Review of England-Pakistan Tests-2018 (1)

The two-Test series between England and Pakistan ended with an anti-climax on the third day of the second Test, making the series an 1-1 draw. The previous series in 2016 was a 2-2 draw.

Here is a summary of all Tests between these teams:

The overall tally is 25-21 in favor of England, helped mainly by a 23-12 lead in England.

At Lord’s, Pakistan now leads 5-4 with one draw. At Leeds, England leads 6-1 with 3 draws.

In this series no one scored a century and took a five-for. So the Lord’s honors boards are unchanged.

Batting statistics:

Most runs (750+):

Cook leads here. Among current players Root and Asad Shafiq are far behind.

M. Yousuf has the most centuries (6). The most 50+ scores are by Inzaman (15), Mushtaq Mohammad (14) followed by Cook  and Salim Malik (13).

Highest innings (175+)

Note that no one scored more than 80 in this series. The only big score in 2016 was by Root (254).

Batting averages (minimum 20 innings, all instances):

Cook and Asad Shafiq are the highest among current players. Imran Khan did not bat in enough innings to reach this table.

To be continued.

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A closer look at centuries in third innings of Tests

Note: All data correct as of April 15, 2018. The Test involving the ICC XI in 2005 is excluded.

We first look at the best averages in the third innings:

Bradman does not figure here, as he and his team-mates probably scored enough in the first and second innings so that they did not have to bat much in the third and fourth innings. So we have May, Kallis and Compton at the top of this table. There are also Amla and Azhar Ali from current players.

We now look at those who scored the most centuries in the third innings (5 and above):

Sangakkara and Cook lead with 12, followed by Tendulkar, Kallis and Hayden with 10. Perhaps Cook will add to his tally.

Now let see who disliked the third innings. These players made the most centuries without ever making one in the third innings:

SC Ganguly has the most (16) followed by AG Prince, M Vijay and TW Graveney with 11 each. Possibly Vijay, like Cook mentioned above, will be able to change his status.

Conversely, there are those who love batting in the third innings. Apart from May and his companions at the top of the table, there are those who scored all their centuries in the third innings:

R Subba Row (3). followed by ADR Campbell, GC White and JDB Robertson with 2 each.

Also WW Armstrong scored 5 of his 6 centuries in the third innings (which can be seen in the bottom of the above table).

To be continued with the fourth innings.

 

Review of NZ-Eng Test series, 2017-18 (I)

New Zealand won the series 1-0 with one draw. Victories for New Zealand are quite rare; they have won at home only once before, in 1983-84 and now in 2017-18. In England, they have won only in 1986 and 1999. This was therefore their first series win against England since 1999, almost a generation ago.

Here is a summary of all Tests between these sides:

The highlight (or rather lowlight) of the series was England’s dismissal for 58 in the first innings of the series. It sent cricket followers searching for England’s lowest totals. It was more than their lowest total of 45 against Australia over a century ago, which they still won by 13 runs. But it is still quite far down, besides being the lowest-ever total in a pink-ball Test:

England’s lowest Test totals (75 and below):

It was indeed their lowest total against New Zealand, less than the 64 which marked New Zealand’s first Test victory against England in 1977-78 spearheaded by the up-and-coming Richard Hadlee while Geoff Boycott captained England for a short time.

We now look at individual performances.

Most runs (750 and above):

John Wright is the unlikely leader here, ahead of Martin Crowe. The latter does have the most centuries (5) while the former has the most scores of 50+ (11). 4 others have 10 scores of 50+

Cook and R Taylor are the only current players here.

Highest individual scores (150 and above):

We do have Walter Hammond’s 336* (then a world record surpassing Bradman’s 334) and 227, which gave him 563 runs in the series at 563.00 which no one is likely to overtake. There is also JH Edrich’s 52 4s in an innings which is still a record (Sehwag is next with 47 in his 254).

The last few series have been quite low-scoring as the only recent 150+ scores were by Cook in 2015 and H Rutherford in 2013.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings and average 35.00):

The top two names are somewhat unexpected. Once again, there are only Cook and Taylor among current players.

To be continued.

Review of Australia-England Tests-1

You might wonder why the title does not refer to Ashes Tests. That is because all Tests between the teams have not had the Ashes at stake, such as the 3-Test series in 1979-80 and a few one-off Tests in the 1970s and 80s.

The results of all these Tests are summarized here:

Australia leads by a healthy 144-108 margin, besides 95-57 at home. At home, England have a slender 51-49 lead which may vanish with one bad series.

Looking at the individual performances, starting with batting:

Most runs (2000 and above):

Only Cook and Smith among current players, with Clarke and Pietersen from the recent past. Bradman’s total is still the record, with no one else crossing 3700.

Highest innings (200 and over):

From the recent series we have Cook (244*) and Smith (239). Smith also has 215 from 2015. Cook’s 244* was significant as the highest score in any Test by an opener carrying his bat through the innings. The previous record in all Tests was 223* by GM Turner for NZ v WI in 1972. In matches between Aus and Eng, the previous record was 206* by WA Brown in 1938, which is listed above. The record for England was 156* by Hutton in 1951.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, 45.00):

Bradman again heads this list. Among current players Smith is the highest, though in 9th position overall. Warner is also there. There is no one else from the recent past, as Cook’s 40.20 is below the cutoff of 45.

Now for bowling:

Most wickets (75 and above):

Warne leads here, while the current players are Anderson (104) and Broad (95). From the recent past there is MG Johnson (87).

