Review of Pakistan-England Tests (Dec 2022)-Part 1

England inflicted a rare 3-0 victory in an away series when they defeated Pakistan in this series.

This was the only time Pakistan has lost a home series by 3-0 or more. Only Australia and India have avoided clean sweeps at home by 3-0 or more.

Looking at the overall records of Tests between England and Pakistan:

Total Tests 89, England lead 29-21 with 39 draws

In England: 56 Tests, England lead 24-12 with 20 draws

In Pakistan: 27 Tests, England lead 5-4 with 18 draws

Neutral venues: 6 Tests, England trail 0-5 with 1 draw

Looking at individual performances, starting with

Batting:

Most runs, minimum 800:

Led by Cook and Inzamam. Root and Azhar Ali are there from this series, which marked the latter’s retirement from Tests. The most centuries are 6 by M Yousuf, followed by Cook and Inzamam with 5. The most 50+ scores are 15 by Inzamam.

Highest innings, minimum 175:

Nothing in the past few years except Crawley’s 267 in 2020.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings and 40.00):

Headed by M Yousuf and Saleem Malik, with AJ Stewart having the best average for England. Root represents current players.

Best batting strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced, SR above 50):

Headed by Pietersen, Root and Inzamam. Root represents current players.

To be continued:

Records of “Ashes” T20I matches

The Australia-England match is due to take place on Oct 28. The prospects for play seem to be poor, considering that the match at this venue earlier in the day was washed out. Anyway, here are the records of T20I matches between Australia and England.

Overall team performance:

Total matches 23. 10 won by Aus, 11 by Eng, 0 ties, 2 no-result

In Aus: Aus 7, Eng 3, NR 1 (Total 11)

In Eng: Aus 2, Eng 6, NR 1 (9)

Neutral: Aus 1, Eng 2 (3)

Note the strong home advantage for both teams.

Looking at individual performances:

Batting:

Most runs-200 and above:

Finch leads, followed by Buttler. Finch and Maxwell have scored centuries.

The most 50+ scores are 5 by Buttler, followed by Finch with 4 including a century.

The most sixes are 55 by Finch and 51 by Buttler

The most 4s are 35 by Finch and 23 by Buttler.

Highest innings scores-60 and above:

Again, Finch is far ahead of the others.

Bowling:

Most wickets-8 and above:

Rashid has the most wickets (12) followed by MG Johnson and Jordan with 11.

No one has taken a 5wi. 4 players have taken a 4wi, as we can see below.

Best innings bowling (including all 4wi):

Watson has the best figures of 4-15 here, followed by J Lewis with 4-24.

Fielding:

Most dismissals-5 and above:

Buttler and Warner have each made 11 dismissals.

Buttler (11) and Wade (7) have the most dismissals as a keeper.

Warner (11) and Hales (9) have the most dismissals as a fielder.

No one has made more than 1 stumping.

All-round match performances:

20 runs and 2 wickets in a match, in chronological order:

While there is some subjectivity here, the best performances here seem to be by Maxwell (103* and 3-10) and Watson (59 and 4-15). The only English player here is Collingwood (46 and 2-8).

Note that the ground at Southampton figures in many places in the above tables. The city is also the birthplace of the UK’s new Prime Minister.

Review of Pakistan-England T20I matches-Oct 2022

England won the current series series 4-3. This was the first 7-match T20I series between full members, although there has also been one between Malawi and Mozambique earlier this year. These were the first T20Is played by England in Pakistan.

A summary of all T20Is between England and Pakistan:

England leads overall, as well as at home, away and at neutral venues.

Individual performances:

Batting:

Most runs (200 and above):

Led by the opening pair of Babar Azam (560) and M Rizwan (522).

Highest innings (70 and above):

The only two centuries are by Babar Azam and LS Livingstone.

The most 50+ scores are 6 by M Rizwan and 5 by Babar Azam.

PD Salt’s 88* is the best for England in Pakistan.

There is not enough data for meaningful calculation of averages.

Best strike rates (Minimum 250 balls faced, all instances):

Headed by Babar Azam and EJG Morgan.

Bowling:

Most wickets (8 and above):

AU Rashid and GP Swann have 17 wickets each, while Haris Rauf (14) has the best for Pakistan.

There are two instances of 4wi, by Saeed Ajmal (4-21) and AU Rashid (4-35).

Innings bowling (3wi and above):

MA Wood’s 3-20 is the best for England in Pakistan.

