Review of England-New Zealand Tests-2023 (Part 1)

The series in NZ in February 2023 was drawn 1-1, in contrast to England’s 3-0 sweep at home in 2022.

Th second Test saw two unusual results. It was only the second Test to be won by a margin of 1 run. Here is a list of Tests where the margin was 5 runs or less:

It was only the 4th time that a team lost a Test after imposing a follow-on, and the first such instance when Australia was not involved:

A total of 112 Tests have been played between these teams. England leads 52-13 with 47 draws.

In England, England leads 33-6 with 20 draws in 59 Tests

In New Zealand, England leads 19-7 with 27 draws in 53 Tests.

We now look at individual performances, starting with

Most runs (1000 or more):

JE Root now has the most runs in these matches. He is the only current player in the above list.

Highest individual scores (175 or more):

H Brook’s 186 is the only score from the current series. The highest in recent years was 226 by Root in 2019.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings and 40.00):

Root has the second-highest average, followed by BA Stokes at some distance.

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

Fittingly, BB McCullum heads this list. Current players here include Stokes, Pope, Root and Blundell.

To be continued.

Review of England-West Indies Tests-2020-II

Hope that you have seen part 1 ( https://abn397.wordpress.com/2020/07/30/review-of-england-west-indies-tests-2020-i/ )

We now look at Bowling figures.

Most wickets (60 or more):

The top two were contemporaries at a time when WI were declining from their peak. Broad is the only current player.

The most 5-fors were by Ambrose (8) and Gibbs (7), while several (including Broad) had two 10-fors.

Most wickets in an innings (8wi and above):

The only one from recent years was Chase’s 8-60 in 2019.

Most wickets in a Test (11wm and above):

Broad’s 10-67 is the best in recent years.

Best bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls, maximum 30.00):

While Garner and Ambrose lead the averages, Valentine and Ramadhin have the best economy rates and Marshall and Holding the best strike rates. An equitable distribution of work.

Now for Fielding statistics:

Most dismissals (25 or more):

Buttler is the only current player here.

The most stumpings were by Ames (11), the most catches by a keeper by DL Murray (90) and the most by a non-keeper by Lara (45)  and Sobers (40).

Most dismissals in an innings (5 or more):

Most dismissals in a match (7 or more):

Best dismissal ratio (Minimum 20 innings and 0.750)

Only Root from recent times. The best by a non-keeper is 0.916 by Hammond and 0.863 by Constantine. Also see the figures for the “hybrids” Stewart and Walcott.

All-round performances (see criteria below):

Minimum 20 innings batted, 2000 balls, 3+ fifties, 3+ 4wi:

Sobers is far ahead of the others. Oddly enough Holding is in second place. Botham did not perform well against WI.

Match performances (Minimum one fifty and one 5wi):

Most of the famous names are here, with Stokes, Chase (2) and Broad in recent years.

The double of 100/5wi was reached by Sobers and Greig, while the double of 50/10 wm was reached by Boyce and Broad.

Review of England-West Indies Tests-2020-I

England won the series 2-1, leading to this points table for the WTC:

England gained 80 points and WI 40 points in this series.

The record for Tests between these countries:

England extended its lead for matches at home, although WI still lead overall.

We now look at Batting records:

Most runs-1200 and above:

The most centuries (10) are by Sobers, followed Richards and Headley  with 8.

The most scores above 50 are 23 by Richards and Sobers, followed by Chanderpaul with 21.

Note the absence of any current players in this list. The most recent is Cook.

Highest innings (200 or more):

Here the only score by a current player is at the bottom (202* by Holder). Note the 1-2 by Lara, both world records at the time.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, 40.00):

Hutton and Headley are far ahead of the others. Stokes and Cook are the only ones here from the past few years.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls, 55.00):

While No 2 is predictable, No 1 is not. He had scored a century on debut against WI.

Blackwood and Stokes represent the current players.

Continued in https://abn397.wordpress.com/2020/07/31/review-of-england-west-indies-tests-2020-ii/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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).

More on cricketing knights (Sep 2019)

Geoff Boycott and Andrew Strauss are the latest additions to the cricketing knights of England:

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/49641823

Which was not without controversy in Boycott’s case.

More on this topic in my earlier post in 2017:

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2017/08/23/sir-geoffrey-and-the-real-knights/

Most 6s in an ODI innings

In the World Cup match against Afghanistan on June 18, EJG Morgan made 148 off 71 balls with 17 6s and (only) 4 4s.

This is the listing for the most 6s in an ODI innings (10 or more) after England’s innings:

The live link for future reference:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283127.html

Morgan overtook these 3 who shared the ODI record:

RG Sharma, 16 6s in 209, I v A, Bengaluru, 02/11/2013

AB de Villiers, 16 in 149, SA v WI, Jo’burg, 18/01/2015

CH Gayle, 16 in 215, WI v Zim, Canberra, 24/202/2015.

