so thats ok...but for the 50 tests that each one played in after that, we cant make the comparison..OK.
I actually see what you are driving at here Richard, and have done since the start of the thread really, however what you are saying just doesnt mean anything. A player is a product of the time they play the game...you only need to suceed in the time you play , if only for the fact that you dont play the game outside the span of your career
So in fact given Hayden does have his weaknesses, and yeah he may well have averaged lower in the 90s if he had played the majority of his career then, it really doesnt mean a thing...and you simply cannot judge a play on how you imagine he would play in a different era. Its just a silly thing to be playing around with in your head. It makes no sense.
Statisically, run scoring is 10% easier, and so the thing you can say is that the chances are Haydens average would be about 10% lower, which still leaves it miles ahead of Hussain.
And even that is pure speculation of course, so the only real comparison is between the two players when they played test cricket at the same time...and given Hayden completely blows Hussain out of the water on that front, the only logical conclusion is Hayden is by far the more successful batsman, which in most peoples talk means the better batsman.