Thilan Samaraweera

Thilan Samaraweera averages WAY more than 40

England’s batsmen are very fond of telling anyone who’ll listen how they all average over 40, like it’s a benchmark for greatness. Maybe it was 10 years ago, but not now.

Take Thilan Samaraweera for example. Here’s a very decent Test batsman, but by no means a great. In the Sri Lanka team, he probably takes third billing after Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. After welcoming Pakistan back to Test cricket with 231, he now averages 48.11 in Tests. If any of England’s batsmen other than KP averaged that, they’d instantly get complacent and return to the pack.

Samaraweera didn’t top score for Sri Lanka. Mahela Jayawardene, in his last series as captain, hit 240. Jayawardene’s so good that isn’t even news. 240 is only his third highest score.