Playthrough - England in the 1990s... and beyond

Aislabie

Test Cricket is Best Cricket
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:wi: West Indies (0) vs (3) England :eng: - Fifth Test at St John's

West Indies XI
:wi: :bat: Clayton Lambert
:wi: :bat: Philo Wallace
:wi: :wkb: Junior Murray
:wi: :bat: Shivnarine Chanderpaul
:wi: :ar: Carl Hooper
:wi: :bat: Roland Holder
:wi: :wk: David Williams
:wi: :bwl: Franklyn Rose
:wi: :bwl: Curtly Ambrose
:wi: :bwl: Dinanath Ramnarine
:wi: :bwl: Courtney Walsh :c:

England XI
:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick :c:
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe
:eng: :ar: Ben Hollioake
:eng: :wk: Paul Nixon (debut)
:eng: :ar: Dominic Cork
:eng: :bwl: Andy Caddick
:eng: :bwl: Darren Gough
:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell

- - -

England win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

With the series good and done, both teams made wholesale changes to their teams. For England, Ben Hollioake was to be given an opportunity to become familiar with the all-rounder's role at number six, batting ahead of three players making their first appearances of the series: Paul Nixon on Test debut as Jack Russell's hips are given a rest, Dominic Cork and Andy Caddick. Gough and Tufnell both retain their places from the previous game, though there had been rumours that Robert Croft might get the nod as the spinner for this Test. The West Indies meanwhile look a shadow of themselves without Brian Lara: in for him comes Junior Murray to bat at number three in lieu of anyone more specialist to do the job; in the bowling department, both Franklyn Rose and spinner Ramnaraine come into the side, while Ambrose and Walsh continue to play despite the dead rubber.

On a pitch that did not look as flat as usual at the Recreation Ground, Graeme Hick chose to get first use of a wicket that could well age quite poorly. Freed from the responsibility to fight for the series, the English batters were able to play freely - none moreso than Hick himself, who made the most of the platform laid by yet another Atherton-Stewart century stand to assemble a free-flowing innings of 135. Also impressive were Nick Knight (93) and the aforementioned openers, who made 42 (Atherton) and 61 (Stewart) respectively. The one glaring disappointment for England will be that they managed to turn an impregnable position of strength at 327 for two (and later 353 for three) into a less than stellar 383 all out. Hollioake looked as if number six might be a position or two too high for him at this stage in his career, while Nixon and the tail-enders just fell away after he was dismissed. The main benefactor of this collapse was Curtly Ambrose, who picked up three cheap scalps to turn around a spell that had hitherto been wicketless.

So how would the increasingly makeshift West Indian batting fare against the second-string English bowlers? Not especially well is the pretty obvious answer. The pace of Gough and the movement of Caddick and Cork was entirely overwhelming for all but two of the West Indian batting order: Chanderpaul (57) and Hooper (54 not out) were alone in demonstrating their Test quality. Cork gratefully accepted his maiden Test five-for, claiming the wickets of Murray (21), Chanderpaul (57), Holder (6), Williams (0) and Ramnarine (13). There really isn't much to note about this innings, although Paul Nixon will be grateful to have finished his first stint behind the stumps at this level with one catch (Philo Wallace), no drops and no byes conceded. The West Indian total was almost exactly half of England's: 192 all out, a deficit of 191.

With more than half of the Test still to go, there was plenty of time for England to bat again. And despite the increasingly difficult conditions, Graeme Hick was the star yet again: Alec Stewart (69) and Nick Knight (40) both completed the Test match with their second good contribution each, but both were left in the shade by Captain Hick's second century of the game. He rode out the often difficult conditions to make it all the way to exactly 100 not out, whereupon he immediately declared the innings closed. With him by that point was Ben Hollioake, who managed to compile a confidence-boosting 37 not out for his trouble. Ambrose and Walsh, meanwhile, will be feeling the pain of bowling dozens more overs while Hick added yet another Test century as England captain.

The England bowlers had five sessions in which to do their work, 462 runs to play with, and a worn out pitch to bowl on. It's the sort of situation bowlers dream of, regardless of who's taking strike against them. Almost every England bowler filled their boots: Andy Caddick claimed the early wickets of Philo Wallace and Carl Hooper, Darren Gough picked up Clayton Lambert and Junior Murray, while Dominic Cork added another four scalps to his match tally in the form of Holder, Williams, Rose and Ambrose. So keen was Hick to ensure that Cork picked up his second bag of five that he removed Tufnell from the attack and replaced him with himself - only for Walsh to drag a wide delivery onto his stumps for the captain's first Test wicket in years.