Wahab Riaz’s 3-18 is the best for Pakistan in England.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (6 and above):

Morgan has the most catches by a fielder (12). Buttler has the most dismissals by a keeper (7 including 5 stumpings).

Most innings dismissals (3 and above):

No England player has made 3 dismissals in a match in Pakistan.

This list includes a number of keepers and fielders.

Buttler is the only one with 2 stumpings in an innings.

All-round performance:

Minimum 20 runs and 2 wickets in a match:

The best performances here would be by MM Ali (36 and 2-32) and Shahid Afridi (24 and 3-15).

Review of Tests between England and South Africa-Sep 2022-Part 2

Hope you have read Part 1

Continuing with individual performances in

Bowling:

Most wickets (50 and above):

Anderson leads with 103, followed by SM Pollock with 91 and Broad with 89.

From the olden days, we have Barnes with 83 and Tayfield with 95.

Barnes has the most fivers (12) followed by Donald with 9.

Barnes also has the most tenners (6) followed by Blythe with 2. No one else has more than 1.

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

Best match bowling (including all 10wm and above):

The first few places are by SF Barnes and others from the earlier days. Rabada’s 13-144 is the best from recent times.

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

Barnes and Blythe have the best bowling averages.

Verity and Goddard have the best economy rates.

Barnes and Rabada have the best strike rates.

Coming to Fielding:

Most dismissals (Minimum 25):

Boucher has the most dismissals and catches, although Evans has the most stumpings. B Mitchell and Kallis have the most catches by fielders.

Most innings dismissals (5 or more):

Stokes has the most catches (5) as a fielder.

Most match dismissals (7 or more):

Best dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.65):

Boucher and Bairstow have the highest dismissal rates. Stokes has the highest dismissal rate among fielders.

All-round performance (overall):

See criteria in table:

Hammond and Kallis have the best differences here.

All-round performance (match):

Minimum 50 and 5wi:

Note the instances of century + 5wi (Sinclair and Faulkner): and 50/10wm (MM Ali, Jul 2017).

Review of Tests between England and South Africa-Sep 2022-Part 1

England won the 3-test series 2-1, with all three Tests finishing within 3 days of play. The 3rd Test at the Oval lost the first day due to the weather and the second day to the queen’s demise, but still finished soon after the start of what was the scheduled 5th day. Stokes was the last English captain of the Elizabethan era. Earlier, SA won by an innings in the first Test and England won by an innings in the second Test.

A summary of Tests between these teams:

The upper table is for all tests since the beginning. England leads by a large margin both at home and abroad. This is not surprising as SA was a weak team for many of its earlier Tests, when they only played against England and Australia.

I thought it would be more useful to look at the record after SA returned to Tests in the 1990s. Here, England still leads at home and abroad but with a narrower margin.

We now look at individual performances, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (1200 and above):

As we will see in the later tables, many of the aggregate records are from the pre-1990 period. Thus Kallis has the most runs of the post-1990 batsmen but is fifth overall. Next is GC Smith (6th overall).

Kallis has the most centuries (8), followed by several others with 7.

B Mitchell has the most 50+ scores (23), followed by Hammond and HW Taylor with 20. The most by a recent player is 16 by Kallis.

Highest individual scores (180 and above):

Here, the top few scores are from recent players. None from this low-scoring series.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings and 40.00):

GC Smith has the highest average among recent players, followed by Amla. However, the highest averages are by Hammond and Hobbs from the early days.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced and 45.00):

Here Stokes leads by a good margin over de Kock. None of the pre-1990 players are here.

To be continued:

Notes on the 2nd Test between England and South Africa, 2022

The two-Test series is now poised 1-1, with both matches finishing within 3 days with innings defeats.

Manchester continued to be an unlucky venue for SA as England leads 5-1 with 4 draws. SA won only in 1955.

The third Test is scheduled for Sep 8-12 at the Oval. Here England leads 7-1 with 7 draws. SA won only in 2012.

AK Markram played his 33rd Test, none of which were drawn. He has seen 20 wins and 13 losses.

Anderson became the first to play 100 Tests at home. Next is Tendulkar with 94.

Tendulkar has played the most Tests (200), followed by Anderson with 174. That is, naturally, a record for England.

Also see: https://abn397.wordpress.com/2022/08/25/most-tests-home-away-and-neutral/

Anderson also became the first to take 100 wickets in Tests between England and SA, Here are the top few:

SM Pollock, Donald and Barnes are next. Broad has 82, but is unlikely to cross his partner’s total.