(So Gayle held the previous World Cup record).

No one else has scored 10 or more 6s in an innings so far in the 2019 World Cup. The best is 5 by JJ Roy for Eng v BD and AJ Finch for Aus v SL.

While on this topic, let us see the records for the most 4s in all ODIs (20 or more):

Live link:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/284017.html

The runaway winner is RG Sharma with his 33 4s and 9 6s in the ODI record score of 264 for I v SL at Kolkata on 13/11/2014.

The next two positions are also held by India’s SR Tendulkar and V Sehwag (25 each), followed by ST Jayasuriya and several others with 24, i.e. far behind RG Sharma’s outlier.

The World Cup record is held by MJ Guptill with his 24 4s and 11 6s for NZ v WI at Wellington on 21/03/2015.

During this World Cup, no one else has crossed 20 4s. The best is 16 by these:

 

New records in List A and ODI cricket

Here are the highest scores in List A cricket as on 20 Jun 2018:

Live link for all scores of 375 and above:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/117937.html

England’s 481/6 is the highest ever ODI score and the second-highest List A score.

The previous ODI record score was England’s 444/3 against Pakistan in 2016-also at Nottingham!

It is also surprising that No 2 and No 3 on this list were both made on June 19, 2018 with India A also getting into the act.

And that Trent Bridge, Nottingham accounts for No 2, 4 and 5 on the list.

The highest List A and ODI score made against Australia is 438/9 by SA at Johannesburg in 2006, which was then a record in all ODIs, besides an 1-wicket win against a supposedly impregnable score of 434/4 made by Australia (which was an ODI record for a few hours).

We now look at the record defeats in List A matches.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283904.html

England’s 242-run defeat of Australia is quite far down in List A matches and even in ODIs.

We now look at record ODI totals as on 20 June 2018:

Live link for ODI scores above 350:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/211599.html

Highest win margins in ODIs  as on 20 Jun 2018:

Live link: http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283902.html

This is the highest winning margin for England in all ODIs

and the highest losing margin for Australia.

Finally we look at “Ashes” ODIs:

Highest totals:

A big jump over the previous record of 342, where one of these scores was made on June 16 in the previous ODI at Cardiff.

Highest victory margins:

From this we see that the previous highest margin in an Aus v Eng ODI was 162 runs by Australia back in Feb 1999. The highest winning margin by England was “only” 101 runs even further back in 1977.

 

 

The Al-Jazeera Report Analyzed-1

Anyone who follows cricket (even the Test purists) should watch the report. Numerous bits and pieces can be seen on Youtube and directly on various news sites. But to get a full idea of the extent of the match-fixing industry it is well worth watching the hour-long report:

Some of the key takeaways:

How is it that a key man of the D company is freely functioning in Mumbai apparently without interference from the Mumbai police or anyone else? (One is struck with his quiet confidence and thorough knowledge of the “business”).

A relatively minor domestic player like Robin Morris seems to have made a lot more money from fixing than in his regular cricket career. Even if he had somehow got into IPL he would not have earned much. And he seems to have a particularly dumb sidekick who, unlike him, did play in a few Tests and ODIs.

Then there is the Morris – Rajkumar plan to organize T20 tournaments all over the world-whose only purpose is to make money through fixing. Almost like a never-ending Ponzi scheme or perpetual motion machine.

Although Al-Jazeera did not mention this, someone has already made a start in a “fraudulent” tournament in the UAE earlier this year. This was so blatantly a fixed tournament that the UAE authorities had to throw them out. A sample report:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-31/bizarre-scenes-uae-t20-league-icc-match-fixing-investigation/9377680

Other reports from that period can be found through Google. Not sure what ultimately happened there. But it sounds quite similar to what Morris (mainly) and Rajkumar were talking about. Clearly the players in this tournament had not been “trained” properly.

The allegations regarding Test matches pertain to

1) India vs England at Chennai in Dec 2016, the 5th Test which India won by an innings to take the 5-Test series 4-0: three English players (presumably specialist batsmen) are alleged to have manipulated the scoring rate. They have denied the charges. (Any guesses?) Here is the scorecard:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/10732/scorecard/1034817/india-vs-england-5th-test-england-tour-of-india-2016-17/

Those who followed the match closely on TV or the net may be able to figure out who the guilty trio are. I am not hazarding any guess, except that they would probably be 1-7 in the batting order.

Afterthought: Was even the bowling fixed? Did that allow Karun Nair to make a triple hundred (which is still the ONLY score he has made above 50 in a Test)?

