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.

Tests in 2022-Batting records

Continuing our study of Test performances in the year gone by.

Most runs-500 or more:

Babar Azam leads with 1184, while Root, Khawaja and Bairstow also crossed 1000. For India, only RR Pant appears here with 680.

Also note:

Most 100s: 6 by Bairstow, 5 by Root

Most 50+s: 11 by Babar Azam, 9 by Usman Khawaja

Most 4s: 132 by Z Crawley, 128 by Bairstow

Most 6s: 26 by Stokes, 21 by Pant

Highest innings (150 or more):

A good year for double centuries, led by Latham’s 252 at the beginning of the year.Williamson and Warner scored doubles in their last Tests of the year. Only one from India, Jadeja’s 175*.

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

Only 7 instances here which meet the cutoff of 20 innings. Khawaja’s average of 67.50 is much higher than the second-placed Root with 45.75.

Best strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced, 40.00 and above):

Headed by Bairstow, Stokes and Root, who may be called the main proponents of Bazball.

No one from India here.

However, JJ Bumrah made the Test record for the most runs in an over (35 off England’s SCJ Broad) at Birmingham. The previous record was 28.

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:

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.

Notes on winning 4th-innings chases

After the end of the 5th Eng vs Ind Test at Birmingham on Jul 5, 2022:

Highest winning scores in 4th-innings chases (300 and more):

This 378/3 is only the 9th highest 4th-innings chase in all Tests, but the highest by England. England’s previous record was set not long ago, when Stokes and Leach helped them to 362/9 in the 2019 Ashes. India is 3rd on this list with 406/4 against the West Indies in 1976.

On that occasion, India took the record which they held until 2003. The previous record was 404/3 by Australia in the 1948 Ashes. It remains the highest winning chase against England.

That included Bradman’s last century in his penultimate Test innings. His last innings was a duck.

India’s record against England is 387/4 at Chennai in 2008, soon after 26/11.

Highest winning scores in 4th-innings chases in England:

Australia’s 1948 feat of 404/3 is at the top here, and England’s 378/3 is second. Third is the Stokes-and-Leach show of 362/9 in 2019.

India’s best is only 174/6 in 1971, but it was enough to win their first Test in England.

Highest winning scores in 4th-innings chases by England:

Today’s chase is the best by England, surpassing the 362/9 in 2019.

Their previous best against India was 208/4 at Delhi in 1972.

Highest partnerships for Eng vs Ind in Tests:

The unbroken partnership of 269 between Root and Bairstow is the 3rd highest for all wickets in this series, and the highest for the 4th wicket. It surpassed the 266 by Hammond and Worthington in 1936.

Centuries in both innings in Tests between England and India:

Bairstow is the third to achieve this. Nobody from India has done it against England.

Summary of Test matches in 2021: Fielding records : Part 4

Hope you have read the earlier summaries such as https://abn397.wordpress.com/2022/01/04/summary-of-test-matches-in-2021-bowling-records-part-3/

We now continue with Fielding records in Tests during the calendar year 2021.

Most dismissals (15 or more):

The most dismissals were 42 by JC Buttler, followed by 39 by RR Pant. The most catches by a keeper were 41, also by Buttler. The most stumpings were 6 by RR Pant. The most catches by a fielder were 21 by JE Root.

Most dismissals in an innings (5 and above):

This list includes 4 keepers (including AT Carey on debut) as well as a fielder (Thirimanne). Thirimanne became one of several fielders to take 5 catches in an innings. Unusually, all these catches came off a single bowler (L. Embuldeniya). This is probably a record in all Tests.

Most dismissals in a match (6 and above):

8 dismissals were made by several keepers, including AT Carey on debut. Fielders MM Ali and SPD Smith took 6 catches each.

Highest dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.5) :

RR Pant has by far the best dismissal rate of 1.695. No other keeper qualifies here. Among the fielders, JE Root is next with 0.750, followed by V Kohli and RG Sharma.

To be continued.

Summary of Test matches in 2021: Bowling records : Part 3

Hope you have read the earlier parts, such as :https://abn397.wordpress.com/2022/01/02/summary-of-test-matches-in-2021-batting-records-part-2/

We now proceed to study the Test bowling performances during the calendar year 2021.

Most wickets (minimum 20):

Led by R Ashwin, with SS Afridi a little behind.

The most 5wis are 5 by Hasan Ali and AR Patel.

No one has taken more than one 10wm.

A number of newcomers did well, such as AR Patel and M Siraj (Ind), OE Robinson (Eng) and RTM Mendis (SL).

Best innings bowling (including all 6wi and above):

Pride of place would go to AY Patel’s 10-119 although his team still lost. This was the 3rd 10wi in all Tests, and the best innings bowling for New Zealand. SM Boland’s 6-7 was one of the best figures on debut. JE Root’s occasional bowling got him 5-8.

Best match bowling (including all 9wm and above):

AY Patel and Sajid Khan again have the top 2 positions. And AR Patel’s 11-70 is the best match bowling in a day-night match.

Bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls bowled):

Only 3 bowlers make the cutoff of 2000 balls. R Ashwin has the best average and strike rate, while JM Anderson has the best economy rate.

To be continued:

Summary of Test matches in 2021: Batting records : Part 2

We now look at individual Batting performances in 2021:

Most runs (500 or more):

Root leads by a large margin with 1708 runs.

Next are RG Sharma (906) and FDM Karunaratne (902).

Pant (748) and Pujara (702) are next. Kohli (536) is further down.

