SL in NZ  1990-91   6 186    3      1
Mark Taylor (Aus) 513 v Pak in Pak  1998-99   5 334*   2      1
Shoaib Mohammad (Pak) 507 v NZ in Pak 1990-91   5  203*   3      -
Javed Miandad (Pak)  504 v NZ in Pak 1976-77   5 206    2      1
VVS Laxman (Ind) 503 v Aus in Ind 2000-01   6 281    1      3


In 4 Tests
Vivian Richards (WI) 829 v Eng in Eng 1976   7  291    3      2
Sunil Gavaskar  (Ind) 774 v WI in WI  1970-71   8 220    4      3
George Headley (WI) 703 v Eng in WI  1929-30   8  223    4      -
Doug Walters (Aus) 699 v WI in Aus 1968-69   6 242    4      2
Patsy Hendren (WI) 693 v WI in WI  1929-30   8 205*   2      5
Richie Richardson (WI)  619 v Ind in WI 1988-89   7 194    2      3
Andy Sandham (Eng)  592 v WI in WI 1929-30   8 325    2      2
Bill Ponsford (Aus) 569 v Eng in Eng  1934   7 266    2      1
Sanjay Manjrekar (Ind) 569 v Pak in Pak 1989-90   7 218    2      3
Vivian Richards (WI) 556 v Ind in WI 1975-76   6 177    3      1
Bill Edrich (Eng) 552 v SA in Eng  1947   6 191    2      2
Brian Lara (WI)  546 v Aus in WI 1998-99   7 213    3      1
Sunil Gavaskar (Ind) 542 v Eng in Eng  1979   7 221    1      4
Frank Worrell (WI) 539 v Eng in Eng  1950   6 261    2      1
Brian Booth (Aus) 531 v SA in Aus 1963-64   7 169    2      3
Charlie Davis (WI) 529 v Ind in WI 1970-71   8 125    2      3
Vinod Mankad (Ind) 526 v NZ in Ind 1955-56   5 231    2      -
Graeme Pollock (SA)  517 v Aus in SA  1969-70   7 274    1      3
Bill Brown (Aus) 512 v Eng in Eng  1938   8 206    2      1
Barry Richards (SA) 508 v Aus in SA 1969-70   7 140    2      2

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