So you think the West Indies have been abominable, appalling, atrocious and quite the worst team imaginable in the year 2000? Think again.

A much better record at home than away, combined with an international program which gave them more Test matches than any other team this year, means that the West Indies actually won more Tests in 2000 (four) than five other teams.

And their ratio of wins to matches played is better than both Pakistan and New Zealand's.

The West Indies had some memorable successes this year - defending a target of 97 to dismiss Zimbabwe for 63, defeating Pakistan by one wicket, and thrashing England by an innings in three days. Unfortunately, it is the losses, and some bad losses at that, which stay in the mind in the year 2000. Beaten by England in three days and then in two, beaten by Australia in three days, three days, five days and four. They've been bowled out this year for 54, 61 and 82. They have been five wickets down for 24, 49, 39, 60, 66, 22, 28 and 17.

Their ratio of matches won to matches played is better than Pakistan, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Their ratio of matches lost to matches played is the equal of India, and better than New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. But is the combined West Indian team batting average - scoring 22.1 runs per wicket - which is the worst of any Test nation in the year 2000, including debutants Bangladesh.

Australia steamrolled through the year with a perfect record, including one win over India, three over New Zealand, and four over the West Indies. What is remarkable is the magnitude of their victories. Only once (against the West Indies at Adelaide) did they need to take to the field for five playing days (not including washouts), and only once were they really stretched (needing to score 212 to defeat New Zealand at Hamilton). Their team batting average - 39.0 runs per wicket - was easily the best in the world this year, and almost double their team bowling average of 20.2 runs per wicket, which was also easily the best in the world.

Of the individual honours, Inzamam ul-Haq was the leading run scorer of the year, with 1090. Along with batting partner Yousuf Youhana he shared the title for the most centuries, with four. Andy Flower was the only other batsman to top 1000 runs, and he led the averages with 80.38.

Muttiah Muralitharan, with 75 wickets in ten Tests, was the outstanding bowler of the year, although his workload (623.2 overs) was substantially more than that of any other bowler except Courtney Walsh (583.3 overs), who celebrated his world record-breaking year by taking 66 wickets. Without taking anything away from the individual successes of Muralitharan and Walsh, the sheer weight of overs that each has bowled is perhaps indicative of the lack of bowling depth in both Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

Dominic Cork, with 20 wickets at 12.25 in four Tests, had the best bowling average of the year.

Jimmy Adams, Sherwin Campbell, Ridley Jacobs and Courtney Walsh were the only players to appear in fourteen Tests this year. Curiously, while the WI had more Tests than any other country, they played only nineteen one-day internationals.

How the Test teams performed in 2000:

Team                   P   W   L  T   D   Won %   BatAv BowAv
Australia              8   8   0  0   0   100.00%  39.0  20.2
South Africa          11   6   2  0   3    54.54%  32.2  25.0
England               12   6   2  0   4    50.00%  27.9  26.7
India                  6   2   3  0   1    33.33%  35.4  39.4
Sri Lanka             10   3   4  0   3    30.00%  28.4  29.8
West Indies           14   4   7  0   3    28.57%  22.1  27.0
Pakistan              12   3   4  0   5    25.00%  32.4  30.7
New Zealand            9   2   5  0   2    22.22%  29.4  33.2
Zimbabwe               9   0   6  0   3     0.00%  28.3  42.1
Bangladesh             1   0   1  0   0     0.00%  24.5  44.8

Most runs in Tests in 2000 (minimum: 400 runs)