2) India vs Australia at Ranchi in March 2017. This was the third of 4 Tests, the only drawn Test of the series. India won 2-1. Here two Australian players (presumably specialist batsmen) similarly manipulated the scoring rate. Al-Jazeera said that there was no reply from them so far. Here, too we can try to guess who they may be, batting at 1 to 7. Here is the scorecard:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/10839/scorecard/1062575/india-vs-australia-3rd-test-ind-v-aus-2016-17/

3) Sri Lanka vs India at Galle in July 2017. This was the first Test of the series, in which India won all three Tests by heavy margins. This time no players were involved, but merely manipulation of the pitch by the curator (?) and others. (But what was the bet? Merely that the match would be high-scoring). It was, in the sense that India made 600 batting first. But the Sri Lankan batsmen did so badly that they lost by over 300 runs in what was effectively an innings defeat, as India would have won by an innings if they had imposed the follow-on.

Galle has a history of pitch manipulation. The former curator, Test bowler J. Warnaweera, was suspended for 3 years by the ICC in early 2016 for non-cooperation with ICC investigators. This is with reference to earlier matches at Galle.

Here is the scorecard, for what it is worth:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/17891/scorecard/1109602/sri-lanka-vs-india-1st-test-sl-v-ind-2017/

The Sri Lankan leg needs a little more study as most of the characters are quite unknown even in neighboring countries.

To be continued.

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-3

Having seen the honors boards for neutral Tests and for England, we now look at the corresponding boards for visitors playing Tests at Lord’s.

First, the 105 centuries by visitors:

The highest score here is 259 by GC Smith for SA in 2003.

India’s DB Vengsarkar is the only visitor to score 3 centuries at Lord’s, while several others have scored 2.

Centuries in each innings were made by Headley (106 and 107 for WI, 1939).

Centuries on debut were made by Graham (107 for Aus, 1893) and Ganguly (131 for Ind, 1996). Ganguly’s 131 is the highest by anyone making his Test debut at Lord’s. Graham was the first visitor to score a century at Lord’s.

Now we look at the 85 five-fors by visitors:

The best innings bowling by a visitor is 8-38 by McGrath for Aus in 1997, which is just behind Botham’s 8-34.

CTB Turner, Hadlee and McGrath took 3 five-fors apiece, and several others took 2.

Five-fors by visitors in each innings:

Massie’s effort was on debut, and remains the best bowling for Australia in any Test. It was also the best match bowling by any debutant until India’s Hirwani inched ahead with 16-136 in 1987.

The following visitors took 5-fors on their Test debut at Lord’s:

Massie’s 8-53 is the best here. Nissar’s debut was in India’s first Test.

Visitors who took 10 wickets in a match at Lord’s:

Ramadhin’s effort came in WI’s first victory in England (and the calypso “Cricket, lovely Cricket”).

Massie has the best match bowling figures at Lord’s. And he is the only visitor to take a 10-for on debut at Lord’s.

Looking at all-round performances, the following visitors have scored centuries and taken five-fors at Lord’s (though they may not be in the same Test):

Mankad is the only visitor to score a century and take a five-for in the same Test at Lord’s (184 and 5-196 for Ind in 1952), while Miller did so in different Tests. Thus Botham and Mankad were the only ones to do this at Lord’s. Mankad’s efforts (which included another fifty) were not enough to prevent defeat for his side.

DJ Nash (56 and 11-169 for NZ in 1994) is the only visitor to score a fifty and take 10 wickets in a match at Lord’s. He and MM Ali are the only ones to do this at Lord’s.

This concludes our summary of batting and bowling performances which find their place on the various honors boards at Lord’s.

Now you may well ask “But wait! Where are Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Ponting and Lara? Or Lillee, Warne and Ambrose?”

Good questions, which deserve a separate post.

 

 

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.

 

 

Another landmark for Moeen Ali

Perhaps Moeen Ali shaving his head made some difference (apart from being mistaken for Hashim Amla at a distance). In the first Test of the current series against South Africa he became one of the relatively few (25) to score a fifty and 10 wickets in the same match (Sir Richard Hadlee did so 3 times, while a false knight of the present also appears here):

He also became part of a select group of 40 to have scored both a century and a ten-for in Tests. Only IT Botham, Imran Khan and Shakib Al Hasan achieved this in the same Test.

In the third Test, he finished the match with a hat-trick. This was the 43rd hat-trick in Tests and he became the 39th player to achieve this. H Trumble, TJ Matthews, Wasim Akram and SCB Broad took two hat-tricks apiece. The updated list of hat-tricks:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/136977.html

Finally, he joined a rather short list of 7 players who have scored a century and taken a hat-trick in Tests. Of these, Sohag Gazi is the only one to do so in the same Test-though he vanished from the international scene quite rapidly.

1. J Briggs
2. Wasim Akram
3. Harbhajan Singh
4. IK Pathan
5. SCJ Broad
6. Sohag Gazi
7. MM Ali

Of these, 6 of them (i.e. excluding Sohag Gazi) have scored a century, taken a ten-for AND a hat-trick in Tests.