1st Test, Australia v England, Statistical Highlights

It was the 1550th Test match in cricket history

Rajneesh Gupta11-Jul-2001

• It was the 1550th Test match in cricket history.
• It was Australia’s 615th and England’s 782nd Test match.
• It was the 297th match between these two sides. The record now reads :
  Australia 118, England 93 and drawn 86.

• It was the 145th match between these two sides in England. The record
  now reads : Australia 44,England 40 and drawn 61.

• It was the 37th match on this ground and 11th between these two sides.
  The record now reads : Australia 3,England 4,drawn 4.

• Usman Afzaal, the Pakistan born left handed batsman and slow left arm
  bowler, was making his Test debut for England. He became 606th player
  to play for England.

• Steve Bucknor and George Sharp were officiating in their 57th and 14th
  match respectively.

• The 103 run-partnership between Alec Stewart and Andrew Caddick was
  the 15th century partnership for the tenth wicket in Test cricket. It
  was the fourth century partnership for England in all Tests. It was
  also the best for England against Australia at home soil.

• Mark Waugh when reached 30,became fifth leading run scorer for
  Australia surpassing Greg Chappell’s run-aggregate of 7110 from 87
  Tests. Mark at the end of this match has aggregated 7130 runs from 112
  matches.

• Steve Waugh (105) when reached 35,completed his 9000 runs in his 136th
  Test and 216th innings. He became only the third batsman in Test
  history to reach this milestone after Indian Sunil Gavaskar (10122
  runs in 125 Tests) and former team mate Allan Border (11174 runs in
  156 Tests).

• The century was Steve’s 26th in 136th Test and eighth against England.
  This puts him on the third place alongwith Allan Border and Arthur
  Morris for Australia. Now only incomparable Don Bradman (19) and Greg
  Chappell (9) are ahead of Steve in scoring hundreds against England.

• The hundred was Steve’s sixth in England which puts him ahead of Allan
  Border and Mark Taylor who each has scored five hundreds. Only Don
  Bradman (11) have scored more hundreds in England for Australia.Steve
  has now scored the most hundreds among the contemporary batsmen moving
  ahead of India’s Sachin Tendulkar who has 25 centuries from 84 Tests
  to his credit.

• Damien Martyn (105) scored his maiden Test hundred in his 12th Test.
  His previous highest was 89* against New Zealand at Hamilton in
  1999-00.

• Martyn became the 20th Australian to score a century in his debut Test
  against England. He also became the 13th Australian to do so in first
  innings of his debut Test against England. Later Gilchrist emulated
  Martyn to become 21st Australian to score a hundred in his first Test
  against England.

• Adam Gilchrist (152) on 6 completed his 1000 runs in Test cricket. He
  was playing his 18th Test and 26th innings. He became 364th batsman in
  Test cricket and 79th Australian to do so. Gilchrist is also the
  fourth Australian wicketkeeper to reach this milestone after Ian Healy
  (4356 runs in 119 matches), Rod Marsh (3633 runs in 93 Tests) and
  `Bert’ Oldfield (1427 runs in 54 matches).

• Gilchrist’s batting average of 52.09 is the highest among the 32
  wicketkeepers who have aggregated 1000 or more runs in a career. The
  previous record was on the name of Zimbabwean Andy Flower who has
  scored 3760 runs in 48 matches at an average of 51.51.

• Gilchrist’s innings is the highest by an Australian keeper against
  England in all matches. He obliterated Ian Healy’s 134 at Brisbane in
  1998-99. Interestingly the previous record of highest score by an
  Australian keeper on English soil was also held by Ian Healy. Healy
  had made 102* at Manchester in 1993. Gilchrist’s innings is also the
  third highest by any keeper against England after India’s Budhi
  Kunderan (192,Madras,1963-64) and West Indies’ Clyde Walcott
  (168*,Lord’s,1950).

• Gilchrist’s innings is the second highest by an Australian keeper in
  all matches after Ian Healy’s alltime highest 161* against West Indies
  at Brisbane in 1996-97.

• Gilchrist’s five sixes equalled the existing record of most sixes in
  an innings for Australia against England. Sam Loxton at Leeds in 1948 had also hit five sixes. Joe Darling at Manchester in 1902 and 1905 had five hits into the crowd but before 1910 these hits were only worth four each as a player had to hit a ball out of the ground to record a six.

• Gilchrist scored 22 runs off Mark Butcher’s ninth over (128th over of
  Australian innings). The sequence : 6 0 6 4 6 0. Gilchrist now holds
  the Australian record of scoring most runs in a single over. The
  previous record was of 21 runs scored made on six occasions . However
  five of these instances came in eight ball overs. The only instance of
  21 runs scored in a six ball over for Australia came in the match
  against England at Lord’s in 1948 when Don Bradman and Sid Barnes
  scored off Jim Laker.

• The three centuries in Australia’s only innings equalled the record of
  most centuries by a team in an innings against England. This was the
  15th such occasion against England . Australia has done so against
  England on as many as seven occasions. The last time three centuries
  were scored in an innings against England was way back in 1993 at
  Leeds also by Australia.

• Nasser Hussain (in second innings) was getting retired hurt for the
  third time in his career. The other such occasions for him were
  against India at Nottingham in 1996 when he was hit by a Srinath
  delivery and against Pakistan at Lahore in 2000-01 when he failed to
  connect a hook off Wasim Akram.

• Darren Gough bagged a pair of spectacles (duck in each innings) for
  the second time in his career. Interestingly his only other pair had
  also come against Australia at Leeds in 1997.

• When Shane Warne dismissed Gough in second innings, it was the 50th
  instance for him of dismissing a batsman without letting him open his
  account. Warne became second Australian after Glenn McGrath and 12th
  bowler in Test annals to do so. The record is jointly held by West
  Indian Courtney Walsh and Pakistani Wasim Akram. Walsh and Akram have
  dismissed 79 batsmen each on zero.

• Steve Waugh has now appeared in 63 matches which Australia has won.
  With this he equalled West Indian Viv Richards’ Test record of most
  appearances in `won’ matches. Incidentally Steve already holds the
  record of aggregating most runs in `won’ matches. The following table
  lists the players with most appearances in `won’ matches :

• Shane Warne has now taken 255 wickets in `won’ matches – most by any
  bowler in Test history. He surpassed West Indian Malcolm Marshall’s
  aggregate of 254 wickets. The following table lists the leading
  bowlers in this category of statistics :

• Mark Waugh ,at the end of this match, has taken 156 catches in the
  field ,same as Allan Border and only one less than Mark Taylor.

• The win by an innings and 119 runs was Australia’s 18th largest
  against England by innings marginfourth largest in England.