Name                Mat    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100 50   Ct St
Inzamam-ul-Haq       12   19   1  1090  142   60.55  52.35   4  6    7  - PAK
A Flower              9   16   3  1045  232*  80.38  48.76   3  5   23  1 ZIM
MA Atherton          12   21   1   990  136   49.50  36.43   3  5    7  - ENG
Yousuf Youhana       12   18   1   839  124   49.35  39.04   4  2   17  - PAK
JH Kallis            11   18   2   780  160   48.75  40.47   2  3    6  - RSA
DPMdeS Jayawardene   10   18   1   740  167   43.52  51.78   2  3   15  - SL
MS Atapattu          10   18   1   732  207*  43.05  37.61   2  4    8  - SL
ST Jayasuriya        10   18   0   722  188   40.11  61.34   2  2    2  - SL
G Kirsten            11   18   1   712  180   41.88  37.00   1  4   15  - RSA
WW Hinds             13   23   1   687  165   31.22  46.54   1  4   12  - WI
JL Langer             8   13   1   684  223   57.00  64.04   2  2    9  - AUS
JC Adams             14   25   5   669  101*  33.45  28.40   1  3   11  - WI
R Dravid              6   11   3   624  200*  78.00  49.44   2  1    6  - IND
CD McMillan           9   16   1   587  142   39.13  47.87   1  4    5  - NZ
DJ Cullinan          10   16   3   581  120   44.69  45.35   2  2   11  - RSA
SR Tendulkar          6   10   1   575  201*  63.88  60.27   2  1    5  - IND
AJ Stewart           12   20   2   560  124*  31.11  44.23   2  1   23  2 ENG
L Klusener           11   16   4   550  118*  45.83  50.97   1  4    9  - RSA
NJ Astle              9   16   1   549  141   36.60  44.85   1  3    7  - NZ
SL Campbell          14   26   1   539   82   21.56  37.53   -  4   22  - WI
ME Waugh              8   13   3   536  119   53.60  50.18   1  3   17  - AUS
Saeed Anwar           8   11   0   524  123   47.63  45.01   1  4    3  - PAK
CL Cairns             5    9   1   517  124   64.62  63.12   2  2    1  - NZ
BC Lara               9   17   0   497  182   29.23  58.95   2  1   13  - WI
SR Waugh              7   11   3   479  151*  59.87  49.43   2  1    5  - AUS
S Chanderpaul         8   13   2   448   89   40.72  39.36   -  3    3  - WI
SP Fleming            9   16   0   438   99   27.37  43.49   -  4    6  - NZ
MS Sinclair           9   17   2   434  150   28.93  44.19   1  -    8  - NZ
MH Richardson         6    9   0   425   99   47.22  38.70   -  4    4  - NZ
GJ Whittall           6   12   2   414  188*  41.40  47.20   1  1    1  - ZIM
RD Jacobs            14   24   3   411   96*  19.57  46.70   -  1   55  2 WI
A Ranatunga           7   12   2   410   88   41.00  50.12   -  4    6  - SL
Younis Khan           9   14   1   403  116   31.00  43.37   2  1   11  - PAK

Most wickets in Tests in 2000 (minimum 15 wickets)

Name            Mat    O      M     R   W    Ave  Best   5 10    SR  Econ
M Muralitharan   10  623.2  147  1463  75  19.50  7-84   7  3  49.8  2.34 SL
CA Walsh         14  583.3  184  1234  66  18.69  6-74   4  1  53.0  2.11 WI
D Gough          12  371.3   65  1152  48  24.00  5-109  1  -  46.4  3.10 ENG
SM Pollock       11  384.5  145   819  42  19.50  4-24   -  -  54.9  2.12 RSA
GD McGrath        8  292    106   608  39  15.58  6-17   3  2  44.9  2.08 AUS
AR Caddick       12  360.4   90   978  37  26.43  5-14   2  -  58.4  2.71 ENG
CEL Ambrose      10  376.4  141   636  36  17.66  4-30   -  -  62.7  1.68 WI
B Lee             6  191.5   58   597  35  17.05  5-61   2  -  32.8  3.11 AUS
Waqar Younis     10  282     48   881  34  25.91  4-40   -  -  49.7  3.12 PAK
SB O'Connor       8  286.3   81   692  29  23.86  5-51   1  -  59.2  2.41 NZ
RD King           9  240.1   55   698  28  24.92  5-51   1  -  51.4  2.90 WI
HH Streak         9  300.5   90   720  27  26.66  6-87   2  -  66.8  2.39 ZIM
Saqlain Mushtaq   7  397.2  102   842  27  31.18  8-164  2  -  88.2  2.11 PAK
CR Miller         5  192.2   55   501  26  19.26  5-32   3  1  44.3  2.60 AUS
Wasim Akram       9  273     78   629  26  24.19  6-61   3  1  63.0  2.30 PAK
AA Donald         5  177.1   55   412  24  17.16  5-47   1  -  44.2  2.32 RSA
N Boje            9  295.1   81   644  24  26.83  5-62   2  -  73.7  2.18 RSA
C White           7  184     35   510  22  23.18  5-32   2  -  50.1  2.77 ENG
CL Cairns         5  186.5   41   600  21  28.57  5-31   1  -  53.3  3.21 NZ
J Srinath         6  216.2   53   570  21  27.14  5-60   1  -  61.8  2.63 IND
Abdur Razzaq     11  315.5   73   798  21  38.00  4-56   -  -  90.2  2.52 PAK
DG Cork           4  109.5   31   245  20  12.25  4-23   -  -  32.9  2.23 ENG
Arshad Khan       5  242     69   528  19  27.78  4-62   -  -  76.4  2.18 PAK
NAM McLean        8  247.4   44   861  19  45.31  3-60   -  -  78.2  3.47 WI
WPUJC Vaas       10  339     78   840  19  44.21  4-85   -  - 107.0  2.47 SL
JN Gillespie      3  104     31   267  18  14.83  6-40   2  -  34.6  2.56 AUS
PJ Wiseman        5  227.5   63   585  18  32.50  5-90   1  -  75.9  2.56 NZ
AF Giles          3  182     55   410  17  24.11  5-75   1  -  64.2  2.25 ENG
JH Kallis        11  226.5   69   575  17  33.82  3-30   -  -  80.0  2.53 RSA
CS Martin         4  121     35   363  16  22.68  5-71   1  -  45.3  3.00 NZ
M Dillon          4  128.4   20   479  16  29.93  4-76   -  -  48.2  3.72 WI
M Ntini           5  146.4   48   353  16  22.06  6-66   1  -  55.0  2.40 RSA
FA Rose           6  173     41   540  16  33.75  4-19   -  -  64.8  3.12 WI
DL Vettori        3  135     44   297  15  19.80  7-87   2  1  54.0  2.20 NZ
SK Warne          4  154.2   37   496  15  33.06  4-68   -  -  61.7  3.21 AUS

