Ashes 2019 2nd Test, statistical preview: Australia return to their favourite hunting ground in England

Ashes 2019 2nd Test, statistical preview: Australia return to their favourite hunting ground in England

Lord's

Australia had won the first Test of the 2019 Ashes, at Edgbaston, by 251 runs. The second Test will commence at Lord’s on July 14. Ahead of the clash, here is a statistical preview.

Statistical preview

0.745 win-loss ratio of England against Australia (108 wins, 145 defeats), their worst against any team. Barring Australia, they have lost more than won only against West Indies (49 wins, 51 defeats).

1.718 win-loss ratio of England at Lord’s (55 wins, 32 defeats). At home, they have worse ratios only at Headingley (1.32) and Trent Bridge (1.222), apart from losing their only Test at Bramall Lane.

2.428 win-loss ratio of Australia at Lord’s (17 wins, 7 defeats), the 6th-best for any side away from home with a 10-Test cut-off, after England at Lancaster Park, Christchurch (ratio of 8), England at Kingsmead, Durban (6), Australia at Basin Reserve, Wellington (4), England at Basin Reserve, Wellington (4), and Australia at Newlands, Cape Town (2.5).

3 runs needed by Matthew Wade (997), 65 by Nathan Lyon (935), and 66 by Peter Handscomb (934) to reach 1,000 Test runs. Whoever reaches there first will be the 105th Australian and 544th overall to the milestone.

4 wickets needed by Lyon (352) to go past Dennis Lillee (355) and become the 4th-highest wicket-taker among Australians. Only Shane Warne (708) and Glenn McGrath (563) have more.

5 wickets needed by Peter Siddle (45) to become the 12th Australian to take 50 Test wickets on English soil. Of the other 11, Bill O’Reilly and Merv Hughes have exactly 50 wickets apiece.

10 Ashes hundreds for Steven Smith, the joint 3rd-most. He needs one more to go past Steve Waugh. Only Don Bradman (19) and Jack Hobbs (12) have more Ashes hundreds.

18 years since Australia had last won an Ashes series on English soil. Since then they have lost in 2005, 2009, 2013, and 2015.

49 drawn Tests at Lord’s. A drew here will make the venue the first venue in history to host 50 drawn Tests. The Oval (37) is next. Lord’s has also held the most Tests (138), 27 more than any other ground.

75 years was Australia’s unbeaten duration at Lord’s, between 1934 and 2009. In fact, they had lost only once in the 113-year period between 1896 and 2009. Since 2009, however, they have lost the Ashes Tests in 2009 and 2013 but beat Pakistan in 2010 and England in 2015.

90 wickets for Stuart Broad at Lord’s. If he takes 10 here he will become the 4th bowler to take 100 wickets at any venue and 2nd to do this outside Sri Lanka. Muttiah Muralitharan has 166 wickets at SSC, 117 at Kandy, and 111 at Galle; James Anderson, 103 at Lord’s; and Rangana Herath, 102 at Galle.

101 wickets for Broad against Australia, the joint 8th for England against Australia. However, 9 more wickets will help him reach 3rd spot, behind only Ian Botham (148) and Bob Willis (128). In the process Broad will go past Alec Bedser, Anderson (104 each), Derek Underwood (105), Syd Barnes (106), and Wilfred Rhodes (109).

692 men have played Test cricket for England so far. Jofra Archer is set to become the 693rd.

1175 runs for Joe Root at Lord’s, 9th in history. Root needs to score 90 to go past Geoff Boycott (1,189), Kevin Pietersen (1,235), David Gower (1,241), and Ian Bell (1,264). Only Graham Gooch (2,015), Alastair Cook (1,937), Andrew Strauss (1,562), and Alec Stewart (1,476) have more.