The Richardson story in numbers
Perhaps numbers never do reveal the full story, but they tell a large part of it
One of New Zealand's best opening batsmen has retired. In his last series, he was in the news more for the much-publicised race of the laggards, but throughout his 38-Test career, Mark Richardson was anything but that. Averaging nearly 45 over a four-year period is a tough enough ask for a regular specialist opener; to achieve that after starting off as a left-arm spinner who batted at No. 10 for Otago, his state, was quite outstanding. His tepid performances against Australia in his last couple of Tests took just a bit of the sheen away - and ensured that he slipped below Martin Crowe in the all-time list of most successful batsmen (among those with at least 20 Test caps) - but it was still a career which had many more highs than lows.
Top NZ batsmen | Tests | Runs | Ave |
M Crowe | 77 | 5444 | 45.36 |
Richardson | 38 | 2776 | 44.77 |
Turner | 41 | 2991 | 44.64 |
Jones | 39 | 2922 | 44.27 |
Sutcliffe | 42 | 2727 | 40.10 |
Tests | Balls | Balls per Test | |
Richardson | 38 | 7370 | 193.95 |
Jones | 39 | 7443 | 190.84 |
Wright | 82 | 14,619 | 178.28 |
M Crowe | 77 | 12,190 | 158.31 |
Fleming | 85 | 12,270 | 144.35 |
Ave team runs scored while at the crease |
Total team runs | Percentage | |
Richardson | 99 | 298 | 33.22 |
Vaughan | 112 | 323 | 34.63 |
Gibbs | 118 | 357 | 32.98 |
Sehwag | 105 | 321 | 32.89 |
Atapattu | 111 | 338 | 32.78 |
Jayasuriya | 96 | 342 | 28 |
Score at Richardson's dismissal |
End-of-innings total | Collapse | Opponent, year |
95 for 4 | 103 all out | 6 for 8 | Pakistan, 2003-04 |
109 for 2 | 183 all out | 8 for 74 | Sri Lanka, 2003 |
143 for 4 | 218 all out | 6 for 75 | England, 2001-02 |
75 for 2 | 161 for 9 | 7 for 86 | England, 2004 |
94 for 1 | 218 all out | 9 for 124 | England, 2004 |