Review of England vs India ODIs-Jul 2022 (Part 2)

Hope you have read Part 1.

Continuing with individual records

Fielding:

Most dismissals (12 or more):

Led by Dhoni (55) and current player Buttler.

The most by a fielder is 24 by Collingwood.

Most innings dismissals (4 or more):

Dhoni is the only one with 6 dismissals, followed by the forgotten S Viswanath and today’s Buttler. No fielder took 4 or more catches.

Dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.600):

The current player Buttler is followed by Dhoni at a distance. Azharuddin has the highest rate as a fielder, followed by Dravid who was the keeper in some matches.

All-round performance:

Overall (Minimum 20 innings and 1000 balls bowled):

The current player Jadeja has left Kapil and Flintoff far behind,

Match performance (Minimum 40 and 4wi):

In this short list, Yuvraj’s performance would be followed by Pandya’s in this series.

Review of England vs India ODIs-Jul 2022 (Part 1)

India won this series 2-1, after winning the T20I series 3-0.

This summarises all ODIs played between these teams:

India lead England 57-44 in ODIs, although England lead 23-18 for ODIs played in England.

We now look at individual performances.

Batting:

Most runs (600 or more):

The most runs are 1546 by Dhoni and 1523 by Yuvraj, and the highest is 1163 by Bell.

Kohli (1340) has the most by current players.

The most centuries are 4 by Yuvraj, followed by 3 by Kohli and Root.

The most 50+ scores are 12 by Kohli, Raina and Tendulkar. The most for England is 9 by Pietersen.

Highest innings scores (115 and more):

The highest by a current player is 137* by RG Sharma, while the highest in this series is 125* by RR Pant. The highest for England is 158 by Strauss in the 2011 World Cup.

Batting averages (Minimum 20 innings and 30.00):

Led by Azharuddin by a large margin. Pietersen has the highest average for England, and Jadeja (!) the highest among current players.

Strike rates (Minimum 500 balls faced and 75.00):

The current pair of Bairstow and Stokes have the highest strike rates, followed by Sehwag and Yuvraj for India.

Now for

Bowling:

Most wickets (20 or more):

The highest are by Anderson and Jadeja. The latter has the highest for India and current players.

The most 5wis are 2 by Harbhajan, and the most 4wis are 2 by several players.

Best innings performances (including all 5wi):

The best performance here is Bumrah’s 6-19 which is the best for Ind vs Eng, surpassing Nehra’s 6-23 (in SA) and K Yadav’s 6-25 in England.

Similarly R Topley’s 6-24 is the best for Eng v Ind, surpassing RS Irani’s 5-26 in 2002

It is also the best for England in all ODIs, surpassing Collingwood’s 6-31 against BD in 2005.

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

Srinath and current player Jadeja have the best averages. Flintoff has the best for England

The best economy rates are by Kapil and Harbhajan.

The best strike rates are by Jadeja and Srinath.

To be continued.

Review of England-India T20Is (July 2022)

India won the series 2-1 in July 2022.

The results are summarised below:

India maintain their lead at 12-10, although England leads 5-4 for matches in England.

We now look at individual performances.

Batting:

Most runs (100 and more):

Kohli remains the leader, considerably ahead of runner-up Buttler.

No one has more than one century.

The most fifty-plus scores are 4 by Kohli.

Highest innings (60 and more):

The highest individual score is 117 by SA Yadav in the 3rd match of this series. The earlier record was 101* by KL Rahul in 2018. The best for England is 83* by Buttler in early 2021. DJ Malan’s 77 is the highest for England in England.

Bowling:

Most wickets (6 and more):

Led by current players Jordan (18), Chahal and Pandya.

Best innings bowling (including all 4wi and more):

Chahal’s record of 6-25 from 2017 still stands, as does Dernbach’s 4-22 for England back in 2011.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (6 and more):

Buttler equalled Dhoni’s record of 12 dismissals.

Buttler has the most catches by a keeper (9) and Dhoni the most stumpings (6). Kohli has the most catches by a fielder (10).

Best innings dismissals (3 and more):

Headed by Dhoni (5), while Rahane had 4 catches as a fielder.

All-round match performance (minimum 20 runs and 2 wickets):

Pandya’s 51/4-33 in this series would be the best. MM Ali’s 36/2-26 in this series is the best for England.

Review of England-India Tests, 2021-2022 (Pt 2)

Hope you have seen Part 1.