Regardless, it completed a four-nil drubbing that could have been entirely different if the first couple of Tests hadn't gone England's way. It really is the way that when a team makes a habit of winning it becomes very hard to stop them from doing that.

1639133826584.png

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Graeme Hick - 8 points (+5)
=. Graham Thorpe - 8 points
3. Alec Stewart - 6 points (+1)
4. Darren Gough - 5 points
=. Ben Hollioake - 5 points
=. Jack Russell - 5 points
7. Michael Atherton - 3 points
=. Dominic Cork - 3 points (+3)
9. Nick Knight - 2 points (+2)
=. Phil Tufnell - 2 points
11. Robert Croft - 1 point
=. Dean Headley - 1 point
=. Alan Mullally - 1 point
Although Graham Thorpe and Graeme Hick are tied on Barrington Medal points, it has been decided that the medal be awarded to the England captain in light of his three excellent centuries in the series.
 

ddrap14

Shitposter in Chief
AUS..
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Brisbane Heat
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Location
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Australia
:wi: :bat: Clayton Lambert
:wi: :bat: Philo Wallace
:wi: :bat: Brian Lara
:wi: :bat: Shivnarine Chanderpaul
:wi: :bat: Roland Holder
:wi: :ar: Carl Hooper
Half of this is elite and half of this is 'elite'
Edit: I posted this before looking at the Windies' team for the fifth test and all I can say is that is somehow a top order that I'd expect to do worse than England did on Wednesday
 

Aislabie

Test Cricket is Best Cricket
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Ireland
PlanetCricket Award Winner
Joined
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Location
Derbyshire
World Test Rankings, as of 31 Mar 1998
Minumum qualification: 5 series

RankTeamRating
1:eng: England767
2:aus: Australia714
3:pak: Pakistan625
4:saf: South Africa607
5:wi: West Indies538
6:ind: India393
7:sri: Sri Lanka344
8:nzf: New Zealand250
9:zim: Zimbabwe150
*If two teams are level on points, their head-to-head against each other is taken into consideration

Opp.HomeAway
:eng:L (1-0)D (2-2)
:ind:W (4-0)L (2-1)
:nzf:W (2-0)D (1-1)
:pak:W (2-1)L (1-0)
:saf:W (1-0)W (2-1)
:sri:W (3-0)W (1-0)
:wi:W (3-2)W (2-1)
:zim:--
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:D (2-2)W (1-0)
:ind:W (2-0)W (2-1)
:nzf:W (1-0)W (2-0)
:pak:L (2-1)L (1-0)
:saf:W (1-0)L (2-1)
:sri:W (1-0)W (1-0)
:wi:W (3-1)W (4-0)
:zim:-W (3-0)
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:W (2-1)L (4-0)
:eng:L (2-1)L (2-0)
:nzf:W (1-0)D (0-0)
:pak:L (1-0)D (0-0)
:saf:W (2-1)L (2-0)
:sri:D (0-0)D (0-0)
:wi:D (1-1)L (1-0)
:zim:--
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:D (1-1)L (2-0)
:eng:L (2-0)L (1-0)
:ind:D (0-0)L (1-0)
:pak:L (1-0)D (1-1)
:saf:L (1-0)L (2-1)
:sri:W (2-0)L (1-0)
:wi:L (1-0)L (1-0)
:zim:W (2-0)D (0-0)
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:W (1-0)L (2-1)
:eng:W (1-0)W (2-1)
:ind:D (0-0)W (1-0)
:nzf:D (1-1)W (1-0)
:saf:L (1-0)D (1-1)
:sri:L (2-1)D (0-0)
:wi:W (3-0)L (2-0)
:zim:W (1-0)W (1-0)
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:L (2-1)L (1-0)
:eng:W (2-1)L (1-0)
:ind:W (2-0)L (2-1)
:nzf:W (2-1)W (1-0)
:pak:D (1-1)W (1-0)
:sri:W (2-0)W (1-0)
:wi:-L (1-0)
:zim:-W (1-0)
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:L (1-0)L (3-0)
:eng:L (1-0)L (1-0)
:ind:D (0-0)D (0-0)
:nzf:W (1-0)L (2-0)
:pak:D (0-0)W (2-1)
:saf:L (1-0)L (2-0)
:wi:D (0-0)L (1-0)
:zim:W (2-0)D (0-0)
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:L (2-1)L (3-2)
:eng:L (4-0)L (3-1)
:ind:W (1-0)D (1-1)
:nzf:W (1-0)W (1-0)
:pak:W (2-0)L (3-0)
:saf:W (1-0)-
:sri:W (1-0)D (0-0)
:zim:--
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:--
:eng:L (3-0)-
:ind:D (0-0)L (1-0)
:nzf:D (0-0)L (2-0)
:pak:L (1-0)L (1-0)
:saf:L (1-0)-
:sri:D (0-0)L (2-0)
:wi:--

