Teams who had successful test tours to England.

England, the pioneers of the game along with Australia are among the most difficult sides to defeat on their home soil. England's disciplined nature of batting which prioritizes defence is complemented by a potent seam attack which makes winning improbable for touring teams.

The key requirements for winning in England are bowlers capable of swinging the Duke ball and a defiant batting line-up which rakes up big totals consistently. Throughout the long history of international cricket, there've been many teams which found success in England like the Don's Invincibles, The Windies led by the likes of Worrell, Sobers, Lloyd and Richards, The Pakistanis starting from Imran's young team and more recently Graeme Smith's all-conquering South African team.

Their successful methods are a lesson for aspiring tourists to win in England. India, who are the second team participating in a test series during the 2018 English season, went without defeat in a test series in England for 15 years between 1996 to 2011. Maintaining a record of 15 years without defeat in a foreign nation is something appreciable for a team that has traditionally performed inconsistently in overseas tours. But other teams have been undefeated in a test series in England for longer durations than India.

Note: The time duration between two unsuccessful tours is the criterion for choosing a successful touring team.

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West Indies- 1969 to 2000- 31 years.

Having defeated England convincingly in 1963 and 1966, the team led by Gary Sobers in 1969 was expected to have another successful test series but England surprisingly won by a margin of 2-0. But that seemed like a mere aberration as they would go undefeated in England for a long duration of 31 years decimating various English teams.

Additionally, from 1969-1991, the Windies didn't lose a single test match in England, leave alone a test series. This period concurred with the emergence of the world-beating Lloyd's men and after stalemates in 1991 and 1995, the rapidly declining team finally lost in 2000 and relinquished the Wisden Trophy.

Excluding the tests played during the 1969 and 2000 tours, the Windies played 34 tests in England winning a whopping 19, losing four and drawing 11 tests that included the famous 1984 'blackwash'.

Australia- 1926 to 1953

The greatest tourists to England.

The time period which witnessed the Great Depression and World War-2 was also the brightest for Australian cricket as it saw the emergence of arguably the greatest cricketer in the history of the game, Sir Donald Bradman.

Right from the 1930 tour in which Bradman scored a mammoth 974 runs, Australia had the stranglehold over the ashes for a long time except for 1932-33. Bradman not only tormented England as a batsman but also lead them magnificently. The Aussies produced a superlative performance in 1948, a tour in which they were undefeated in all first-class and Test matches.

The period also witnessed the emergence of stars like Miller, Harvey, O'Reilly, Morris to name a few and hence the team was a complete unit bolstered by the Don. Excluding the tests played during the 1926 and 1953 tours, Australia played 19 tests winning 9, losing 3 and settled for a draw 7 times.

Pakistan- 1982 to 2006- 24 years

Botham congratulating Miandad after a marathon knock of 261 at the Oval in 1987

Having narrowly lost the 1982 series, Imran's men put up a fine all-round performance to clinch the 1987 series against an English side that had successfully retained the Ashes down under the previous season.

From there, they would go undefeated for 19 years adding two more series triumphs and a stalemate. Compared to their subcontinental neighbours, their pace attack was more potent as they kept producing bowlers of the calibre of Wasim, Waqar, Aqib Javed and later, Shoaib Akthar. Their spinners- Abdul Qadir, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq were also instrumental to Pakistan's success.

The batting which relied on Miandad found an able replacement in Inzamam-ul-Haq. Excluding the test matches played during the 1982 and 2006 tours, Pakistan played in 15 tests emerging successful in 6 of them, losing 2 and managed to draw 7 times.

Australia- 1956 to 1977- 21 years

Richie Benaud ensured Australia's supremacy over the Ashes.

Following a brief slump in the mid-50's, the Australian teams that toured England post-1956 were successful for the next 21 years and they either retained or regained the Ashes under different captains.

Richie Benaud's team won a close series in 1961 with the victory margin being 2-1. From there onwards, Australia managed to tour England successfully despite a loss at home in 1970-71.

England, although retained the Ashes in 1972 (drawn series), defeated the Aussies to win an Ashes at home after 21 years. Excluding the tests of the 1956 and 1977 tours, Australia played 24 tests winning 7, losing 4 and settled for a draw in 13 tests.

Australia- 1985 to 2005- 20 Years

The victorious Australian cricket team in 2001

The Aussies of the early and mid-80s were undergoing a transition and in 1985, a reluctant Border took charge as the captain of the Australian cricket team. The result in the 1985 Ashes was not surprising given their recent performances.

When Border's team returned in 1989, their fortunes changed forever as it heralded the brightest phase in Australia's cricketing history. They became the new supreme force of world cricket and the little urn never returned to England for the next 16 years. England had no answer to the genius of Australia and they were trashed time and again by Aussies in their own backyard. Border's vision was realized by his successors- Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting as they became a near-invincible unit.

Excluding the tests played during the 1985 and 2005 series, Australia played in 23 tests winning 15 tests, losing 4 times and settled for a draw 4 times.