Ian Bell and an average of 488

The highest batting average against a particular team or at a particular venue

07-Apr-2010

Ian Bell on his way to a century in Mirpur  •  Getty Images

Ian Bell likes batting against Bangladesh. A lot of batsmen do, but Bell has thrived against them. So much so that during his century in the recent Mirpur Test, his average against Bangladesh touched 488 in five innings, before it was halved when they dismissed him for only the second time. Bell's quirky average of 488 against Bangladesh is the highest mean any batsman has had against a particular team at any point of time. The averages in the tables below include all the runs scored until the batsman's dismissal in the last listed innings.

Bell's second and third Tests were against Bangladesh in 2005 and he scored 65 and 162 - both unbeaten innings - at Lord's and Chester-le-Street. Those performances followed his 70 on debut against West Indies at the Oval in 2004. So when Bell played his first Ashes Test, at headquarters in 2005, his career average reached 303 before Glenn McGrath bowled him for 6. By the time Australia were done with him, that figure had plummeted to 42.54. His Test average may have been reduced to normal size, but Bell continued to pile it on against Bangladesh, scoring 84, 39 not out and 138 in the recent two-match series.

Bell's mean of 303, just before his dismissal in the Lord's Ashes Test, is among the highest career averages for a player at any point in a career. That table is headed by Lawrence Rowe, the only batsman to score a double-century and a hundred on debut. Rowe scored 214 and 100 against New Zealand at Sabina Park and his average reached 336 before his next dismissal, in Trinidad.

Highest Test average against a team at any point in career
Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Runs	Ave	Opposition	Ground	Start Date	Scorecard
IR Bell (Eng)	2005-2010	4	5	488	488.00	v Bangladesh	Dhaka	Mar 20, 2010	Test 1956
65, 162, 84, 39*, 138
Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)	2001-2003	4	4	424	424.00	v Bangladesh	Karachi	Aug 20, 2003	Test 1655
102, 72, 204, 46
ML Hayden (Aus)	2003-2003	2	2	400	400.00	v Zimbabwe	Sydney	Oct 17, 2003	Test 1663
380, 20
CA Davis (WI)	1971-1971	3	5	383	383.00	v India	Bridgetown	Apr 1, 1971	Test 685
71, 74, 34, 125*, 79
ML Hayden (Aus)	2003-2003	1	1	380	-	v Zimbabwe	Perth	Oct 9, 2003	Test 1661
380
Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)	2001-2002	3	3	378	378.00	v Bangladesh	Chittagong	Jan 16, 2002	Test 1586
102, 72, 204
HH Gibbs (SA)	1999-1999	3	3	365	365.00	v New Zealand	Wellington	Mar 18, 1999	Test 1452
34, 211*, 120
GC Smith (SA)	2003-2003	1	2	362	362.00	v England	Birmingham	Jul 24, 2003	Test 1651
277, 85
Hanif Mohammad (Pak)	1958-1958	1	2	354	354.00	v West Indies	Bridgetown	Jan 17, 1958	Test 446
17, 337
RA Smith (Eng)	1990-1990	3	5	354	354.00	v India	The Oval	Aug 23, 1990	Test 1150
100, 15, 121, 61*, 57
IR Bell (Eng)	2005-2010	3	4	350	350.00	v Bangladesh	Chittagong	Mar 12, 2010	Test 1954
65, 162, 84, 39*
V Sehwag (India)	2004-2004	2	2	348	348.00	v Pakistan	Lahore	Apr 5, 2004	Test 1695
309, 39
DG Bradman (Aus)	1931-1931	2	2	338	338.00	v South Africa	Sydney	Dec 18, 1931	Test 213
226, 112
LG Rowe (WI)	1972-1972	2	3	336	336.00	v New Zealand	Port of Spain	Mar 9, 1972	Test 694
214, 100*, 22

When Don Bradman came to Leeds to play his first Test at Headingley, in 1930, he made his career best score - 334. When he returned in 1934, he made his second-highest score - 304. His average of 638, just before his second dismissal, is the highest any batsman has managed at any venue. Bradman returned for two more Tests at Headingley and scored two centuries in four innings. His final average there was 192.60. At one point he also averaged 476 at The Oval, after scoring double-centuries in his first two Test innings there.

