Important numbers of The Ashes

Australia have won the Ashes 32 times whereas England 31

The greatest clash of all in Cricket – The Ashes – is back for the 69th time in the history since 1882/83. This time it is in England and will begin at Cardiff on July 8.

In previous Ashes in England, the visitors were given a defeat of 3-0 to retain the Ashes. But soon within six months, Australia thrashed the English with a 5-0 victory at their home to regain the Ashes after about seven years.

It’s been over 130 years since the Ashes is being played between the two sides. It has a vast history with numerous number of players involved in it over the years.

With 69th Ashes beginning, let’s focus on some of the important numbers of this great rivalry.

85 – The target England failed to achieve at The Oval on August 29, 1882 which lead to the beginning of Ashes. It was England’s first defeat against their home crowd and thus their leading newspaper The Sporting Times published that the English cricket has died and the body will be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia. This is the lowest target defended successfully in the history of Test cricket. Such was the defeat for England which resulted in the rivalry.

8 – Number of consecutive Ashes won by England in the beginning of the rivalry from 1882/83 to 1890. In 1891/92, Australia got their first Ashes victory under the leadership of Jack Blackham by winning the 3-match series 2-1.

3 – Number of whitewashes in Ashes series of four or more number of matches. All three were by Australia in 1920/21, 2006/07 and in 2013/14. The winning captains were Warwick Armstrong, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke respectively.

68 – Total number of Ashes series so far from 1982/83 to 2013/14; 34 in each of the countries.

32 – Number of Ashes won by Australia.

31 – Number of Ashes won by England

5 – Number of Ashes series drawn. First was in 1938 and last in 1972. Only once there were two consecutive Ashes series drawn in 1965/66 and in 1968.

771 – Total number of players appeared in Ashes tests (till the 2013/14 Ashes). 420 played for England and 351 for Australia.

15 – Number of venues at which Ashes tests have been played, 9 in England and 6 in Australia.

52 – Number of matches played by Syd Gregory in Ashes which is the most by any player in the history. He played 58 matches in his test career spanning from 1890 to 1912 in which 52 were in Ashes. No other played more than 50 Ashes tests. Next highest is Steve Waugh with 45 tests from 1986 to 2003.

28 – Number of matches captained by Allan Border in Ashes which is the most by any captain. The next highest is Archie MacLaren with 22 tests as captain.

5028 – Aggregate of runs scored by Don Bradman in Ashes tests, most by any batsman. Highest by an Englishman is 3636 by Jack Hobbs.

89.78 – Batting average of Don Bradman in Ashes which is the best by anyone who played more than three Ashes tests. Highest average for an Englishman is 84.42 by Eddie Paynter.

19 – Number of centuries by Don Bradman in Ashes, most for any batsman. Only others with 10 or more Ashes centuries are Jack Hobbs (12) and Steve Waugh (10).

The Ashes is the oldest cricket rivalry of all time

364 – Highest individual score in the Ashes, by Len Hutton at The Oval in 1938. There are four more triple centuries in Ashes – 334 by Don Bradman, 311 by Bob Simpson, 307 Bob Cowper and 304 by Don Bradman. Bob Cowper’s 307 is the only triple century in Ashes in Australia while the rest three have been in England.

974 – Highest aggregate of runs in a single Ashes series, by Don Bradman in 1930 in England in 5 matches. Bradman’s scores in the series were 8 & 131, 254 & 1, 334, 14, 232.

195 – Number of wickets by Shane Warne in Ashes, most by any bowler. Highest number of wickets for England has been 128 by Ian Botham.

13.01 – Bowling average of George Lohmann in Ashes, best by any bowler who bowled more than 1000 balls in Ashes career. Best for Australia is 14.25 by JJ Ferris.

38.1 – Bowling strike rate of Billy Bates in Ashes, best by any bowler with minimum of 1000 balls bowled in Ashes. Best for Australia is by Mitchell Johnson – 40.6. The best by an Australian spinner is 50.7 by Jim Laker.

12 – Most number of five-wicket hauls in Ashes, by Sidney Barnes of England. Most for Australia is tied between Terry Alderman, Clarrie Grimmett, Charlie Turner and Shane Warne with 11 five-wicket hauls each.

4 – Most number of 10 wickets in an Ashes test match tied between Tom Richardson of England and Shane Warne of Australia.

10757 – Number of balls delivered by Shane Warne in the Ashes. He is the only bowler to deliver more than 10000 balls in the history of Ashes. Next best is Clarrie Grimmett also from Australia with 9164 balls. Most balls for England have been 7686 by Maurice Tate.

10/53 – Best bowling figures in the Ashes. It is by Jim Laker at Old Trafford in the 1956 Ashes. Best figures in Australia are 9/121 by Arthur Mailey at MCG in 1920/21 Ashes.

19/90 – Best match figures in the Ashes. It is again by Jim Laker at Old Trafford in the 1956 Ashes. He took 9/37 in the first inning. The innings and match figures are the best in the whole of Test history while no one has taken 19 wickets in any First-Class cricket match. Best match figures in Australia are 15/124 by Wilfred Rhodes at MCG in 1903/04 Ashes. Best by an Australian are 16/137 by Bob Massie at Lord’s in 1972 Ashes, on debut.

46 – Number of wickets by Jim Laker in 1956 Ashes, most by a bowler in a single Ashes series. He took four 5-wicket hauls and two 10-wicket hauls in the five matches. Terry Alderman is the only one to take 40+ wickets in two different Ashes series – 42 in 1981 Ashes and 41 in 1989 Ashes. He being an Australian did both in England.

199 & 7/109 – Best all round performance in an Ashes test, by Ian Botham. He scored 50 and 149* with bat and took 6/95 and 1/14 with ball. Only other player to score a century and take a five-wicket haul in Ashes is Jack Gregory of Australia scoring 100 in the only inning he batted and 7/69 and 1/32 with ball.

5 – Most number of Man of the Match awards in Ashes shared by Ian Botham, Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne. Mitchell Johnson got three Man of the Match awards in 2013/14 Ashes, most by any player in a single Ashes.

2 – Most Man of the Series Awards in Ashes shared by Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

Most of the numbers involve players from past and no one from current squads. Will we see someone in 2015 Ashes feature with any of the above feats? Only time can say.