5 biggest home-track bullies in world cricket in recent years

Cricket is a sport where the conditions in which the game is played has a big impact on the outcome of the game. There are a certain set of conditions that are better suited to certain teams and their players. However, the hallmark of a champion team and a champion player is to excel in whatever conditions the game is being played in.There are certain players, however, who enjoy a terrific run in home conditions but relatively struggle when they are playing in alien conditions. Let’s take a look at 5 such players whose record away from home suggests that they are home-track bullies:NOTE: The likes of R Ashwin and Rohit Sharma haven’t been included as their sample size is too small.

#5 Michael Clarke

An away average of 41.51 is not bad by any means. However, when it is compared to a staggering home average of 62.05, the rift is there to see. Clarke is absolutely ruthless back in Australia where he has amassed 4654 runs including 17 centuries, 3 of which are double centuries and one an unbeaten triple hundred. To sum it up, one can say that if Pup gets going in Australia, he is absolutely unstoppable.

On foreign soil, however, the Aussie skipper is not his usual belligerent self. He is yet to register a double hundred away from the comfort of home. What is also worth noting from his away numbers is that spare a few innings where he has gone on to play a real big knock, he has been guilty of giving his wicket away a bit too easily at times, that too after getting his eye in.

Though he has played just a single series in the UAE vs Pakistan, it was pretty visible that he wasn’t having a good time. In 3 out of the 4 innings played, he was undone by a spinner. Two of these dismissals were affected by Zulfiqar Babar, a slow left-arm bowler, the kind of bowler against whom the New South Wales batsman has often struggled.

Clarke has often struggled in the Caribbean too. He started off with a bang when he scored a ton in his very first innings there. However, things have gone all downhill ever since as he has been able to muster just a single fifty since. The 33-year-old has played just a single series in Sri Lanka. Right through that series, he was troubled by Rangana Herath, another left-arm spinner, who dismissed him thrice.

#4 James Anderson

James Anderson is the leader of the English bowling attack. However, he has not lived upto this billing of his in overseas conditions. While he is a very potent force in England, he is significantly blunted in overseas conditions. In his own backyard, he has picked up 250 wickets at an impressive average of 26.38, including 13 five-wicket hauls in an innings and a couple of ten-wicket hauls in a match.

Anderson’s away numbers make for a sorry reading. In overseas conditions, the 32-year old has picked up 130 wickets at an ordinary average of 36.13 which includes only 3 five-wicket hauls in an innings and no ten-wicket hauls in a match. In fact, India and the UAE (Pakistan’s adopted home) are the only 2 countries where Jimmy averages under 30.

In spite of having picked a fifer, Sri Lanka is one place where the Burnley-born pacer has struggled the most. He has picked up 11 wickets in Sri Lanka at an average of 40.72. The King of Swing has not had a good time in Australia as well. He averages 38.44 in 13 Tests played in Australia and has failed to pick up a single five-wicket haul. In fact, he even conceded the record for most runs scored in a single over in a Test in the previous Ashes series down under.

Anderson has often found his swing being blunted in South Africa and West Indies, with his average in these countries standing at 38.72 and 38.00 respectively. Even in New Zealand, where the conditions are pretty similar to the ones in England, Daisy hasn’t enjoyed too much success. In the 5 Tests he has played in New Zealand, he has managed just 18 wickets at an average of 36.27.

Watch how Anderson got smashed to all parts of the ground in the over he conceded a record 28 runs in the previous Ashes series down under:

#3 Ian Bell

Ian Bell is one of the mainstays of the English batting order. However, his struggles away from home, especially against the turning ball, have let England down time and again. In England, Bell has often looked at ease having scored 4192 runs at a very good average of 51.75, which includes 15 hundreds. Away from the comfort of his home, the 32-year old’s average drops to 38 including 6 centuries.

Though he has played just a single series in the UAE, he was all at sea against the Pakistani spin trio of Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez and Abdur Rehman. In the subcontinental conditions of India and Sri Lanka where there is a lot of assistance for the spinners, the Duke of Bellington has often had a very tough time.

In 8 Tests played in India, Bell has scored only 352 runs at a subpar average of 27.07 including just a solitary hundred. The Coventry batsman’s performance in Sri Lanka is not much to write home about either. He is yet to register a ton in the Emerald Island. In 5 Tests played in Sri Lanka, he has scored only 344 runs at an average of 38.22.

In the home of arch-rivals Australia, Bell has played 15 Tests and managed just 895 runs at an average of 37.29 with just a solitary ton. He had a particularly difficult time on the previous tour of Australia where he scored a mere 235 runs at an average of 26.11. He often found it hard to play his shots and was easily bogged down by the Aussie bowlers which his strike rate of 44.76 suggests.

#2 Mahela Jayawardene

There is no doubt that ‘Majestic Mahela’ is a class act. However, his majesty has looked pretty mediocre away from home. There is a stark contrast in his home and away numbers. In Sri Lanka, the former Lanka captain has an excellent average of 59.72 which includes a whopping 23 hundreds. However, on foreign soil, Mahela’s average takes a significant dip as it reads 39.71, with less than half the number of tons (11).

The 37-year old struggled the most in South Africa where he didn’t register a single ton and averaged a poor 27.87 in 8 Tests played. His showing in New Zealand wasn’t too impressive either. In 4 Tests played in New Zealand, Jayawardene scored 194 runs, 141 of which came in a single innings, his lone century on Kiwi soil.

In the UAE, Mahela played 6 Tests and managed a mere 329 runs at an average of just 29.90. In Australia and England, where the conditions suit the bowlers, the batsman from Colombo didn’t enjoy much success. He scored only 440 runs at an average of 31.42 in 7 Tests played down under.

In Tests played in England, he aggregated 788 runs at an average of 35.81. In fact, in 23 innings played in England, he was dismissed for a score of under 25 eleven times. Interestingly, Mahela registered 3 double hundreds away from Sri Lanka. However, these double hundreds came in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The conditions in each of these 3 countries are pretty similar to the ones in Sri Lanka.

#1 Brendon McCullum

McCullum is one player who has often enjoyed great success in his own backyard, but has often struggled elsewhere. Yes, there has been a lot of improvement in his batting ever since he has assumed the reins of the New Zealand team, however, his away record still does not make for pretty reading.

While his home record reads 3066 runs at an impressive average of 47.16, including 6 centuries and a best score of 302, his record away from home (including neutral venues) reads 2587 runs at a pretty moderate average of 31.16 that includes 4 tons and a highest score of 225. Two of these 4 hundreds have come against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe who really are minnows at best.

What is alarming about his numbers away from home is that against the top teams, Baz has always faltered big time. His struggles against the Proteas in their backyard are especifically worth noting. In 7 Tests played in South Africa, the Kiwi skipper has managed a mere 225 runs at a dismal average of just 17.30. He hasn’t had a good time in Australia too where his aggregate is 252 runs at a paltry average of 22.90.

He has often been at sea in Sri Lanka and the Carribean as well. His average in both these conditions is way below par, those being 22.62 and 21.50 respectively. His record in England too is not much to write home about. In 8 Tests played in England, he has managed just 443 runs at an unimpressive average of 27.68.