Five players with most ducks in international cricket

Cricket is a hit and miss game. Sometimes, batsmen are capable of producing scintillating performances in which they never look like being dismissed. At other times, though, they are unable to survive even one ball.

Form is a key determinant in this: when it rains, it pours in cricket. This article looks at the five players who have the most ducks in international cricket (combined across all three formats). There are a couple of surprises in here, notably number three.

#5. Mahela Jayawardene - 47 ducks

It is amazing to believe that Sri Lankan legend Mahela Jayawardene has the fifth most ducks in the history of the international game. Jayawardene is a very distinguished batsman and has the ninth most runs in Test cricket with 11,814 runs to his name (at an average of just below 50). He has 15 ducks in Test cricket, which is not actually that much when compared to the leading Test run scorers of all-time: Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara each had 17 Test ducks and Jacques Kallis and Shivnarine Chanderpaul had 16 and 15 respectively.

However, it was his ODI performances that let him down. In that format, he amassed a horrific 28 ducks. Unlike his ducks in Test cricket, this figure is abnormally high. In comparison, this is the second most among players to have scored over 5,000 runs (Mahela has 12,650 runs - the fifth most of all time). This is a surprisingly high figure, and when you include his four ducks in T20Is, it comes out as the fifth most ducks of all time.

#4. Glenn McGrath - 49 ducks

Glenn McGrath enjoyed a fantastic career with the ball, but the same can't be said about his batting

Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath was a genuine tail-ender. In Test cricket, despite having an illustrious career with the ball, McGrath really struggled with the bat and scored 641 runs in his 124-Test career - averaging just 7.4. It is no surprise to see he has accumulated 35 ducks in his painful tenure in the lower order, which is the third most in the history of Test cricket. McGrath only crossed fifty once in his Test career.

ODIs account for the rest of his ducks (bearing in mind he only played a few T20Is). Indeed, McGrath's ODI batting average is somehow even worse than what it is in Test matches: an average of 3.83 over 250 matches makes for grim reading. During that time he was dismissed 14 times without scoring, giving him a grand total of 49 ducks.

#3. Sanath Jayasuriya - 53 ducks

Sanath Jayasuriya has the most ducks in ODI cricket

It's another Sri Lankan legend at number three, as aggressive batsman Sanath Jayasuriya notched up over fifty ducks in his career. Jayasuriya was responsible for providing a revolutionary, aggressive approach to batting and enjoyed a prolific ODI career in which he accumulated the fourth most runs of all time (13,430). However, he also has the most ducks in the history of ODI cricket. His batting was certainly hit and miss as he was dismissed without scoring on an embarrassing 34 occasions. That's the price you pay for playing an attacking form of cricket I suppose.

Jayasuriya also had a strong Test career in which he scored just short of 7,000 runs at a very healthy average of around 40. He was also the victim, though, of 15 ducks and the other four ducks came in the 31 T20Is he played. It is shocking to see a batsman of his calibre so high on this unfortunate list.

#2. Courtney Walsh - 54 ducks

Courtney Walsh clearly put all his effort into bowling

Courtney Walsh was one of the most entertaining and exciting fast bowlers the game of cricket has ever produced. The West Indian quick took a phenomenal haul of 519 Test wickets and 227 ODI wickets, troubling batsmen all over the world. Walsh plied his trade well before the era of T20 cricket, which makes his 54 ducks even more astounding - since it was only in two formats. Walsh never scored a fifty in international cricket and averaged around seven in both formats.

The vast majority of his ducks, 43, came in Test cricket. This is the most in the history of Test cricket and he clearly put all his effort into his bowling. This number is also a huge seven more than the player with the second most ducks in Tests: Chris Martin from New Zealand. His 11 ducks in ODI cricket are certainly more reasonable, but when combined, they add up to a worrying 54.

#1. Muttiah Muralitharan - 59 ducks

Muralitharan has the most ducks in international cricket

The player with the most ducks in international cricket is Sri Lankan spin-wizard Muttiah Muralitharan. The magical spinner has 800 Test wickets, the most ever, and also 534 ODI wickets, which is also the highest. There is no denying that his ability as a bowler is unrivalled, despite claims about a potentially suspect action. His batting, on the other hand, left much to be desired.

His ducks are shared out relatively evenly between Tests and ODIs, having 33 noughts in Tests and 25 in ODIs. To be fair, though, his Test batting average of around 11 is much higher than Walsh and McGrath's, who featured on this list earlier - but his lengthy career meant that the number of ducks was accentuated. Nevertheless, Muralitharan has inherited this unfortunate title of being the player with the most ducks in the history of international cricket and is the third Sri Lankan on this list.