Best innings bowling (including all 8wi and above):

Laker has the top two spots. No example from the current series, although Broad’s 8-15 is in 4th place overall.

Best match bowling (including all instances of 12wm and above):

Headed by Laker and followed by Massie’s freak debut. Nothing from current or recent players, except Warne’s 12-246 in 2005.

Best bowling averages (minimum 2000 balls, below 25.00):

Dominated by the 19th-century players. Of those who played in 2000 or later, the best is by RJ Harris (20.63) and McGrath (20.92). Next are Warne and MacGill towards the bottom.

We see that the top two in this table are Lohmann and Ferris from long ago. For economy rate, the best are Attewell (1.31) and Ironmonger (1.74) who do not appear above because of their higher average. For strike rate, it is Ferris (42.2) and Lohmann (42.2).

To be continued.

 

Test batting performances of 2017

Here we look at individual batting performances for the calendar year 2017.

Most runs (750 and above):

SPD Smith and five others crossed 1000. Smith had the most centuries (6) followed by Elgar and Kohli with 5.

Smith also had 9 scores of 50-plus, which was attained by several others. But it is his Ashes counterpart Root who has 10 such scores. KL Rahul (who scored less than 750 runs and does not appear above) had 9 scores of 50+ with a top score of 90. You can also see Dickwella who failed to convert any of his 6 fifties.

Also Elgar has the most 4s (43) and Warner and Mushfiqur the most 6s (7) in the above table. A closer look shows that de Grandhomme (15) actually had the most 6s though he scored only 293 runs.

Highest individual innings (150 and above):

The highest score was 244* by AN Cook practically at the end of the year, while he and Kohli also made 243. Cook’s 244* is the first Test score at that number (though Bradman was once dismissed on 244). This 244* is also the highest score by anyone carrying his bat through an innings, surpassing GM Turner’s 223* in 1972.

Kohli has three double centuries while Elgar joined the somewhat exclusive 199 club.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):

Although Pujara and Kohli scored over 1000 runs they batted in less than 20 innings, so they do not appear here. So we have SPD Smith heading this table with Elgar a distant second.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced, 50.00 and above):

Here we have Kohli closely followed by Dickwella, with Smith considerably behind.

Two centuries in a match:

Only one instance. They were Hope’s maiden centuries, and enabled the West Indies to win a Test in England for the first time since 2000.

Next we will take up bowling.

Alistair Cook’s record score.

As you can see from here, Alistair Cook’s 244* at Melbourne is not his highest Test score.

That is 294.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/11728.html

However, it set a number of records. He became the first Test player to make 244*, while Bradman is the only one to be dismissed on 244 (vs England, who else?) in 1934.

Cook’s 244* is also the highest score by anyone carrying his bat through a Test:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283149.html

The previous record was 223* by GM Turner vs WI in 1971-72; this series had all 5 Tests drawn and is the only such series not involving India.

The previous record for England was 202* by L Hutton vs WI in 1950-this was not enough to prevent an innings defeat against Ramadhin, Valentine and Goddard.

And the previous record in Australia was 169* by MA Taylor vs SA at Adelaide in 1998.

There was also a near-miss in 1974 when DL Amiss made 262* against WI in a total of 432/9.

 

More about the honors boards at Lord’s-2

We now look at the honors boards in England’s dressing room.

A total of 129 centuries were made for England:

The most centuries by an English batsman are 6 each by Gooch and Vaughan.

Centuries in both innings were made by Gooch (333 and 123 v Ind in 1990) and Vaughan (103 and 101* v WI in 2004). Gooch’s 333 is also the only Test triple century at Lord’s. This was also the first instance of a triple century and century in a first-class match. Some years later Sangakkara repeated this in a Test against Bangladesh.

The next highest score for England here is 240 by Hammond v Aus in 1938.

Those who scored a century on debut were Hampshire (107 v WI, 1969), Strauss (112 v NZ, 2004) and Prior (126* v WI, 2007).

Next we look at the 95 five-fors by England:

The most five-fors are 8 by Botham followed by 5 each by Anderson and Trueman. Anderson may yet add to this.

The best performance here is 8-34 by Botham vs Pakistan in 1978, and he also scored a century in that match. Eight-wicket hauls have been made on 4 occasions by Botham (twice), Verity and Underwood.

There are numerous cases of five-fors in both innings. The most recent instance was by Woakes vs Pak in 2016.

It seems to be easier for debutants to take a five-for than to score a century at Lord’s. Here are those who took a five-for on debut:

Cork has the best figures here. No one has taken five-fors in each innings on debut.

And finally, we look at the rather shorter list of the 17 who took 10wm for England:

Underwood is the only one to do so twice.

Verity’s 15-wicket haul is the best here.

Bedser is the only one to do so on debut.

And MM Ali is the only English player to score a fifty and take a ten-for in a Test at Lord’s. He finished the match with a hat-trick.

There are some who have scored both a century and a five-for at Lord’s (though not always in the same Test):

Botham (108 and 8-34 v Pak in 1978) is the only one to do so in the same Test.

Those who scored both a century and ten-for at Lord’s:

None of them scored a century and took 10 wickets in a match (in fact, this has happened only 3 times in all Tests, Botham being the first to do so.) Oddly enough, Allen and Broad scored their only Test centuries at Lord’s.

Finally, in the third part, we will look at the boards for visiting teams.