Stats: England set to become the first team to play 1000 Tests

England are on the cusp of attaining a major landmark in the purest format of the game. The upcoming series opener against India at Edgbaston will see them become the first team in cricket history to complete the milestone of playing 1000 Tests.

Currently, on 999 Tests, England will have taken more than 141 years to reach the four-figure mark. When he leads his troops out in the sprawling venue at Birmingham from August 1, Yorkshireman Joe Root will possess the honour of captaining the traditional powerhouse in their momentous 1000th Test match.

Since contesting the inaugural Test match against rivals Australia at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1877, England have established themselves as the pioneers of the game. In what can be construed as their affinity for the longest format, they lead the list of most matches played by a significant margin.

While England find themselves on the verge of completing 1000 Tests, the next best is Australia with 812 matches. Aside from these two enduring nations, only West Indies (535) and India (522) have crossed the 500-mark.

From their present tally of 999 Tests, England have won 357 and lost 297 matches. Despite playing in 187 lesser matches than their age-old nemesis, Australia hold the distinction of winning the most number of Tests. They have won 383 and lost 219 matches.

Apart from England and Australia, only South Africa and Pakistan have managed to win more Tests than they have lost thus far. Here is an encapsulation of the performance of all teams in the history of Test cricket.

Historical summary of all Test teams

In terms of matches played, England are well clear of second-placed Australia

For a team with such abiding history, it may come across as a slight surprise that opener Alastair Cook is the only England batsman to cross the 10,000-run mark in Tests. The left-hander's collection of 12,145 runs is 3245 clear of Graham Gooch's tally.

Among his countrymen, Cook is the only active batsman in the list of top ten run-scorers. The likes of Alec Stewart, David Gower, Kevin Pietersen and Geoffrey Boycott are the other England batsmen to eclipse the threshold of 8000 runs.

Top 10 Test run-scorers for England

#1 Alastair Cook - 12,145 runs from 156 matches

#2 Graham Gooch - 8900 runs from 118 matches

#3 Alec Stewart - 8463 runs from 133 matches

#4 David Gower - 8231 runs from 117 matches

#5 Kevin Pietersen - 8181 runs from 104 matches

#6 Geoffrey Boycott - 8114 runs from 108 matches

#7 Mike Atherton - 7728 runs from 115 matches

#8 Ian Bell - 7727 runs from 118 matches

#9 Colin Cowdrey - 7624 runs from 114 matches

#10 Wally Hammond - 7249 runs from 85 matches

With a whopping 540 wickets from just 138 matches, swing king James Anderson leads England's all-time bowling tally. His new-ball partner Stuart Broad is next best at 417 scalps. While the former needs just 24 more wickets to become the most prolific fast bowler in Test history, the latter requires only five more scalps to enter the international top ten.

Ian Botham, Bob Willis and Fred Trueman round off the top five in England's leading wicket-takers. The versatile Derek Underwood, at times, even classified as left-arm medium, and Graeme Swann are the only spinners in the top ten.

Top 10 Test wicket-takers for England

#1 James Anderson - 540 wickets from 138 matches

#2 Stuart Broad - 417 wickets from 118 matches

#3 Ian Botham - 383 wickets from 102 matches

#4 Bob Willis - 325 wickets from 90 matches

#5 Fred Trueman - 307 wickets from 67 matches

#6 Derek Underwood - 297 wickets from 86 matches

#7 Graeme Swann - 255 wickets from 60 matches

#8 Brian Statham - 252 wickets from 70 matches

#9 Matthew Hoggard - 248 wickets from 67 matches

#10 Alec Bedser - 236 wickets from 51 matches

(*Note: All statistics are accurate as of 30th July, 2018)