Highest Test average at a venue at any point in career
Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Runs	Ave	Ground	Start Date	Scorecard
DG Bradman (Aus)	1930-1934	2	2	638	638.00	Headingley, Leeds	Jul 20, 1934	Test 236
334, 304
Javed Miandad (Pak)	1976-1984	4	5	558	558.00	Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad, Sind	Nov 25, 1984	Test 1000
25, DNB, 88, 61, 280*, 104
DG Bradman (Aus)	1930-1934	2	2	476	476.00	Kennington Oval, London	Aug 18, 1934	Test 237
232, 244
FMM Worrell (WI)	1950-1957	2	3	468	468.00	Trent Bridge, Nottingham	Jul 4, 1957	Test 441
261, DNB, 191*, 16
MS Atapattu (SL)	1999-2004	2	2	465	-	Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo	May 14, 2004	Test 1699
216*, 249
Javed Miandad (Pak)	1976-1983	3	4	454	454.00	Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad, Sind	Jan 14, 1983	Test 946
25, DNB, 88, 61, 280*
FMM Worrell (WI)	1950-1957	2	2	452	452.00	Trent Bridge, Nottingham	Jul 4, 1957	Test 441
261, DNB, 191*
Younis Khan (Pak)	2005-2007	2	3	431	431.00	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	Dec 8, 2007	Test 1852
267, 84*, 80
A Flower (Zim)	1993-2000	2	4	430	430.00	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	Nov 18, 2000	Test 1515
115, 62, 183, 70
MA Taylor (Aus)	1998-1998	1	2	426	-	Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar	Oct 15, 1998	Test 1426
334*, 92
PBH May (Eng)	1957-1958	2	3	399	399.00	Edgbaston, Birmingham	Jun 5, 1958	Test 454
30, 285*, 84
LG Rowe (WI)	1972-1973	2	3	390	390.00	Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica	Feb 16, 1973	Test 714
214, 100*, 76
GS Chappell (Aus)	1974-1974	1	2	380	-	Basin Reserve, Wellington	Mar 1, 1974	Test 733
247*, 133
L Hutton (Eng)	1937-1938	2	2	376	376.00	Kennington Oval, London	Aug 20, 1938	Test 266
12, DNB, 364
A Sandham (Eng)	1930-1930	1	2	375	375.00	Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica	Apr 3, 1930	Test 193
325, 50
M Azharuddin (India)	1985-1986	2	3	375	375.00	Green Park, Kanpur	Dec 17, 1986	Test 1061
122, 54*, 199

The highest ODI mean for a batsman at any stage of his career belongs to Kevin Pietersen, whose average soared to 267 during his seventh ODI - against South Africa, at Port Elizabeth in 2005. He had been unbeaten in four innings out of six. Pietersen went on to score 75, 100 not out and 116 in his next three innings in South Africa, which meant his average, even after nine innings, was 186.

Michael Hussey, however, had an even more astonishing run at the start of his career. He had an average of 177.75 after his first 23 matches (17 innings) because of 12 unbeaten knocks with a high score of only 88 not out.

Highest ODI average at any point in career
Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Runs	Ave	Opposition	Ground	Start Date	Scorecard
KP Pietersen (Eng)	2004-2005	7	6	267	267.00	v South Africa	Port Elizabeth	Feb 4, 2005	ODI 2221
27, 77, DNB, 0, 22, 108, 33
AJ Lamb (Eng)	1982-1982	3	3	252	252.00	v Pakistan	Nottingham	Jul 17, 1982	ODI 154
35*, 99, 118
KP Pietersen (Eng)	2004-2005	6	5	234	234.00	v South Africa	Bloemfontein	Feb 2, 2005	ODI 2219
27, 77, DNB, 0, 22, 108
MEK Hussey (Aus)	2004-2005	8	7	234	234.00	v England	Chester-le-Street	Jun 23, 2005	ODI 2253
17, 32, 65, DNB, 0, 31*, 84, 5
MEK Hussey (Aus)	2004-2005	7	6	229	-	v England	Bristol	Jun 19, 2005	ODI 2251
17, 32, 65, DNB, 0, 31*, 84
MJ Clarke (Aus)	2003-2003	5	5	209	209.00	v West Indies	St George's	Jun 1, 2003	ODI 2021
39, 75, 55*, 39, 1
MJ Clarke (Aus)	2003-2003	4	4	208	-	v West Indies	Port of Spain	May 25, 2003	ODI 2019
39, 75, 55*, 39
DL Haynes (WI)	1978-1979	2	2	195	195.00	v India	Birmingham	Jun 9, 1979	ODI 61
148, 47
KP Pietersen (Eng)	2004-2005	11	9	558	186.00	v South Africa	Centurion	Feb 13, 2005	ODI 2226
27, 77, DNB, 0, 22, 108, 33, 75, 100*, DNB, 116
Saleem Elahi (Pak)	1995-1995	3	3	179	179.00	v Sri Lanka	Rawalpindi	Oct 3, 1995	ODI 1005
102*, 47, 30
MJ Guptill (NZ)	2009-2009	3	3	178	178.00	v Australia	Perth	Feb 1, 2009	ODI 2811
122*, 43, 13
MEK Hussey (Aus)	2004-2006	23	17	711	177.75	v South Africa	Brisbane	Jan 15, 2006	ODI 2314
17, 32, 65, DNB, 0, 31, 84, 5, DNB, 45, DNB, 62, 46, DNB, DNB, 32, DNB, 75, 21, 1, 88, 34, 73
JH Edrich (Eng)	1971-1974	2	2	172	172.00	v India	Leeds	Jul 13, 1974	ODI 12
82, 90
KP Pietersen (Eng)	2004-2005	8	7	342	171.00	v South Africa	Cape Town	Feb 6, 2005	ODI 2223
27, 77, DNB, 0, 22, 108, 33, 75

