England-South Africa Tests (2017)-1

With this 3-1 victory, the complete record of the 149 Tests between these teams shows England leading 61-33 with 55 draws.

In England, England lead 30-14 with 24 draws.

In SA, England still lead SA 31-19 with 31 draws.

It may be more useful to look at the record after South Africa returned to international cricket. The first Test series between these teams in the new era was in 1994.

For Tests in 1994 and later:

47 Tests have been played.The teams are matched 15-15 with 17 draws.

In England, they are again matched 9-9 with 6 draws.

In SA, they are yet again matched 6-6 with 11 draws. Truly symmetric.

However, this was England’s first series win against SA in England since 1998. In between they had won two out of four series in SA. In the same period SA won one series in England and two were drawn.

We now look at individual performances.

Batting:

Most runs (1000 and above):

Amla has the highest total among current players, with de Villiers and Cook some distance behind. The first few on this list are from the distant past.

Kallis has the most centuries (8) while several others have 7. Amla with 6 has the most centuries among current players.

Mitchell has the most 50-plus scores (23) followed by Hammond and HW Taylor (20). Amla with 13 has the most among current players.

Highest individual scores (160 and above):

While Amla holds the record of 311*, the only high score listed in the current series is 190 by Root. Stokes (258) holds the record for England.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, minimum 35.00):

Again dominated by the old-timers, while Amla, de Villiers and Cook are the only current players.

To be continued.

 

Review of England-Pakistan Test series, 2016

The series was drawn 2-2. The overall record in 81 Tests between these teams is 24 won by England, 20 by Pakistan and 37 drawn. Tests have also been played at neutral venues (all in the UAE). Results vary considerably among venues, as you can see here:

Starting with batting, here are all those who scored 750 or more runs in Tests between these teams:

Cook and Inzaman head this list, followed by other current players Younis Khan,Misbah, Root and Asad Shafiq.

Highest innings scores (175 and above):

Root and Younis scored 200+ in this series.

We also see that the most centuries scored were 6 by M. Yousuf, followed by 5 each by Cook and Inzamam. The most scores of 50+ were 15 by Inzamam, followed by 14 (Mushtaq Mohammad), 13 (Salim Malik) and 12 (Cook).

The highest averages (30 and above, minimum 20 innings batted):

Among current players, Cook has the highest average (just above 50). Younis Khan is close behind with 46.

Now for bowling:

The most wickets (30 and above):

Abdul Qadir is far ahead of everyone else, including the present leaders Anderson and Broad.

Qadir also has the most fivers (8) followed by Imran and Underwood with 4. Qadir also took 4 tenners, while no one else as achieved this more than once.

Now for innings bowling (7wi and above):

Nothing outstanding in recent years, other than Ajmal’s 7-55 in 2012.

Match bowling (9wm and above):

Woakes and Yasir Shah took tenners in this series, while Ajmal had done so in 2012.

Bowling averages (minimum 2000 balls bowled):

This includes all 16 bowlers with the qualifying number of balls bowled. It can be seen that Anderson has the best bowling average, Iqbal Qasim the best economy and Waqar Younis the best strike rate.

Now for fielding:

Most dismissals (15 and above):

It can also be seen that Bari and Kamran have the most stumpings (4), Bari the most catches by a keeper (50) and Miandad and Younis Khan the most catches by non-keepers (20).

Best innings fielding (5 or more dismissals):

Sarfraz Ahmed achieved this during this series.

Best match fielding (6 or more dismissals)

Bairstow and Sarfraz Ahmed appear here from this series. Also note that Greig and Hick took 6 catches as non-keepers.

Dismissal rate (minimum 20 innings and 0.500 dismissals/inning):

Mohammad Hafeez has the highest rate among current players, followed by Younis Khan.

All-round performances:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Botham clearly leads Intikhab here. Imran Khan does not seem to have played enough against England.

Match all-round performances (at least one 50+ and one 5wi):

Imran and Botham appear here, along with Qadir with an unusual fifty plus 10wm. Botham scored a century and took 8wi in 1978.

 

 

Review of England-Sri Lanka Tests

At the close of the  3-Test series in England on June 13, a total of 31 Tests had been played between the two countries since 1981-82. England led 12-8 with 11 draws.

In England, England lead 8-3 with 7 draws.

In Sri Lanka, England trail 4-5 with 4 draws.

We now look at batting performances for both teams.

Most runs (500 and above):

M Jayawardene and KC Sangakkara have scored the most runs, followed by AN Cook.

M Jayawardene has the most centuries with 8, followed by several with 3.

Jayawardene also has the most 50-plus scores with 18, followed by Sangakkara with 12.

Highest individual scores (150 and above):

Inevitably Jayawardene has the highest score here, along with Jayasuriya.

Highest batting average (minimum 20 innings):

M Jayawardene and AN Cook lead here as well.

Now for bowling performances

Most wickets (20 and above):

M Muralitharan leads by a large margin, with more than twice the wickets taken by the 2nd-placed JM Anderson.

These two also have the most fivers (8 and 4 respectively). Muralitharan has the most tenners (4) and no one else has more than 1.

Best innings bowling (6 or more wickets):

Muralitharan has the top 3 performances. Also note Emburey’s 6-33 in the first Test between these countries.

Best match bowling (9 or more wickets):

Muralitharan heads this list with one of the best match bowling performances of all time. Anderson recorded the best for England in the first Test at Leeds in 2016.

Bowling averages (minimum 2000 balls):

Muralitharan and Anderson inevitably top this as well, followed by the unlikely Jayasuriya.

The best economy rates are 2.03 (Muralitharan) and 2.08 (Jayasuriya).

The best strike rates are 48.0 (Anderson), 58.7 (Hoggard) and 59.0 (Muralitharan).

Now for fielding performances.

Most fielding dismissals (10 and above):

Sangakkara and Prior head the table.

Also, Sangakkara has the most stumpings (6), Prior the most catches by a keeper (39) and M Jayawardene the most catches by a fielder (38). Also note JM Bairstow’s 19 dismissals in the current 3-Test series.

The most dismissals in an innings are 5 by Sangakkara, GO Jones and JM Bairstow.  In a match it is 9 by Bairstow in the first Test at Leeds in 2016.

Dismissals per innings (minimum 20 innings, 0.45 and above):

All-round performances:

Overall:

Even with relaxed criteria we only get two here, with Jayasuriya being the unlikely leader.

Match performances (at least one fifty and one four-for):

Only three instances, all from Sri Lanka. Mathews’s performance would appear to be the best.