Is Alastair Cook the greatest ever non-Asian batsman in Asian conditions?
Ever since his century on debut against India in 2006, Alastair Cook has grown from strength to strength, accumulating runs in various conditions around the world. His master class 263 against Pakistan, where he batted for 863 minutes (the most by an Englishman in a Test innings ever), is the highest by an English batsman in Asia.
Breaking the stereotype of the struggling English batsman in sub-continental pitches, his remarkable record elevates him to the likes of Andy Flower, Jacques Kallis, Garry Sobers and Brian Lara.
He is one of the only two Non-Asian batsmen to score more than 2000 runs in Asia. In a span of nine years, he has piled on runs at an average of 62, with eight hundreds, a tall task considering the record of English batsmen over the years.
Since 1990, England’s top and middle order(1-7) has averaged 33.25 in the subcontinent (barring Bangladesh). Cook is the only Englishman in twenty-five years to hold an average of more than fifty in Asia.
Graham Thorpe, with an average of 48.29, comes close. His contributions were instrumental in England winning key trophies in Sri Lanka and Pakistan in 2000. Geoffrey Boycott, Tony Grieg, and David Gower had prolific runs in Asian conditions, each having a couple of centuries apiece.
Cook was in fine form throughout their tour of India in 2012, scoring three hundreds. Still thirty, he is expected to carry his form for the coming few years at least.
Here’s a look at other non-Asians who have had success in the subcontinent:
Andy Flower
Flower might not have had a long and illustrious career as the rest of the Test greats, but an average of over fifty, with twelve hundreds, isn’t exactly bad for a wicket-keeper batsman. In fact, he holds the record for the highest individual score by one. He played one-third of his matches in the subcontinent.
Starting from 18th November 2000, when he scored an unbeaten 183 against India, he kick-started a rich vein of form, where he scored 1466 runs at an average of 133.27. Five of his hundreds have come in the subcontinent, and all of them have been big scores.
His 232 against India at Nagpur, a record for most runs by a wicketkeeper (that still stands), was the basis of Zimbabwe’s rear-guard action to save the Test. With scores of 183, 70, 55 and 232 in that series, Flower made the Indian backyard his own. On his first tour to India in 1993, he had compiled 115 in Delhi, where he and his brother Grant shared a 192 run partnership. He followed it up with an unbeaten 62 in the other innings. He also had a century each in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
| MATCHES | RUNS | AVERAGE | 100s | 50s | HIGHEST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1614 | 53.8 | 5 | 9 | 232 |
Sir Garfield Sobers
Described by Don Bradman as a “five-in-one cricketer”, Garry Sobers possessed much of the swagger associated with the West Indians. Apart from being an exemplary batsman and fielder, he could bowl three varieties of left arm bowling.
At 21, he broke the record for the highest Test score and was also the first player to hit six sixes in an over in first class. With 26 hundreds and 30 fifties, his high conversion rate was evident.
With three hundreds and 557 runs, Sobers averaged 93 in his first series in India. That included a monumental 198, which met an unfortunate end due to a run-out. He also scored centuries in Kolkata and Mumbai. Since India and Pakistan were the only Test playing nations then, he could just play eleven of his 93 matches in Asia.
| MATCHES | RUNS | AVERAGE | 100s | 50s | HIGHEST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1059 | 75.64 | 3 | 6 | 198 |
Jacques Kallis
His legendary all-round prowess nonetheless, Kallis could walk into any team purely on the merit of his batting. Third on the list of most Test runs, Kallis averaged a whisker more in the subcontinent. Along with Cook, he is the only non-Asian batsman with more than 2000 runs and eight hundreds in Asia.
His record against Pakistan is particularly enviable: 5 hundreds and 3 fifties at an average of 70 from nine matches. He also has three hundreds in India, including 173 at Nagpur that was achieved en route a massive partnership of 340 with Amla in 2010.
He scored 421 runs against Pakistan in the two-match series in 2007, scoring three hundreds and one fifty in the four innings, averaging 210.
| MATCHES | RUNS | AVERAGE | 100s | 50s | HIGHEST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 2058 | 55.62 | 8 | 8 | 173 |
Brian Lara
The colossus of West Indian batting, Lara averaged close to 60 in Asia. Five of his 34 hundreds were on sub-continental pitches, where he reproduced his penchant for big scores with double hundreds in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. A particular tour to Sri Lanka turned out to be very prolific: he scored 688 runs, 42% of the West Indies output, including a 221 and 130 in a single test. That series is particularly remembered for his outdoing of Muttiah Muralitharan, tackling the spinner’s tactics with élan. Against the Pakistanis, he averaged close to fifty in seven matches, which included a 216 off 262 balls, his ninth double hundred.
He couldn’t carry the same form in India, unable to score a century in the three matches he played here. He scored a quick-fire 91 in Mohali as an opener in 1994, when the team needed quick runs to set India a fourth innings target.
| MATCHES | RUNS | AVERAGE | 100s | 50s | HIGHEST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1530 | 58.84 | 5 | 4 | 221 |
Hashim Amla
An unquenchable thirst for runs and an elegant repertoire of strokes make Hashim Amla one of the stars of the modern game. In the last decade, he has had success in various countries, establishing himself as one of the mainstays of the South African batting lineup.
He has particularly turned out to be a thorn for India’s flesh, stacking up runs in India at an average of 103, with 4 hundreds and 2 fifties. This includes an unbeaten 253 at Nagpur, where his partnership of 340 with Kallis was enough for South Africa to earn an innings win.
He also has a century in Sri Lanka and two in UAE against Pakistan. With seven hundreds in the subcontinent, he stands one ton behind Cook and Kallis for most Test tons by a non-Asian in Asia. Similar to Cook, he still has a lot of cricket left in him.
| MATCHES | RUNS | AVERAGE | 100s | 50s | HIGHEST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 1701 | 60.75 | 7 | 5 | 253* |