And was England’s 67 at Leeds their lowest total in an Ashes Test?
Steven Lynch27-Aug-2019I’m still trying to make sense of that last day at Headingley – and wondered how many teams have won a Test after being dismissed for less than 100 in their first innings? asked William Johnson from England
Following that amazing performance at the weekend, there have now been 16 all-out totals of under 100 that were still enough to win a Test (ignoring the declarations and forfeitures in the match between South Africa and England in Centurion in 1999-2000). England had warmed up by doing the same just a month previously, beating Ireland after being skittled for 85 on the first morning at Lord’s. Only three of these totals – all more than 130 years ago – were lower than England’s 67 at Headingley. In the first Test in Sydney in 1886-87, England won despite being shot out for 45 in the first innings (they made 184 in the second; Australia were out for 119 and 97). Australia won at Lord’s in 1888 despite being rolled for 60 in their first innings (a record 27 wickets tumbled on the second day), while at The Oval in 1882, in the match that spawned the Ashes, Australia won after being shot out for 63 in their second innings.Was England’s 67 at Leeds their lowest total in an Ashes Test? asked Ibrahim Kamara from Sierra Leone
England’s catastrophic collapse to 67 all out at Headingley last week was their lowest in an Ashes Test for 71 years – they were bundled out for 52 by Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller at The Oval in 1948, on the first day of Don Bradman’s final Test match.In all, England have had 11 smaller totals than last week’s 67. Seven of the others were against Australia, including their lowest of all – 45 in Sydney in 1886-87, in a match they went on to win by 13 runs.Joe Denly was the only Englishman to reach double figures at Leeds. Was this a record? asked Michael Horton from England
England have had five previous innings in which only one batsman reached double figures, the most recent being against West Indies in Kingston in 2008-09, when Andrew Flintoff (24) made nearly half a miserable total of 51. There has only been one completed Test innings which contained 11 single-figure scores: when South Africa were skittled for 30 by England at Edgbaston in 1924, the highest score was 7, by their captain Herbie Taylor.Denly’s effort did set one record, though: 12 is the lowest score to be the highest of a completed England innings. The previous lowest came during a total of 99 against Australia in Sydney in 1901-02, when both Willie Quaife and Gilbert Jessop made 15. That was equalled against South Africa at Lord’s in 1998, when Nasser Hussain also made 15 of England’s 110 – an innings which, remarkably, contained six double-figure scores.Joe Denly’s tortured 12 was the highest individual score – and the only double-digit one – in England’s first innings at Headingley•Getty ImagesWas Don Bradman the oldest to score a hundred in an Ashes Test? asked Ian Hugo from Nigeria
Don Bradman was about a month short of his 40th birthday when he scored his 19th and last Ashes century – an unbeaten 173 – as Australia reached 404 for 3 to winon the final day at Headingley in 1948.Seven players have scored Ashes hundreds when older than Bradman; all were over 40 except Graham Gooch, who was nine days short when he made 120 for England at Trent Bridge in 1993. The oldest of all was Jack Hobbs, who made five Ashes centuries when over 42, including 142 in Melbourne in 1928-29 when he was 46. The others were Patsy Hendren (aged 45 in 1934), Warren Bardsley (43 in 1926), Warwick Armstrong (three in 1920-21, when 41), Geoff Boycott (40 in 1981) and Charles Macartney (three in 1926, aged 40).Bradman was only 20 when he made his first Test century, 112 against England in Melbourne in 1928-29. Only four others have reached three figures in the Ashes at a younger age: Archie Jackson (19, also in 1928-29), Neil Harvey (19 in 1948), Doug Walters (19 in 1965-66, and another a fortnight later after turning 20), and Denis Compton (20 in 1938).Australia had seven left-handed batsman at Headingley. Was this a record? asked T Krishna Reddy from India
Australia’s seven left-handers in last week’s third Test at Headingley equalled the national record: they also fielded seven against Sri Lanka in Sydney in 2012-13 (David Warner, Ed Cowan, Phillip Hughes, Mike Hussey, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc), and in three successive Tests in 2016-17 – Warner, Wade, Starc, Usman Khawaja, Matt Renshaw, Nic Maddinson and Josh Hazlewood against South Africa in Adelaide, then against Pakistan in Brisbane and in Melbourne.The overall record is eight left-handers in the same Test side, which was achieved by West Indies in two Tests during 2000 – against Pakistan in Georgetown in May, and against England at The Oval in August – and by England against Australia in Sydney in 2013-14.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions
