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Allan Border missed only one Test during a period in which Australia played 157
© Getty Images
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A chance remark by Shankar Narayanan of New Delhi provided the spark for this article. He wanted me to look at the fact that Dravid was rarely injured and almost never missed a Test. I started thinking about and it struck me that I could not even tell when Dravid missed a Test, if ever he did. I knew that Kapil Dev missed a single Test, courtesy Gavaskar, and I started work. Thanks to Shankar for providing the spark.
I decided that I would do this analysis for both Tests and ODIs. And as I started the work, the idea of doing a combined Test+ODIs analysis also seemed feasible especially as I have already done done a lot of work regarding the forthcoming combined batting/bowling analyses.
First let us see why players miss matches.
1. They are injured. This is the most common reason.
2. They opt out. Dhoni did that during the tour of Sri Lanka and a host of English and Australian players have done so for subcontinent tours during the early days. Not now, though, with so much money being available here.
3. In rare cases for top players, they are dropped.
An extended absence from cricket through an outside happening like war is not a reason since both the team(s) and player(s) miss matches.
The cut-off is simple. For Tests it is 50 matches, for ODIs, 100 matches and for the combined analysis, these two numbers form the minimum requirement. The question of determining the number of matches played by the team presented a nice tough challenge since the career span for each player is unique.
1. Test matches: Ordered by the number of matches played
SNo.Player Cty Career <-Mats-> % Missed
Span Own Team Mats
1.Waugh S.R Aus 1985-2004 168 189 88.9% 21
2.Tendulkar S.R Ind 1989-2009 159 173 91.9% 14
3.Border A.R Aus 1979-1994 156 157 99.4% 1
4.Warne S.K Aus 1992-2007 145 177 81.9% 32
5.Ponting R.T Aus 1995-2009 136 159 85.5% 23
6.Dravid R Ind 1996-2009 134 135 99.3% 1
7.Stewart A.J Eng 1990-2003 133 154 86.4% 21
8.Kumble A Ind 1990-2008 132 159 83.0% 27
9.Walsh C.A Win 1984-2001 132 142 93.0% 10
10.Lara B.C Win 1990-2006 131 158 82.9% 27
The most amazing players in this group are Border and Dravid who missed a single Test each in careers lasting 15 years. Dravid missed the Motera Test during 2005. The others missed quite a few Tests, none more so than Warne. Surprisingly Kumble also missed 27 Tests, as did Lara. Tendulkar missed 14 Tests, no doubt due to his injuries.
To view the complete list, please click here.
2. Test matches: Ordered by the % of team matches played
SNo.Player Cty Career <-Mats-> % Missed
Span Own Team Mats
1.Gilchrist A.C Aus 1999-2008 96 96 100.0% 0
2.Reid J.R Nzl 1949-1965 58 58 100.0% 0
3.Greig A.W Eng 1972-1977 58 58 100.0% 0
4.de Villiers A.B Saf 2004-2009 52 52 100.0% 0
5.Border A.R Aus 1979-1994 156 157 99.4% 1
6.Dravid R Ind 1996-2009 134 135 99.3% 1
7.Kapil Dev N Ind 1978-1994 131 132 99.2% 1
8.Healy I.A Aus 1988-1999 119 120 99.2% 1
9.Dujon P.J.L Win 1981-1991 81 82 98.8% 1
10.Waugh M.E Aus 1991-2002 128 130 98.5% 2
11.Lawry W.M Aus 1961-1971 67 68 98.5% 1
12.Fredericks R.C Win 1968-1977 59 60 98.3% 1
...
221.Martyn D.R Aus 1992-2006 67 167 40.1% 100
...
224.Titmus F.J Eng 1955-1975 53 185 28.6% 132
What does one say of Gilchrist. 96 straight Tests and if he had not missed that catch off Laxman would have gone on past 100. This is some level of fitness. Reid and Greig played 58 straight Tests each. Greig broke this sequence since he was involved with Packer. Let us see how long is de Villiers' run. Kapil Dev missed one Test, not because he was injured, but Gavaskar's making him the scapegoat for playing a poor shot. Quite a few others have missed only one Test.