Most dismissals by fieldsmen/wicketkeepers in Tests in 2000 (minimum 15)

Name                 Mat    Ct  St  Dis  Team
RD Jacobs             14    55   2   57  WI
AC Gilchrist           8    37   2   39  AUS
MV Boucher            11    37   2   39  RSA
AC Parore              9    29   3   32  NZ
Moin Khan             11    23   5   28  PAK
AJ Stewart            12    23   2   25  ENG
A Flower               9    23   1   24  ZIM
SL Campbell           14    22   -   22  WI
ME Waugh               8    17   -   17  AUS
RP Arnold             10    17   -   17  SL
Yousuf Youhana        12    17   -   17  PAK
RS Kaluwitharana       6    12   3   15  SL
DPMdeS Jayawardene    10    15   -   15  SL
G Kirsten             11    15   -   15  RSA

Not Quite So Successful

Lowest batting averages for recognised batsmen who played at least 10 Test innings this year (cutoff average 20 or less):

Name                Mat    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100 50   Ct St
RD Jacobs            14   24   3   411   96*  19.57  46.70   -  1   55  2 WI
GW Flower             8   16   1   265  106*  17.66  28.13   1  -    6  - ZIM
AFG Griffith          9   17   1   280   54*  17.50  33.89   -  2    4  - WI
N Hussain            11   19   3   240   51   15.00  27.14   -  1    5  - ENG
RS Kaluwitharana      6   12   1   155   42   14.09  60.78   -  -   12  3 SL
CM Spearman           6   12   0   163   38   13.58  30.81   -  -    9  - NZ
SM Pollock           11   15   0   198   33   13.20  34.19   -  -    6  - RSA

WJ Cronje             4    5   0    25   13    5.00  26.88   -  -    1  - RSA

Highest bowling averages for recognised bowlers who conceded at least 100 runs this year (cutoff average 60 or more):

Name            Mat    O      M     R   W    Ave  Best   5 10    SR  Econ
M Mbangwa         4  111.2   42   250   4  62.50  2-40   -  - 167.0  2.24 ZIM
Mushtaq Ahmed     6  208     28   666  10  66.60  3-91   -  - 124.8  3.20 PAK
BC Strang         5  181     55   479   5  95.80  3-116  -  - 217.2  2.64 ZIM
GW Flower         8  108.2   27   288   3  96.00  2-101  -  - 216.6  2.65 ZIM
BGK Walker        4   96.4   14   302   3 100.66  2-92   -  - 193.3  3.12 NZ
DR Tuffey         3   73     12   321   3 107.00  3-38   -  - 146.0  4.39 NZ
SB Doull          2   48     12   142   1 142.00  1-78   -  - 288.0  2.95 NZ
IDK Salisbury     3   69      8   193   1 193.00  1-32   -  - 414.0  2.79 ENG
R Herath          1   36      7   115   0    -     -     -  -    -   3.19 SL

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd