#360stats: Highlights from 5th Test

Mohandas Menon 22:22 23/08/2015
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  • Stuart Broad and James Anderson (top left) celebrate their Ashes victory at the Oval.

    After Australia's resounding win over England in the fifth Ashes Test, cricket statistician Mohandas Menon takes us through the highlights from the Oval Test.

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    • The opening stand of 110 runs between Chris Rogers and David Warner was their ninth 100+ opening stand in Tests in 41 innings. Only two other Aussie opening pairs of Matthew Hayden & Justin Langer (14 in 113 innings) and Michael Slater & Mark Taylor (10 in 78 innings) have been involved in more 100+ opening stands for Australia in Test cricket. Rogers & Warner, in fact, equaled the nine 100+ stands between Bill Lawry and Bob Simpson in 62 innings.
    • Meanwhile, Rogers & Warner also became only the fourth Aussie pair to aggregate 2000 runs for the opening wicket, and the 20th pair in Test cricket history.  Details in the table below (all by Australians).

    • Chris Rogers (43, while on 28*) became the 55th Aussie batsman to aggregate 2000 runs in Test cricket. At 37 years, 354 days he became the fifth oldest Aussie batsman to reach this landmark. The table below has the full list:

    Note: For the record, Don Bradman was the youngest Australian at 23 years, 92 days to reach the 2000 Test run mark in November 1931.

    • Steve Smith (143, while on 48*) became the 37th Aussie batsman to aggregate 3000 runs in Test cricket. At 26 years, 79 days he became the third youngest Aussie batsman to reach this feat after Don Bradman 24y-180d (in Feb 1933) and Neil Harvey 26y-75d (in Dec 1954).
    • Steve Smith, who in the previous Test matches at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge achieved a dubious distinction of becoming the first #3 batsman to be dismissed in single figures in both innings – twice in same Ashes series since England’s Harry Makepeace in March 1921 – recorded his 11th Test century of his career.  
    • By making his 11th Test century in just 63 innings, Smith has taken the sixth fewest innings by any Australian batsman in Tests to register their 11th Test century. The others ahead of him are Don Bradman (25 innings), Neil Harvey (46), Matthew Hayden (58), Greg Chappell (61) and David Warner (62). Just for the record, the most innings taken by an Aussie batsman to reach his 11th Test 100 was by Steve Waugh, who took 124 innings!

    Australia's star batsman Steve Smith.

    • Incidentally, Smith’s maiden Test century (138*) also came at the Oval in August 2013. This means all his eleven centuries have come in two years and in just 41 innings!  
    • Since his maiden century Smith’s Test record is: 2475 runs, at an average of 72.79 runs per innings, while before that it was just 620 runs at an average of 29.52, with five fifties in 22 innings! 
    • It is interesting to note that all of Steve Smith’s 11 centuries have come while batting in the first innings of a Test match. His highest while batting second is 97 against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi in November 2014, which came in the fourth innings of the Test match. Incidentally, Smith joins two other Test batsmen – England’s Tom Graveney and South African Ashwell Prince who have also 11 Test centuries – all while batting first!  
    • Mitchell Johnson has now been dismissed for a duck for the 19th time in his Test career. Only three other Aussie batsmen have made more ducks than him:  Glenn McGrath (35), Shane Warne (34) and Steve Waugh (22). Johnson has now equaled the tally of Mark Waugh (19).
    • Mitchell Starc (58) registered his fifth score of 50+ while batting at #9 in Test cricket. He now joins Indian Kiran More, Kiwi Daniel Vettori and England’s Graeme Swann to become the fourth batsmen in Test cricket history to make five 50-plus score while batting at number nine. 

    England bowler Steven Finn.

    • Steven Finn who missed his 100th Test wicket because of a no-ball, finally managed to reach his personal landmark in his 26th Test match when he claimed the wicket of Mitchell Marsh. He thus became the 45th England bowler to achieve this achievement in Test cricket. For the record, the last Englishman to do so was Stuart Broad in May 2011. Broad since then has reached a tally of 308 wickets in 84 Tests!
    • Mark Wood's 24 in 41 balls comprised of six boundaries, which meant that all his runs in England’s first innings have come through boundaries. This is now the highest individual score in an innings in an Ashes Test consisting entirely of boundaries. In the Nottingham Ashes Test match in 2013, England’s Ian Bell had made 25 with six boundaries.
    • England’s 149 was their sixth lowest total at the Oval while batting first, and interestingly have all come against Australia. Their lowest total being the 52 made in 1948.
    • Australia’s lead of 332 runs is now the second biggest in the Ashes series for a team to enforce follow-on. The previous highest – also by Australia – came at Brisbane in November 1954, when Ian Johnson made England bat again after gaining a lead of 411 runs. The home side had then won by an innings and 154 runs!  

    The ICC #1 Test batsman: Joe Root.

    • Although had a poor Test match (6 & 11), he became the first Test batsman in 2015 to amass 1000 runs. He now has 1001 runs this year. This is by far his best performance, in terms of aggregate runs in a calendar year that began in 2012.
    • Alastair Cook in his Test career has batted on three occasions, while his side faced follow-on.  His scores being: 118 (at Galle in Dec 2007, Drawn), 176 (at Ahmedabad, Nov 2012, Lost) and 85 (at The Oval, Aug 2015, Lost) – an aggregate of 379 runs in 3 innings!
    • Nathan Lyon with 162 wickets, has moved into the top 10 wicket-takers list among off-spinners in Test cricket history. Only the following nine off-spinners are ahead of him with more Test wickets:

    • The highest wicket-taker for Australia in this series was Mitchell Starc with 18 wickets. This is the first time since 1926 that no Australian bowler has taken 20 wickets in a series in England, when leggies Arthur Mailey (14 wickets) and Clarrie Grimmett (13) were the leading wicket-taker for Australia, who had then lost the five match Test series one-nil.  
    • This is the fourth time England has won an Ashes series with the score-line reading 3-2. The last occasion came 111 years ago in March 1904 in Australia.  Incidentally it is England’s only second such series win at home since defeating South Africa 60 years ago in August 1955. The full list of England’s 3-2 series wins in Tests: 

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