Wednesday 2 April, 2008

Triple Hundreds and all that....

What is the relation between a triple century and a drawn test? What do triple centurions have in common? Is triple century harmful to health of test cricket?

Don't blame me if you find these lines ripped straight from the Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner authored bestseller 'Freakonomics'. Because they actually are.

As the cricketing world debates the significance of Sehwag triple hundred at Chennai, here are few interesting points, I thought, I should share with you. It is like a rogue cricket fan exploring the hidden side of everything!

  • Out of the 22 triple hundreds scored so far, only one has been scored it in the second innings. That honour goes to the original little master, Hanif Mohammad, when he scored 337 runs in his marathon stay of 970 minutes at crease against the West Indies in Bridgetown Barbados. All others have come batting first.

  • 14 out of the 22 tests, which recorded a triple hundred, have meandered to a meaningless draw.

  • Out of the remaining eight wins, three have been recorded against the lowly ranked nations – Australia winning against Zimbabwe in 2003 (Hayden scored 387), West Indies against Pakistan in 1958 (Sobers making 365 n.o.) and England crushing the hapless New Zealand in 1965 (John Eldrich's 310 n.o.)

  • In the 14 drawn tests, almost 50% of the matches (6 to be precise) have barely managed to complete the first innings. The only drawn match to generate any kind of interest was WI Vs Pakistan, which Hanif Mohammad single handedly saved for his team.

  • The more telling fact is that no triple centuries were scored between 1975 to 1990, when the WI pace attack, not to mention their contemporaries like Lillee, Thomson, Imran, Botham, Kapil, Hadlee and co, were at their peak.

  • Almost a third of the total triple centuries have been scored in last 5 years alone, indicating:
    a) Overall decline in bowling standards and b) Lack of Sporting wickets

  • Wisden's top 10 all time great innings includes just one triple ton, Lara's 375, that too ranked at number 10. And I am inclined to believe that Lara's innings was included more for its timing (it took 36 years to break Gary Sobers' highest individual test score) than for the sheer quality or its impact on that particular match.

It is not Sehwag's fault (or for that matter, any other triple centurion's) that they encountered flattest of tracks. Scoring a triple hundred is the ultimate test of batsman's endurance, patience and perseverance.

But it is often the 'lesser' innings played under trying circumstances, which remain etched in the memory forever.

35 comments:

Gaurav Sethi said...

CG: "no triple centuries were scored between 1975 to 1990"
Quite a revelation, that.
Btw from the present players, who's on your XXX list?

Anonymous said...

Very interesting facts there CG. Nothing is more striking than the absence of triple centuries between 1975 to 1990.

As usual a very good article from you.

Cricket Guru said...

Gaurav,

(Btw from the present players, who's on your XXX list?)

Sorry, I did not get your point.

Thanks, SD. Today could well decide the match and series too. The next test is at Kanpur, traditionally a batting paradise.

Soulberry said...

It is evident the better playing surfaces, lesser bowlers of today (partly due to the restrictions imposed on pace bowlers), and aggressive skills of modern knights in body armour, are responsible for the surge in high scores.

As someone once said, a batting average of 45 today is equivalent to 40 or less of two decades ago.

What is also interesting to note is the kind of players who are scoring these high scores these days.

Out of the recent triple centurions, perhaps Lara is the only one who isn't an opener even though he would often come in early at one down.

The next band of scores - 250-299 also tell a similar tale but with perhaps greater win ratio and a wider range of participants than simply openers.

Good article.

Gaurav Sethi said...

From the current players, who else do you reckon can score a triple hundred?

Q said...

Glaring eye openers there CG. No 300s for 15 years - very interesting!

Anonymous said...

Superb CG... very interesting... the exception here maybe on Hanif's exploits which were truly magnificent innings under difficult situations.

Cricket Guru said...

Thanks SB,

As you rightly said, a batting average of 40s was considered good/great when WI fast bowlers were operating in tandem.


Even amongst the triple centurions, you will find that Jayasuriya, Sehwag and (perhaps) Chris Gayle were 'converted' openers.

Gaurav,

If I have to name one player it would be Graeme Smith. :)

Q,

Thanks and welcome to CaAT.

Scorpi,

Thanks. I remember reading what Vasu Paranjape, Sunil Gavaskar's coach said of Hanif Mohammad. He said, when Hanif plays a defensive shot with the middle of his bat at Brabourne stadium, you could hear its echo right at Churchgate sation. No wonder he could play rock solid for 970 minutes!

Unknown said...

only lara could hit triple century.

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