The most centuries were 6 by Root and 4 by Karunaratne.

Similarly, the most 50+ scores were 10 by Root and 7 by Karunaratne.

Back to Root: His 1708 is the 3rd highest in all years until now, and the best for England.

1500 or more runs in a calendar year:

The previous record for England was 1481 by MP Vaughan in 2002.

Highest innings scores (125 or more):

Several double centuries, including two by debutants (210* by KR Mayers and 200 by DP Conway). And two by Root, along with two 180s as well.

Conway’s 200 is the highest by anyone making his debut, that match being at Lord’s. The previous record was 136 by SC Ganguly in 1996.

The best for India is 161 by RG Sharma, followed by 150 by MA Agarwal.

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

Led by Root (61.00). Next are RG Sharma (47.68) and RR Pant (39.36). Pujara and Rahane are further down, and JM Anderson with an average of 4.10 is at the bottom.

Finally, Strike Rates: (Minimum 1000 balls faced, SR 40 or more):

Led by Pant (67.44) and followed by newcomer KR Mayers (61.98).

Other Indian players here include RG Sharma, V Kohli, KL Rahul and AM Rahane.

Root is in 4th place here, after Pant, Mayers and Liton Das.

To be continued with bowling statistics in Part 3.

Batting averages across innings-September 2021

No Test matches for a while, so we can do some overall reviews.

Batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, 50.00):

Mr 99.94 is well known, but No 2 has already been forgotten. No 3 is fast closing in on No 2’s 61.87. The only other current player in the top 10 is No 6 with 60.80.

The highest for India is by VG Kambli (!) at 54.20. Something similar to the case of AC Voges.

From India, there are also Tendulkar, Dravid, Gavaskar and Kohli.

Among current players, there are SPD Smith, M Labuschagne, KS Williamson, V Kohli and JE Root (who just manages 50+).

In following posts we will look at batting averages across innings.

More snippets from the 3rd Test at Ahmedabad:

England’s lowest Test total against India:

You can see that England’s 81 is their lowest total against India. The previous record was 101 in 1971 where Chandrashekhar took 6-38 to set up India’s first Test win in England.

And their previous lowest total in India was 102 in 1981-82, when Kapil and Madan Lal took fivers in the 4th innings.

Most economical 5-for by a spinner in a Test innings: Root’s 5-8 is in second place after Australia’s Ironmonger if you take the criteria of the least runs conceded in a 5-for:

Only Ironmonger’s 5-6 in 1931-32 has less runs conceded.

Let us also look at the same figure for all captains (regardless of bowling styles):

Here, Root’s innings bowling is second to AER Gilligan’s 6-7. But Gilligan was clearly a medium pacer. The previous record by a captain who was a spin bowler was 5-27 by BS Bedi v NZ in 1976-77. Next is Mushtaq Mohammad with 5-28.

And finally, the Devil makes a comeback here with a score of 66/6:

Though England has also faced 666/6 against India not long ago at Chennai in 2016-17, in KK Nair’s match.

Notes from the 2nd India-England Test

First, a left-over stat from the 1st Test.

Here we see that JE Root’s 218 was the highest innings score for England in India, surpassing the 207 by MW Gatting in 1984-85 which was also at Madras.

Now for the second Test. We look at India’s highest victories by runs against all teams:

We can see that India’s win by 317 runs in the 2nd Test is their highest winning margin by runs against England. The previous record was by 279 runs at Leeds in 1986. In India it was by 246 runs at Visakhapatnam in 2016-17.

This margin of 317 runs is India’s 5th highest victory against all countries.

We also look at India’s highest defeats by runs against all teams:

In the first Test, England won by 227 runs against India. This is quite far down this list, but was England’s highest victory by runs against India in India. It surpassed the 212-run victory at Mumbai in 2005-06.

Debut innings figures by Indian bowlers:

AR Patel’s 5-60 is 7th on the list, but the 2nd best by a left-arm spinner.(after DR Doshi).

We also look at debut match figures by Indian bowlers:

AR Patel’s 7-100 is again 7th on this list and the second best by a left-arm spinner after DR Doshi.

Best match bowling figures by an Indian player who scored a century in the same Test:

Ashwin has the first 3 of the 5 positions here. His 8-96 is in 2nd place.

Axar (AR) Patel has figured in these columns before:

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2015/08/28/axar-patels-feat-4-wickets-for-none-3/

Test matches of 2019-Fielding

Individual performances in fielding:

Most dismissals (12 or more):

Australian captain Paine leads by a large margin over the next, de Kock.

The best by a non-keeper was 25 by Root, England’s captain.

M Rizwan took over as Pakistan’s keeper from former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed.

Buttler and Hope played some (but not all) of their matches as keepers.

The most stumpings were 4 by JL Bairstow.

Most innings dismissals (4 and above):

de Kock is the only one with more than 5 dismissals.

Klaasen took 4 dismissals on debut. Other new faces here are RR Pant and Mohammad Rizwan.

Root, Warner and SPD Smith took 4 catches apiece as non-keepers.

Most match dismissals (6 or more):

Sarfaraz Ahmed took 10 dismissals before he lost his captaincy as well as his place in the team. Paine and de Kock were next with 8. New faces here include GC Wilson, RR Pant and Mohammad Rizwan.

Warner and SPD Smith took 6 catches as non-keepers.

Best dismissal rate (Min 15 innings, 0.500):

Paine has by far the best dismissal rate (2.521), followed by Watling.

The best by a non-keeper is 1.312 by SPD Smith.