With 579 wins in 955 ODI games and 394 victories in 834 Tests, the Australian Cricket Team is the most successful in the game’s history. The country also has five World Cups to its name. Although their performances have watered down in recent years, they still are a difficult team to beat. The Aussies are also known to field excellent bowling line-ups, which most batsmen find challenging. As we are on this topic, let’s have a look at six players who have scored more than 10 International centuries against Australia.
6) Desmond Haynes (West Indies) – 11 Centuries
6 ODI Hundreds in 64 Matches || 11 Test Hundreds in 33 Matches
When a player scores a 75 and 143 on a dustbowl at the Sydney Cricket Ground, he definitely must be a good one. Desmond Haynes did that and was one of the best all-format cricketers for the West Indies at his peak.
Desmond Haynes played several games against the Aussies. In a total of 97 games (64 ODIs and 33 Tests), the West Indian struck eleven centuries in all. He was a player with a solid technique and that helped him do well against the competent Aussie bowlers.
5) David Gower (England) – 11 Centuries
2 ODI Hundreds in 32 Matches || 9 Test Hundreds in 42 Matches
A left-hander with over 8000 Test runs, David Gower was one of England’s best batsman in the 80s. The player also did a fine job as a captain, especially in the series against Australia in 1985.
While he scored nine centuries against the Aussies in Tests, two of them came in ODI’s. Gower was a prolific run-scorer against the Aussies. He scored a total of 18 centuries, half of which came against the arch-rivals. Five of them occurred on the Aussie soil itself.
4) Brian Lara (West Indies) – 12 Centuries
3 ODI Hundreds in 51 Matches || 9 Test Hundreds in 31 Matches
Brian Lara was one of the players who have scored more than 10 International centuries against Australia. The West Indian legend scored 3 ODI hundreds while the rest of the centuries came in the red-ball format.
In fact, in Tests, the southpaw never made more hundreds against any other opponent that he made against the Aussies. As a 23-year-old, he scored 277 runs against them at the SCG, which remains Lara’s highest score against Australia.
3) Sir Jack Hobbs (England) – 12 Centuries
7 Test Hundreds in 41 Matches
The first professional cricketer to be knighted, Sir Jack Hobbs has over 60000 FC runs to his name. A prolific scorer in the first half of the 20th century, Sir Jack Hobbs played a total of 61 Tests, out of which 41 were against Australia.
Including nine centuries on Aussie soil itself, the batsman scored a total of 3636 runs against the Aussies. He scored 12 centuries, one of which came when he was 46 years old. The Englishman still holds the record for the oldest man to score a Test century.
2) Virat Kohli (India) – 15 Centuries *
8 ODI Hundreds in 43 Matches || 7 Test Hundreds in 20 Matches
In the modern era, it’s Virat Kohli who has been the chief tormentor of the Aussie attacks. While he did struggle at the start, especially in Australia, in recent years, the Indian captain has made it a habit to score centuries against them.
Interestingly, Virat enjoys a good record on Aussie soil. So far, the right-hander has scored eleven centuries in Australia. Adelaide Oval has been his favourite hunting ground in the country. Not to forget, Virat also has plenty of impactful T20 knocks against Australia, although they have not been centuries.
1) Sachin Tendulkar (India) – 20 Centuries
9 ODI Hundreds in 71 Matches || 11 Test Hundreds in 39 Matches
The owner of multiple records in the batting department, it is of no surprise that Sachin Tendulkar stands at the top of this list of players who have scored more than 10 International centuries against Australia. While most other teams struggled against the Aussies, Sachin found success against them.
While he has the most Test centuries facing Australia, he scored his third-highest number ODI centuries against the five-time World Cup winners. Some of the legend’s iconic knocks have come up opposite the Aussies. The century as a 19-year-old on the quick pitch at the WACA and the famous ‘Sandstorm’ innings are all part of the cricketing folklore. The Mumbaikar’s second-highest Test score of 241* also came against the Aussies.