Incidentally Pietersen had a run of 54 consecutive Tests which was broken by his recent injury. Note also the very low % of matches of Martyn indicating his in-out playing career. He also had a long break between 1994 and 2000. What he achieved despite this treatment is amazing. Titmus had a six-year hiatus between 1968 and 1974.
To view the complete list, please click here.
3. ODI matches: Ordered by the number of matches played
SNo.Player Cty Career <-Mats-> % Missed
Span Own Team Mats
1.Jayasuriya S.T Slk 1989-2009 440 494 89.1% 54
2.Tendulkar S.R Ind 1989-2009 436 562 77.6% 126
3.Inzamam-ul-Haq Pak 1991-2007 378 450 84.0% 72
4.Wasim Akram Pak 1984-2003 356 478 74.5% 122
5.Dravid R Ind 1996-2009 339 447 75.8% 108
6.Azharuddin M Ind 1985-2000 334 379 88.1% 45
7.Muralitharan M Slk 1993-2009 333 445 74.8% 112
8.Ponting R.T Aus 1995-2009 330 404 81.7% 74
9.Waugh S.R Aus 1986-2002 325 357 91.0% 32
10.Vaas WPUJC Slk 1994-2008 324 399 81.2% 75
At the top it is not easy to even get to 90% which has been achieved only by Steve Waugh. Note the very high number of matches missed by Tendulkar which has pushed his playing % to below 80.
To view the complete list, please click here.
4. ODI matches: Ordered by the % of team matches played
SNo.Player Cty Career <-Mats-> % Missed
Span Own Team Mats
1.Cronje W.J Saf 1992-2000 188 191 98.4% 3
2.Tikolo S.O Ken 1996-2009 126 128 98.4% 2
3.Flower A Zim 1992-2003 213 218 97.7% 5
4.Dhoni M.S Ind 2004-2009 151 155 97.4% 4
5.Khaled Mashud Bng 1995-2006 126 130 96.9% 4
6.Dujon P.J.L Win 1981-1991 169 177 95.5% 8
7.Sangakkara K.C Slk 2000-2009 256 270 94.8% 14
8.Boucher M.V Saf 1998-2009 285 303 94.1% 18
9.Border A.R Aus 1979-1994 273 290 94.1% 17
10.Odoyo T.M Ken 1996-2009 120 128 93.8% 8
...
174.Hayden M.L Aus 1993-2008 161 392 41.1% 231
...
178.Kambli V.G Ind 1991-2000 104 272 38.2% 168
179.Mushtaq Ahmed Pak 1989-2003 144 402 35.8% 258
The African players rule the roost here, picking up the top 3 places. Tikolo and Andy Flower come from the lesser nations. Dhoni's run of 150+ matches, missing only four, that too a voluntary decision, is commendable.
Note Hayden's extraordinarily low % of matches. After making his ODI debut in 1993, he had a 6-year break until 2000, after which he was devastating. Kambli was in and out. Mushtaq played a single disastrous match three years after his retirement.
To view the complete list, please click here.
5. Test+ODI matches: Ordered by the number of matches played
SNo.Player Cty Career <-Mats-> %
Span Own Team
1.Tendulkar S.R Ind 1989-2009 595 735 81.0%
2.Jayasuriya S.T Slk 1989-2009 550 636 86.5%
3.Inzamam-ul-Haq Pak 1991-2007 498 586 85.0%
4.Waugh S.R Aus 1985-2004 493 546 90.3%
5.Dravid R Ind 1996-2009 473 582 81.3%
6.Ponting R.T Aus 1995-2009 466 563 82.8%
7.Muralitharan M Slk 1992-2009 462 597 77.4%
8.Wasim Akram Pak 1984-2003 460 609 75.5%
9.Vaas WPUJC Slk 1994-2009 435 532 81.8%
10.Azharuddin M Ind 1985-2000 433 489 88.5%
11.Lara B.C Win 1990-2007 429 532 80.6%
12.Border A.R Aus 1979-1994 429 447 96.0%
The only two players who have 90+% in this top-12 table are Steve Waugh and Border. It is a tribute to their fitness. Tendulkar just about gets past 80%. Note how high Azharuddin's playing %, a tribute to his fitness.