We now continue with individual performances in

Fielding

Most dismissals (20 and above):

Led by Dhoni with 67 and Knott with 54. Dhoni has the most catches by a keeper with 63. The most stumpings are 11 by SMH Kirmani and the most catches by a fielder are 38 by AN Cook and 35 by SM Gavaskar.

Most innings dismissals (5 and above):

Led by RW Taylor whose 7 catches were then a world record (since shared by several others). Yajurvindra Singh has 5 catches as a fielder. This is still a record for a fielder making his debut.

Most match dismissals (7 and above):

Headed by RW Taylor whose 10 catches were then a world record (since surpassed).

The most by a fielder are 7 by Yajurvindra Singh (on debut, still a record) and KL Rahul. RR Pant took 7 catches on his debut in the same test in 2018

Highest dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.600):

The highest by a keeper is 2.000 by RR Pant, closely followed by RW Taylor. For fielders it is 1.047 by ED Solkar. Next is KL Rahul with 0.909

All-round performance:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Headed by R Ashwin, followed by Kapil Dev. The best for England is by MM Ali. Among current players, BA Stokes, SCJ Broad and Mohammed Shami are also here.

Match (50+ and 5wi):

Of special note is Botham ‘s performance in 1980. He was the first to score a century and take 10 wickets in a Test. MH Mankad and R Ashwin scored a century and 5wi, while JK Lever and RA Jadeja scored a fifty and 10-for. Lever remains the only one to do this on debut. In recent years we have B Kumar (twice) and HH Pandya.

Review of England-India Tests, 2021-2022 (Pt 1)

The series was drawn 2-2 with 1 draw. India however retained the Pataudi trophy by virtue of their win in India in early 2021.

This is only the second drawn series for India in England, the first being 1-1 in 2002. They had won only in 1971, 1986 and 2007.

The jinx at Birmingham continued, as India have lost 7 and drawn 1 at this venue.

The overall summary:

Note England’s strong home advantage, although India is coming up.

Proceeding to individual performances, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (800 and more):

JE Root has come within a whisker of overtaking Tendulkar’s total of 2535, and has overtaken Gavaskar. Kohli and Pujara are next among current players.

Root has the most centuries (9) followed by Cook, Dravid and Tendulkar with 7.

Gavaskar and Tendulkar have the most 50+ scores (20), followed by Root with 19.

Highest innings scores (180 and more):

The highest score in recent years was 218 by Root in early 2021.

Spare a thought for KK Nair who made India’s highest against England but played only 6 Tests overall. This was his only Test score more than 50.

Highest batting averages (Min 20 innings, 35.00):

Root is in second place, after Barrington. Kohli and Pujara are next among current players.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced, 45.00):

Pant has the best strike rate among current players, after Kapil and Sehwag. Buttler and Ashwin are a little below, followed by Bairstow. Many of the higher strike rates are from recent years.

Next we take up

Bowling:

Most wickets (40 and more):

Anderson leads by a large margin over Chandrashekhar. Ashwin and Broad are next among current players.

Chandra has the most 5-fors (8) followed by 6 by Anderson, Ashwin and Botham.

Bedser is the only one with 2 10-fors, which came in his first 2 Tests.

Best innings bowling (includes all 7wi and above):

Nothing much from recent years. The 3 best performances were 50 or more years ago.

Best match bowling (includes all 10wm and above):

While there a few from recent years, such as Ashwin’s 12-for in 2016, we can also note AR (Axar) Patel’s 11-for in 2021 which is the best in any pink-ball Test. Note Bedser’s twin 11-wicket hauls at the start of his career. And JK Lever’s 50 and 10-for on debut.

Best bowling average (Minimum 2000 balls bowled, maximum 35.00):

The bowling averages are headed by Illingworth and JK Lever,

The best economy rates are by Illingworth and Nadkarni

The best strike rates are by JK Lever and Willis.

To be continued.

Another anniversary-India’s first Test win

Britain is celebrating the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II ascending the throne (on February 6, 1952).

And the first Test won by India also started on the same day. As you can see from the scorecard, the scheduled second day (Feb 7) was made the rest day following the death of King George VI.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-tour-of-india-1951-52-61800/india-vs-england-5th-test-62729/full-scorecard

Note the contributions of Umrigar (130*) and Mankad (12-108). India’s first Test victory was by an innings. If you look at the English scorecard, it can be inferred that many of the team were in the Test side only because their leading players of that time did not want to tour India.