Wiaan Mulder’s decision not to chase Brian Lara’s record — a wonderful sportsmanship act or folly?

Wiaan Mulder’s decision to deprive himself of the chance of holding the batting record for the highest individual score in Test cricket appears to be one of the greatest acts of sportsmanship of all time.

Mulder forfeited his chance of history when he declared South Africa's first innings in 626 for five with his score on 367, out of respect for Lara.

“I thought we had had enough and we needed to bowl,” Mulder said after the match.

“Secondly, Brian Lara is a legend. He got 401 (400), or whatever it was, against England. For someone of that stature to keep that record is pretty special. If I get the chance again, I would probably do the same thing.

“Speaking to Shuks (coach Shukri Conrad), he said to me: ‘Listen, let the legends keep the really big scores.’

“You never know what my fate is or what’s destined for me, but I think Brian Lara keeping that record is exactly the way it should be.”

Read more: Wiaan Mulder creates history with his historic 367 against Zimbabwe

Part of me loves this, because besides my own personal belief that Lara is the greatest batter I have ever seen, it shows that Mulder has a sense of history about the game.

But there is also some disappointment for Mulder. Did he really think he was not worthy to take the record by stepping back to leave it for the “legends”. He might still go on to be a legend, yet is unlikely to get the chance to come so close to 400 again.

There has been much debate about the decision, with many comments on a wide array of traditional and social media platforms suggesting that Zimbabwe are so weak that there would always be an asterisk next to Mulder’s name had he broken the record.

But here’s an even more interesting statistic when considering Mulder’s Test efforts – after 21 Tests he is outdoing the great Jacques Kallis as a batter and bowler.

I understand the sentiment, but when Lara set his record of 400 not out in Antigua against England in 2004, he was batting on a flat, lifeless pitch which gave little to no assistance to the bowlers.

In fact, Lara faced 31 overs of bowling from Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick, who were both batters. The mediocre offspinner Gareth Batty bowled 52 overs in the innings, taking two for 185. There are always mitigating circumstances.

No innings of this magnitude are achieved on a pitch that significantly favours bowlers, or without grinding the opposition down so crushingly that they inevitably go through the motions for a period of time, allowing the batter to thrive.

Outdoing Kallis

It’s not an insult to suggest that Proteas all-rounder Mulder is not in the same class as Lara as a Test batter. Few in the history of the game are, or were, in Lara’s class.

The great West Indian left-hander averaged 52.88 in his 131 Tests, scoring 11,953 runs with 34 centuries and a high score of 400 not out.

So far, Mulder has only played 21 Tests, scoring 1,153 runs and now averages 38.43 with three centuries and a high score of 367 not out.

A fairer comparison as batters is using the same sample size.

Lara’s Test average after his first 21 Tests stood at 58.08, scoring 1,975 runs with four centuries in that period, including a high score of 375 amassed against England in Antigua.

The numbers don’t lie, and it’s obvious Lara was a better batter than Mulder is, or is likely to become.

Mulder might go in to improve his numbers and push his average into the forties. That would be a more than acceptable return for a player who is essentially an allrounder. Lara never bowled a ball in Test cricket.

Mulder has also taken 38 Test wickets at 24.74, with a strike rate of one wicket every 49.8 balls. In purely bowling terms those are excellent numbers for the third or fourth seamer.

But here’s an even more interesting statistic when considering Mulder’s Test efforts – after 21 Tests he is outdoing the great Jacques Kallis as a batter and bowler.

Kallis is statistically the best all-rounder to have played Test cricket. In 166 Tests he scored 13,289 runs with 45 hundreds, averaging 55.37. His top score was 224.

When it came to bowling, Kallis took 292 wickets at an average of 32.65 with a strike rate of 69.29. He also took 200 catches, mostly as a slip fielder.

It’s an incredible record, but after 21 Tests, Kallis’s numbers were inferior to Mulder’s.

In the same sample size, Kallis scored 985 runs, with two centuries at an average of 30.78 in his first 21 Tests. In that same period, Kallis had taken 27 wickets at 33.03 and had bagged 18 catches. Mulder has taken 30 catches.

Comparisons after 21 Tests

Batting

Bowling

It does raise the question whether Mulder should have batted on to try and break Lara’s record. Maybe he felt slightly “guilty” having been bowled off a no-ball when he was on 247. But that’s cricket, you ride your luck.

Mulder, as captain, could decide when to declare. And considering it was only lunch on day two, with South Africa already on a mammoth score, another 30 minutes of batting would not have changed the outcome. There was still ample time for the Proteas to bowl Zimbabwe out twice. As it was, they ended the match with more than two days to spare. We will never know.

Acts of sportsmanship

As an act of sportsmanship, leaving Lara’s record intact, it does command some respect and comparison to other great gestures:

Jack Nicklaus at the Ryder Cup (1969): In a fiercely contested Ryder Cup, with the match tied on the 18th hole, Jack Nicklaus had a short putt for birdie. His opponent, Tony Jacklin, also had a short putt to tie. After sinking his own putt, Nicklaus incredibly conceded Jacklin’s putt, ensuring the Ryder Cup ended in a tie. He famously said, “I don't think you would have missed that Tony, but I didn’t want to give you the chance.”

Luz Long and Jesse Owens (1936 Berlin Olympics): During the long jump qualification, German long jumper Luz Long, seeing that his rival, American Jesse Owens, was struggling with his run-up, advised Owens to adjust his take-off mark. Owens took the advice, qualified, and went on to win the gold medal, with Long taking silver. This act of sportsmanship between an American and a German athlete at the Nazi-hosted Olympics became an enduring symbol of humanity and sportsmanship triumphing over political tensions. DM 

Top 10 Test scores of all time

1. Brian Lara (West Indies): 400* vs England (2004)

2. Matthew Hayden (Australia): 380 vs Zimbabwe (2003)

3. Brian Lara (West Indies): 375 vs England (1994)

4. Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka): 374 vs South Africa (2006)

5. Wiaan Mulder (South Africa): 367* vs Zimbabwe (2025)

6. Garry Sobers (West Indies): 365* vs Pakistan (1958)

7. Len Hutton (England): 364 vs Australia (1938)

8. Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka): 340 vs India (1997)

9. Hanif Mohammad (Pakistan): 337 vs West Indies (1958)

10. Wally Hammond (England): 336* vs New Zealand (1933)