Great batters are largely defined by their ability to have maintained high standards for long periods of time, defying conditions, situations and finally, age. The game is filled with examples of those who dominated for several years, but just couldn’t time their goodbyes well, some staying too long for their grand numbers to lose some sheen.

The ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy has two of this era’s finest batters – Virat Kohli and Steve Smith – fighting father time to float close to where they once sailed. Both have hit centuries in the series already, but whispers of an imminent farewell are gathering volume with each passing tour. At his peak, Kohli averaged 55, a number that has since come down to 47. Smith’s at an impressive 56 now, but he was once touching 65. Of course, falling averages in Tests around the world have played a part.

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Out of all the 100-Test club members, 51 have scored at least 7,000 Test runs. Out of them, 18 ended with a 50-plus career average, and three – Kumar Sangakkara, Smith and Jacques Kallis – have that number above 55. But final career numbers do not accurately reflect a player’s peak; rather, in some cases, averages nosedive due to, among other factors, a lack of alternatives coming up through the next generation.

Here are six greats of the game whose batting averages took a hit during the final years of their Test careers.

Ricky Ponting

It might be a remarkable number for most, but it’s a travesty for the game’s numbers lovers that Ponting’s career average ended at 51.85. In December 2006 after 107 Tests, he hit a peak of 59.99, and stayed above 59 even until the end of 2007. By the end of 2009, that number had fallen to 55.

By his standards, Ponting’s last few years were quite mediocre: from 2009 to 2012, he played 41 Tests, averaging 37.76 with four centuries, three of them at home. In comparison, from 2000 to 2006, he averaged 65.73 from 76 Tests, hitting 27 hundreds (and 26 fifties, a great conversion rate). The fall was similar in ODIs too, indicating a general decline in his game as he approached his 35th birthday. Ponting played the last of his 168 Tests weeks before he turned 38.

Mahela Jayawardene

Jayawardene may be one of Sri Lanka’s two greatest Test batters, but his eventual career average doesn’t do full justice to his stellar achievements. Jayawardene is the only player barring Alastair Cook to have a sub-50 average in the 10,000 club, and that too only slipped below the mark in his last Test. In November 2009, Jayawardene’s career average had gone up to 55, but he averaged less than 40 in his last 40 Tests. In 2011, 2012 and 2013, his yearly average read 24.61, 35 and 34.25, which he did balance out to an extent with three centuries (including a double-century) in his final year.

Alastair Cook

Cook’s average had touched 50 during the 2012 India tour, but that number slowly waned from that point onwards, barring a brief spark in 2015. In his last ten Tests, and 18 innings, he managed one century, in his final match, which nudged his career average past 45. At the point he announced that he would retire after the end of the 2018 India series, he had managed an average of 18.62 from nine Tests that year. The relatively early international retirement came at 33.

Hashim Amla

Amla was a titan of South Africa cricket, but his last two years were largely forgettable. He did not manage a single century in his last 29 innings. The career average, which was touching 53 at the start of 2015, eventually fell by as many as eight units. He averaged 26.84 in 2018 and 27 in 2019, which turned out to be his final year. The away numbers were a big concern too: his last century outside South Africa came in 2014, after which he averaged 24.35 from his last 19 Tests abroad.

Viv Richards

Richards’ 1976 was among the best years a batter had ever seen, amassing 1,710 runs at 90, a record that stayed for the next three decades. His golden years continued until 1983, but when he was diagnosed with pterygium, it started affecting his eyesight and reflexes. He still had some great years, but the last couple of them were far from his best. He did not score a century in his last 21 Test innings, averaging 28.20 in 1990 and 39.28 in 1991, his final two years. His career average stood at 64 in 1976, and touched 63 again in 1981, but eventually ended at 50.23.

David Warner

At the start of 2016, half a decade into Warner’s Test career, his average stood at 51.34, having slammed ten Test centuries in the previous two years. The 335* against Pakistan in 2019 was his magnum opus, but the numbers dwindled thereafter, hitting a post-pandemic lull. From the start of 2021 to the end of 2023, he managed an average of 30.87 from 48 innings, just two centuries included. He eventually retired with a Test average under 45.

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