The Ashes since 1970

So the 2019 series was drawn 2-2, and Australia retained the Ashes which they held since winning the 2017-18 series.

Here we look at the history of the Ashes since the 1970-71 series, when England won the Ashes after a long gap-Australia had held them since 1958-59 so they were away from England throughout the 1960s. There were also longish droughts for England in the early 1920s and from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s.

Similarly, Australia had held the Ashes from 1989 to 2005, so the 1990s also passed without England getting hold of them. However, Australia has had the better of the contests since then (especially in Australia).

A quick look at the list shows some captains who won the Ashes on two or more occasions, including Ian Chappell (2), Brearley (3), Border (3), Taylor (3), S Waugh (2), Strauss (2) and Cook (2).

Those who have lost the Ashes on two or more occasions are Border (3), Gooch (2), Atherton (2), Hussain (2), Ponting (3), Clarke (2) and Root (2).

Records of “Ashes” ODIs-2

Continuing the studies of past ODIs involving England and Australia.

Bowling:

Most wickets (20 and above):

Brett Lee leads by a large margin over the runner-up McGrath. Rashid and Ali lead among current players.

Brett Lee is the only one to have taken more than one fiver. He also has taken the most (4) 4+ hauls.

Best innings bowling (including all 5wi):

Not much from recent times, the best being 5-35 by Tom Curran earlier in 2018. Bichel’s 7-34 came in a hard-fought World Cup match. Similarly for Gilmour’s 6-14 in the semi-final of the first World Cup. Both of them made useful contributions with the bat as well, 34* by Bichel and 28* by Gilmour (useful when the team is 39/6 chasing 94).

Best bowling averages (Minimum 1000 balls, all cases):

McGrath and Lee lead, with Rashid and Ali lead amongst the present players.

The best economy rate is 4.02 by Botham, and the best strike rate 29.8 by Rashid.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (15 and above):

Gilchrist leads but Buttler is quickly catching up. Buttler also has the most stumpings.

The most dismissals by non-keepers are 18 by Strauss and 17 by Clarke and Ponting.

Most dismissals in an innings (4 and above):

Gilchrist is the only one with 6 dismissals.

Dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.500):

Gilchrist and Buttler lead. Root has the best amongst non-keepers.

All-round performances:

Career (see criteria in table):

Surprisingly Collingwood comes up higher than Botham and Johnson, mainly because of his batting.

Match performance (Minimum 30 runs and 3 wickets):

The best performance here would be Bichel’s in the 2003 World Cup, probably followed by Maxwell’s in 2015.

 

 

Records of “Ashes” ODIs-1

I do not normally cover limited-over series where India is not involved. The just-concluded England-Australia series was the first one to be won by a 5-0 margin, so it was a good time to review all ODIs between these teams from 1971 to 2018. Remember that the first-ever ODI was played between these teams in 1971.

As on June 25, 2018, 147 ODIs had been played between these teams. Eng won 61, Aus 81 and there were 2 ties and 3 no-results.

In England: 68 ODIs, Eng 34, Aus 30, Tie 2, NR 2

In Australia: 71 ODIs, Eng 25, Aus 45, Tie 0, NR 1

Neutral: 8 ODIs, Eng 2, Aus 6, no tie or NR.

Now for batting records:

Most runs (750 and above):

Morgan is by far the highest scorer, with Ponting making the most for Australia. Finch, Buttler and Roy represent the current players besides Morgan.

The most centuries are 6 by Finch, 5 by Ponting and 4 by Gooch

The most 50+ scores  are 16 by Morgan followed by 13 by Gooch and Ponting.

Highest innings (110 and above):

Jason Roy holds the record for the highest score, which was made earlier in 2018. From the current series we have 147 by Hales, 139 by Bairstow, 131 by SE Marsh, 120 by Roy and rounded up by Buttler’s 110* in the 5th match.

Highest batting averages (minimum 20 innings, minimum 30.00):

Martyn is somewhat unexpectedly on the top, followed by Finch and Buttler among current players.

Highest batting strike rates (Minimum 500 balls faced, minimum 75.00):

It is not surprising that the first 4 places go to current players headed by Roy and Buttler.

To be continued