To view the complete list, please click here.
6. Test+ODI matches: Ordered by the % of team matches played
SNo.Player Cty Career <-Mats-> %
Span Own Team
1.Cronje W.J Saf 1992-2000 256 261 98.1%
2.Flower A Zim 1992-2003 276 283 97.5%
3.Dujon P.J.L Win 1981-1991 250 259 96.5%
4.Border A.R Aus 1979-1994 429 447 96.0%
5.Sangakkara K.C Slk 2000-2009 341 357 95.5%
6.Healy I.A Aus 1988-1999 287 301 95.3%
7.Kapil Dev N Ind 1978-1994 356 375 94.9%
8.Boucher M.V Saf 1997-2009 411 438 93.8%
9.Jayawardene D.P.M.D Slk 1997-2009 416 446 93.3%
10.Marsh G.R Aus 1985-1992 167 180 92.8%
...
106.Abdul Qadir Pak 1977-1993 171 323 52.9%
107.Sidhu N.S Ind 1983-1999 187 357 52.4%
108.Martyn D.R Aus 1992-2006 275 530 51.9%
109.Hayden M.L Aus 1993-2009 264 561 47.1%
110.Mushtaq Ahmed Pak 1989-2003 196 513 38.2%
Again here Cronje is on top, followed by Andy Flower. Australia has three players in the top-10. At the end of the table we have players, barring Hayden, already discussed, who have had chequered careers. Qadir, in Tests, had a poor start, playing 10 matches in 5 years. In case of Mushtaq, his unsuccessful comeback efforts in 2003 have extended his overall career by three years. Sidhu had a 5-year gap after his debut in 1983.
Kepler Wessels has been deliberately excluded since his two-country career spanning 12 years does not lend itself to this type of analysis.
To view the complete list, please click here.
Finally one can see that the batsmen dominate the top portions of the lists. As Goel mentioned, bowlers find it difficult to maintain their playing status because of multitude of reasons.
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According to this graph, experience outweighs youthful exuberance more times than it doesn’t (Click here for a bigger image)
© Ric Finlay
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Our CSW database has the capacity to analyse data by age, so I decided to use it to investigate what age(s), if any, provided significantly better performances.
My sample was Sheffield Shield data since 1977, when the newest state, Tasmania, entered the competition. This provided reasonably homogenous data, with little of the cultural variation that might be obtained using Test match data. The sample thus analysed over nearly 950 matches, involving 800 players.
The results are in the table below:
Age-wise averages with bat and ball in Sheffield Shield since 1977
| Age |
Batting average |
Bowling |
| <20 |
28.34 |
34.01 |
| 20 |
26.66 |
35.78 |
| 21 |
29.08 |
36.45 |
| 22 |
30.55 |
36.92 |
| 23 |
30.31 |
36.10 |
| 24 |
31.23 |
34.93 |
| 25 |
30.77 |
33.22 |
| 26 |
31.67 |
33.56 |
| 27 |
30.99 |
32.75 |
| 28 |
31.53 |
32.86 |
| 29 |
32.41 |
31.45 |
| 30 |
33.96 |
30.58 |
| 31 |
32.35 |
32.19 |
| 32 |
34.63 |
30.42 |
| 33 |
31.64 |
29.93 |
| 34 |
30.71 |
31.19 |
| 35 |
32.72 |
33.32 |
| >35 |
33.06 |
34.97 |
What, if anything, can be deduced from the results? Well, clearly, both batting and bowling averages improve as one gets older, but the extent to which this happens after the age of 30 surprises me. The picture of the young, virile cricketer in his early-20s emerging triumphant over the aging has-been is not sustained by this data, and it would seem that experience outweighs youthful exuberance more times than it doesn’t. For both batsmen and bowlers, the ages of 32 - 33 are the vintage years, and perhaps we are too keen to write players off as they move through their early-30s.
I would be most interested to read of the comments by others in relation to this data, and data from other spheres of cricket.
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