South Africa are the Bannerman Shield holders

Records

Highest Innings Score
for :eng:
589 for 6 dec vs South Africa, Headingley 1994
vs :eng: 571 all out, Australia, Adelaide Oval 1991

Lowest Innings Score
for :eng:
74 all out vs Australia, The WACA 1995
vs :eng: 62 all out, India, Trent Bridge 1996

Highest Innings
for :eng:
294, Graham Gooch vs West Indies, The Oval 1991
vs :eng: 239*, Brian Lara, West Indies, Kensington Oval 1994

Best Innings Bowling
for :eng:
8 for 47, Peter Such vs India, Calcutta 1993
vs :eng: 8 for 79, Javagal Srinath, India, Lord's 1996

Best Match Bowling
for :eng:
12 for 173, Phil Tufnell vs Sri Lanka, Colombo, 1993
vs :eng: 12 for 152, Javagal Srinath, India, Lord's 1996

All-Time Record for Most Runs in a Series
1016 - Graham Gooch vs West Indies, 1991

Tied Test Match
:aus: Australia vs England :eng:, The WACA 1995

Partnerships
1. 323 - Mike Atherton & Alec Stewart vs India :ind: 1996
2. 262 - Graham Gooch & Mike Atherton vs New Zealand :saf: 1994
3. 325 - Graham Gooch & Robin Smith vs West Indies :wi: 1991
4. 247 - Robin Smith & Graeme Hick vs Pakistan :pak: 1992
5. 176 - Graeme Hick & Jack Russell vs West Indies :wi: 1991
6. 137 - Mike Atherton & Chris Lewis vs South Africa :saf: 1994
7. 174 - Chris Lewis & Phillip DeFreitas vs Australia :aus: 1993
8. 110 - Jack Russell & Dominic Cork vs South Africa :saf: 1995
9. 95 - Robin Smith & Dominic Cork vs Australia :aus: 1995
10. 61 - Graham Thorpe & Peter Such vs West Indies :wi: 1994

Most Test Runs for England
1. :eng: :bat: Graham Gooch - 11,242 runs @ 48.04 (28 centuries, best 294)
2. :eng: :bat: David Gower - 8,506 runs @ 42.96 (15 centuries, best 215)
3. :eng: :bat: Geoffrey Boycott - 8,114 runs @ 47.72 (22 centuries, best 246*)

Most Test Wickets for England
1. :eng: :ar: Ian Botham - 400 wickets @ 28.13 (27 5WI, best 8/34)
2. :eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell - 354 wickets @ 28.14 (26 5WI, best 8/114)
3. :eng: :bwl: Bob Willis - 325 wickets @ 25.20 (16 5WI, best 8/43)

Honours Board
:bat:
:wi: vs :eng:, 1989-90
Graham Gooch - 112
Robin Smith - 101
Robin Smith - 112
Graham Gooch - 100

:eng: vs :nzf:, 1990
Graham Gooch - 127
Rob Bailey - 196

:eng: vs :ind:, 1990
none

:aus: vs :eng:, 1990-91
Robin Smith - 110
Graham Gooch - 170

:eng: vs :wi:, 1991
Robin Smith - 127
Graham Gooch - 175*
Graeme Hick - 108*

Graham Gooch - 165
Graham Gooch - 294
Robin Smith - 145


:eng: vs :sri:, 1991
Alec Stewart - 166
Graeme Hick - 100


:nzf: vs :eng:, 1991-92
Alec Stewart - 126*
Graham Gooch - 124
Graeme Hick - 107


:eng: vs :pak:, 1992
Graham Gooch - 103
Robin Smith - 132
Graeme Hick - 147

Graham Gooch - 150*

:ind: vs :eng:, 1992-93
Graham Gooch - 132
Alec Stewart - 151*

Mike Atherton - 147
Robin Smith - 137


:sri: vs :eng:, 1992-93
Alec Stewart - 137
Robin Smith - 102*


:eng: vs :aus:, 1993
Alec Stewart - 132
Alec Stewart - 111
Graham Gooch - 139
Chris Lewis - 114*

:wi: vs :eng:, 1993-94
Graham Gooch - 143
Alec Stewart - 156
Graham Gooch - 167
Mike Atherton - 127
Graham Thorpe - 111


