Test cricket is all about discipline, resilience and the urge to perform in the toughest conditions. Of all the three formats, test cricket requires the player to possess maximum skill and potential. We have seen many test players over the years who have made their name either by their defensive prowess like Pujara, Dravid or by their attacking mindset like Sehwag, McCullum. But little do the audience know about a rather underrated test cricketer, Angelo Mathews who has been one of the silent greats of the game through the years. So in today’s article we will discuss how Mathews has been one of the most underrated test cricketer of modern times.
Perhaps the least known and among the most underrated test batsmen on this list. Angelo Mathews has been instrumental to Sri Lanka’s hope and successes both home and away. From being a quick scoring finisher with Jayawardene and Sangakkara around to a middle-order talisman in an unsettled Sri Lankan batting lineup. You might see only 10 test hundreds to his name, you may doubt his credentials. But with more than 20 scores between 85-95, he has been really unfortunate. With a test hundred at Lord’s and a 160 at Headingley, Angelo Mathews has been just as good away.
He’s also a dynamic allrounder but has stopped or should I say reduced his bowling due to frequent troubles with his hamstring. In his prime he was one of the most lethal all rounders in all formats of the game and was trusted upon with the ball at crunch situations to give Lanka the breakthrough with peach deliveries. Add to this his athletic run outs and sharp fielding on the ground and you can find endless possibilities in which Angelo contributes to the success of the team as a whole.
His overall test batting stats read 6189 runs in 88 tests(157 innings) at an average of 46 with 11 centuries (6 overseas,5 at home). These are pretty impressive considering the fact that barring the three nations of India, Australia and South Africa, Mathews’ batting average in other foreign nations is either above 50 or almost touching 50. Infact, his averages in England and New Zealand can give close competition to even some of the famed Fab-4! Add to this the fact that Sri Lanka hasn’t toured Australia for more than 2 years now and with the golden form he’s in right now it’s only a matter of time until he improves his record on the Kangaroo soil too.
Another interesting fact is that his away batting average is 45, which is just slightly less than his home average of 47.3. He started off his career at number 7 and averaged an amazing 51 there, scoring 450+ runs in the ten innings which he played in the position. Slowly he was given a promotion to number 5 and 6 where he averaged 43 and 48 respectively batting more than 120 innings at these positions. It was only post Mahela Jayawardene’s retirement that he got to play at the number four spot and he took the opportunity with both hands.
Angelo killed his role in the team as a number four batsman amassing 900 runs in 22 innings at a splendid average of 53. No doubt, if he had batted up the order in the initial part of his career, he could have surpassed atleast eight thousand test runs by now easily. Over the last few years,he has been in superb form and his test batting average hasn’t dipped below 50 since 2018 (not considering 2019, as he played only 7 innings, half-fit and was injured mostly).
These are just his batting figures lately since he has ceased to ball but still remains an invaluable asset to the failing Lankan side who have found a gem of a player in the form of Angelo Mathews. Even if not as an all rounder he can play in the side as a proper batsman owing to the tons of experience he has as a player and even as a captain which can prove to be a boon for Lanka in the coming times.
