Let me state at the outset that I am not a fan of the guy. Despite the "sporting" facade he seems to put on during post match interviews, I find him to be a sore loser on the field. This may or may not be a correct assessment of him but it is my personal opinion. I readily admit that this make me look at him a little differently to most others.

Anyway, here are stats of Batsman A :

1) Average in England 30.58
2) Average in India 36.50
3) Average in South Africa 35.75
4) Average in West Indies 34.00

These are the stats of Kumar Sangakkara. You can check them here :

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/eng...s;type=batting

His away average is about 47-48 but it is heavily helped by the record in Pakistan. He is good in Australia and New Zealand, but that is about it (he is crap in Bangladesh but it would be unfair to include it as I would not have included it if he had had a good record there) I find it interesting that the Inzamams and Sehwags (to name but a few) of the world get a lot of stick for being considerably less effective away from home and in particular away from the subcontinent. However, a batsman who has been mediocre in 4 out of the 7 countries (excluding home, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh) is always championed as if he were a reincarnation of Javed Miandad, Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting. IIRC, Sangakkara barely averages above 40 away from the subcontinent but it is never held against him. Why is it the case?

Discuss!