Most Tests: home, away and neutral

At the start of the 2nd Test between England and South Africa at Manchester, it was mentioned that JM Anderson was the first to play 100 Tests at home.

This is true. Let us also look who has played the most Tests overall, away and neutral.

These figures include all those playing in the Manchester Test of 2022, and do not include the ICC XI v Aus Test of 2005.

Most Tests (125 or more):

Tendulkar (200) is followed by Anderson (174) and SR Waugh (168). The next from India is Dravid (163).

Also: Anderson (174), Broad (158), Warne (144) and VVS Laxman (134) have played the most Tests without ever captaining their sides.

Most Tests at home (60 or more):

Anderson leads with 100, followed closely by Tendulkar (94), Broad and Ponting (91 each). the next from India is again Dravid (70).

Most Tests away (other than neutral venues), 60 or more.

Tendulkar leads with 106, followed by Dravid with 93. Next is Chanderpaul with 81. Ponting, Anderson and Broad are further down.

And finally,

Most Tests at neutral venues (7 or more):

As you may guess, Pakistani players dominate this list starting with Asad Shafiq (30), Azhar Ali (29) and Younis Khan (28).

The highest by a non-Pakistani player is 8 by R Herath, followed by several others with 7. These include some NZ players who played in the WTC final against India in England in 2021.

History and statistics of day/night Tests-1

The pink-ball Test at Ahmedabad was the 16th such match. We take a look at their history, starting with a list of matches:

None of the 16 matches were drawn. Two (SA-Zim and Ind-Eng) finished in 2 days.

There are two “neutral” Tests, Pak v WI and Pak v SL at Dubai.

Of the remaining 14 Tests, 13 were won by the hosts. The only exception was Sri Lanka’s win at Bridgetown.

A summary of team performances:

Australia leads with an 8-0 margin, while India and Sri Lanka are next with 2-1 each.

Now for individual performances, starting with batting.

Most runs-175 and above:

Warner leads by a large margin, Labuschagne and Asad Shafiq have each scored 2 centuries. The same pair and SPD Smith have the most 50+ scores-four.

Highest innings scores-90 and above:

Led by triple centuries by Warner and Azhar Ali and a double by Cook. Kohli has the only century for India.

Batting averages (minimum 10 innings, all instances):

Warner and Smith here, with Starc almost a regular batsman.

Batting strike rates (Minimum 500 balls faced, all instances):

Warner leads again, followed by Asad Shafiq and Labuschagne.

To be continued