Another England batsman has had a prolific run against Bangladesh. During his eighth ODI innings against them, Paul Collingwood's average touched 316, before he was dismissed for 7 and 36 in his next two innings. He now averages only 117.33 against Bangladesh in ODIs.

MS Dhoni's average at the National Stadium in Karachi during his sixth match there is the highest average for a player at a particular venue. Dhoni made 77*, 109*, 26*, and 76 before he was dismissed for 67 when he had an average of 355.

Highest ODI average at a venue at any point in career
Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Runs	Ave	Ground	Start Date	Scorecard
MS Dhoni (India)	2006-2008	6	5	355	355.00	National Stadium, Karachi	Jul 3, 2008	ODI 2732
77, 109, 26*, DNB, 76, 67
SR Tendulkar (India)	1999-2007	3	3	352	352.00	County Ground, Bristol	Aug 24, 2007	ODI 2613
140*, 113, 99
G Kirsten (SA)	1994-1996	4	4	329	329.00	Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium	Mar 5, 1996	ODI 1073
20, 188, 38, 83
Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)	1998-2002	5	4	313	313.00	Harare Sports Club	Dec 1, 2002	ODI 1907
59, 66, 100, DNB, 88
SR Tendulkar (India)	1994-2003	4	4	310	310.00	Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, Deccan	Nov 15, 2003	ODI 2062
11, 11, 186, 102
Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)	2000-2000	4	4	295	295.00	Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka	Jun 7, 2000	ODI 1602
80, 100, 90, 25
MS Dhoni (India)	2006-2008	5	4	288	-	National Stadium, Karachi	Jul 2, 2008	ODI 2730
77, 109, 26*, DNB, 76
IVA Richards (WI)	1975-1991	4	3	284	284.00	Old Trafford, Manchester	May 25, 1991	ODI 677
DNB, 17, 189*, 78
Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)	2000-2000	3	3	270	270.00	Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka	Jun 5, 2000	ODI 1601
80, 100, 90
RS Mahanama (SL)	1994-1994	3	3	267	267.00	Harare Sports Club	Nov 6, 1994	ODI 948
119*, 108, 40
ML Hayden (Aus)	2002-2002	5	4	265	265.00	Gymkhana Club Ground, Nairobi	Sep 7, 2002	ODI 1873
146, 40, 59, DNB, 20*
ST Jayasuriya (SL)	2002-2006	2	2	264	264.00	Headingley, Leeds	Jul 1, 2006	ODI 2389
112, 152
DS Lehmann (Aus)	1999-2003	3	3	260	260.00	National Cricket Stadium, St George's, Grenada	Jun 1, 2003	ODI 2021
110*, 43, 107
IVA Richards (WI)	1980-1987	3	3	257	257.00	National Stadium, Karachi	Oct 13, 1987	ODI 457
36, 40*, 181
G Boycott (Eng)	1979-1980	4	3	254	254.00	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jan 22, 1980	ODI 87
TDNB, 105, 86*, 63
SR Tendulkar (India)	1999-2002	2	2	253	-	County Ground, Bristol	Jul 11, 2002	ODI 1855
140*, 113
SR Tendulkar (India)	1993-1996	3	3	251	251.00	Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur	Oct 23, 1996	ODI 1130
82*, 105, 64

If there's a particular List you would like to see, email us with your comments and suggestions.

George Binoy is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo