Best batting purple patches - going by centuries per tests(dont worry about averages)

[ankitj]

Wasn't there a little period were at least four of that Indian team were averaging over 50?

Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dravid, Gambhir?

 

[honestbharani]

Nearly an ATG top 6 though, on paper at least. Compare it to:

Langer
Hayden
Ponting
Martyn
Clarke
Hussey

I think the Indian top 6 matches up pretty closely

Not doing individual comparisons but I think openers and #6, Australia easily. As a complete middle order, I would take the Indian 3-5 than the Aussie one.

 

[tony p]

Of Lesser known players, Jack Russell of England, the Essex opener, not the Wicketkeeper, Had 5 centuries in his last 8 tests, including a 90.

He only played 10 Tests in total averaging 56.87, his final 3 innings being 96, 140+111.

 

[Shady Slim]

would voges have had one of these runs at the point his average went up to 100?

hurricane wouldn’t have stood for any of them but still

 

[mr_mister]

well Voges only got 4 tons. His whole thing was endless not outs for a while

 

[AndrewB]

Fewest matches to score n hundreds:

5 in 4: Gavaskar, Ponting, Yousuf, Kallis, Weekes, Warner, Walcott
6 in 5: Yousuf
7 in 7: Yousuf, de Silva, Walcott
8 in 9: Ponting, Bradman, Walcott
9 in 11: Yousuf, Walcott
10 in 12: Yousuf, Walcott
11 in 15: Bradman
12 in 16: Bradman
13 in 18: Bradman
14 in 20: Bradman

(after which you're getting beyond a "purple patch")

 

[TheJediBrah]

My dad used to love Yousuf Youhana because he was the only Christian in the Pakistan team (or so he said)

He was very disappointed when Yousuf converted

Didn't realize until I was older that my dad was a bit anti-muslim

 

[AndrewB]

Similarly for fifties:

6 in 3: Sangakkara, Greg Chappell, Hendren, Rogers
7 in 4: (8 players)
8 in 5: (10 players)
10 in 6: Gooch
11 in 7: Gooch, Walcott
12 in 8: Gooch, Walcott
13 in 9: Sangakkara (who thereafter holds the record, at least jointly, all the way up to 32 in 35)

 

[TheJediBrah]

well Voges only got 4 tons. His whole thing was endless not outs for a while

Yeah not outs and big hundreds, he had a 269 and a 239 in those 4 tons.

 

[TheJediBrah]

it was nothing sinister lol I think he just liked that there was a Christian in the team, but then he wasn't much of a Christian himself anyway

 

[mr_mister]

ah okay. i deleted my comment after i wrote it just in case someone took it the wrong way but yeah i getcha

 

[TheJediBrah]

MoYo looked pretty bad ass with the beard though

 

[Line and Length]

Although not made in Test cricket, has anyone matched Ponsford's 10 centuries in consecutive matches?

His sequence of scores was: 214, 54, 151, 352, 108, 84, 12, 116, 131, 7, 133, 437, 202, 38 and 336 in those 10 matches.

In December 1927 (which included some of the above sequence) he scored 1,146 runs @ 229.20.

I know this wasn't in Tests, but as "purple patches" go has there been better?

 

[mr_mister]

I guess it's possible Bradman did it but i'm not sure

 

[mr_mister]

Voges is interesting. He essentialy did what Gavaskar, Harvey and Worrell did in the form of a start of careeer purple patch to get his average over 100 but he did it from his 9th-20 innings rather than his 1st-11th or whatever so it seems a tiny bit more 'legit'. His first 8 innings included 7 scores under 40 including a duck and two scores of 1. So after that unbeaten debut century(which ended up helping his case to stay in the side a lot I bet) he basically looked useless for most of the 2015 ashes but then managed to 'regain' form and after 21 innings had an average of 95 and I think during his 20th he cracked an average of 100 before being dismissed - this 20 innings thing is important as most top average lists use that as a min criteria (it's why you dont see Sid Barnes or Stewie Dempster on any)


his run across 4 series to get his average from 56 after 8 innings to 95 after 21 innings included scores of: 51*, 76, 83*, 1*, 41, 119, 13, 28, 269*, 106*, 239, 60, 10*


I think until the 269* nobody really took notice of what he was doing - those first 2 knocks came after doing nothing while the ashes was still live - then the following cameo knocks and the first century came in that NZ home series where Warner, Smith and Khawaja were far more impressive and Shaun Marsh's 49 in that the third test was probably even more notable

Then the 269* boosted an already super impressive average and suddenly people noticed. It kinda hinted that maybe he was going to be a really good test player which was solidified by another unbeaten century in his next test. Even though the Windies attacks were useless in this series it didn't matter the chase for Bradman was on.

And then he actually managed to get 239 in the first NZ match in NZ which is obviously legitimately impressive. 60 and 10* in the next match was the beginning of the end but it got him past the 20 innings mark without a big hit to his average. Should have retired then and there!

 

[stephen]

A perfect case of a player whose first class average needs to be looked at to get a proper indication of his quality.

 

[stephen]

There are similarities between Voges and Paynter. Both ended with a ~60 average but had a huge first class career averaging in the mid 40s.

 

[honestbharani]

Without going into his conversion to Islam and all that, I remember reading somewhere (maybe here at CW) his stats when he was Yousuf Youhana were more rounded without really being outstanding (including away stats) but then his stats as Mohammed Yousuf were basically Rohit Sharma turned up to 11.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Pretty much.

Pre conversion:
Home avge: 48.74
Away avge: 44.94

Post conversion:
Home avge: 97.25 (only 10 matches)
Away avge: 44.78

looks like he never played in the UAE either, guess that period came after he retired

 

[tony p]

Although not made in Test cricket, has anyone matched Ponsford's 10 centuries in consecutive matches?

His sequence of scores was: 214, 54, 151, 352, 108, 84, 12, 116, 131, 7, 133, 437, 202, 38 and 336 in those 10 matches.

In December 1927 (which included some of the above sequence) he scored 1,146 runs @ 229.20.

I know this wasn't in Tests, but as "purple patches" go has there been better?

Again not test cricket, Lancashire's Ernest Tyldesley, made 7 centuries in consecutive matches in 1926, and 8 in 10 matches all told.

He made 144, 69+144, 226, 51+131, 131, 106, 126, in consecutive matches and then failed with 81, 44, 139, and 85, giving him 8 centuries in 10 matches, the 85 coming in his 11th straight match. All were made for his county except the second score of 131, which was scored for the Players v Gents at Lords.

All his runs were scored between June 26th & August 4th, a total of 40 Days.