That's an intriguing question, and one that would have taken weeks to work
out in the days before handy tools like Stats Guru. Assuming a minimum of
2000 Test runs, to rule out any statistical oddities, the man with the
greatest discrepancy between his home and away averages is ...
Bob Cowper, the Australian
left-hander of the 1960s. He averaged an impressive 75.78 in home Tests, but
a more, er, average 33.33 away from home. That's a difference of 42.45. Next
come Vijay Hazare of India, with 69.56 at home and 35.96 away (-33.60), the
West Indian legend George Headley, 77.56 at home and 47.45 away (-30.11),
another West Indian in Lawrence Rowe, 59.54 at home and 29.48 away (-30.06),
and the highest current player, Hashan Tillakaratne of Sri Lanka, who
averages 63.11 at home and 33.71 overseas (-29.40). At the other end of the
scale are the good travellers, whose away average exceeds their home one.
The leader there is
Bill
Ponsford, the prolific Australian of the 1920s and '30s. His home
average was 40.89, but he managed 62.40 away (+21.51). Next come Mohinder
Amarnath of India, 30.44 at home, 51.86 away (+21.42), England's 1960s
stalwart Ken Barrington, with 50.71 at home, and an even more impressive
69.18 away (+18.47), an earlier England legend in Wally Hammond, 50.06 home,
66.32 away (+16.26), and a surprise name in Alan Knott, England's perky,
quirky wicketkeeper - he averaged 26.71 in home Tests, and 42.26 away
(+15.55). The man closest to parity is the pragmatic Yorkshireman
Wilfred Rhodes
- 30.29 at home, 30.15 away (-0.14). And in case you're wondering,
Don Bradman averaged 98.22
at home ... and 102.84 overseas (all in England, in his case).