:eng: vs :nzf:, 1994
Mike Atherton - 117
Alec Stewart - 132
Mike Atherton - 105

Robin Smith - 191

:eng: vs :saf:, 1994
Graham Gooch - 241
Graham Gooch - 175
Mike Atherton - 242

Graeme Hick - 101
Graeme Hick - 131


:aus: vs :eng:, 1994-95
Robin Smith - 106
Alec Stewart - 159

Robin Smith - 134
Alec Stewart - 115

Mike Atherton - 157*
Robin Smith - 100

Graham Gooch - 205
Robin Smith - 204

:eng: vs :wi:, 1995
Alec Stewart - 162
Graham Gooch - 117
Graham Gooch - 135
Robin Smith - 129*

Alec Stewart - 115
Graham Gooch - 159
Mark Ramprakash - 100*


:saf: vs :eng:, 1995-96
Robin Smith - 118*
Michael Atherton - 109
Graeme Hick - 106
Graham Thorpe - 107*

Michael Atherton - 108
Graeme Hick - 113
Graham Thorpe - 114*


:eng: vs :ind:, 1996
Alec Stewart - 200
Mike Atherton - 129

Robin Smith - 117*

:eng: vs :pak:, 1996
Alec Stewart - 149
Alec Stewart - 153

Robin Smith - 104*

:zim: vs :eng:, 1996-97
Nick Knight - 247
Graham Thorpe - 106


:nzf: vs :eng:, 1996-97
Graeme Hick - 110
Craig White - 104*

:eng: vs :aus:, 1997
Graham Thorpe - 116
Graeme Hick - 126*
Graeme Hick - 172*


:wi: vs :eng:, 1997-98
Graeme Hick - 115
Graham Thorpe - 100
Alec Stewart - 159*

Michael Atherton - 107
Graeme Hick - 135
Graeme Hick - 100*


:bwl:
:wi: vs :eng:, 1989-90
Angus Fraser - 5 for 47
Gladstone Small - 5 for 72

Chris Lewis - 6 for 70

:eng: vs :nzf:, 1990
none

:eng: vs :ind:, 1990
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 116
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 72


:aus: vs :eng:, 1990-91
Angus Fraser - 5 for 116
Devon Malcolm - 6 for 75

:eng: vs :wi:, 1991
Steve Watkin - 5 for 56
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 138
Devon Malcolm - 5 for 47
Angus Fraser - 5 for 86

:eng: vs :sri:, 1991
none

:nzf: vs :eng:, 1991-92
Angus Fraser - 5 for 51
Phil Tufnell - 7 for 57

:eng: vs :pak:, 1992
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 100
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 31
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 45


:ind: vs :eng:, 1992-93
Phil Tufnell - 8 for 114
Peter Such - 8 for 47

Phil Tufnell - 5 for 72
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 167

Phil Tufnell - 7 for 171

:sri: vs :eng:, 1992-93
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 102
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 71


:eng: vs :aus:, 1993
Phil Tufnell - 7 for 105
Phillip DeFreitas - 5 for 19
Phillip DeFreitas - 5 for 62


:wi: vs :eng:, 1993-94
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 141
Peter Such - 6 for 119
Angus Fraser - 5 for 21
Phillip DeFreitas - 5 for 98

:eng: vs :nzf:, 1994
Darren Gough - 5 for 50
Phillip DeFreitas - Hattrick
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 71


:eng: vs :saf:, 1994
Phil Tufnell - 7 for 124
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 117

:aus: vs :eng:, 1994-95
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 79
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 122
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 96

:eng: vs :wi:, 1995
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 97
Devon Malcolm - 7 for 86

Devon Malcolm - 5 for 68
Devon Malcolm - 5 for 46

:saf: vs :eng:, 1995-96
Devon Malcolm - 6 for 76
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 79

Angus Fraser - 6 for 68

:eng: vs :ind:, 1996
none

:eng: vs :pak:, 1996
Andy Caddick - 5 for 69
Darren Gough - 5 for 117

:zim: vs :eng:, 1996-97
Alan Mullally - 6 for 94
Andy Caddick - 7 for 53

Craig White - 7 for 63

:nzf: vs :eng:, 1996-97
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 83

:eng: vs :aus:, 1997
Dean Headley - 5 for 75
Dean Headley - 5 for 49
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 92


:wi: vs :eng:, 1997-98
Ben Hollioake - 5 for 53
Ben Hollioake - 5 for 74
Robert Croft - 5 for 117
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 38
Dominic Cork - 5 for 59
Career Statistics
Includes all players who debuted before 1990 and played from that date onwards either in real life or in this universe.


Cap Numbers
Player#DebutLast Test
:eng: :bat: Graham Gooch461:eng: v :aus: (1), 1975:eng: v :wi: (5), 1995
:eng: :ar: Ian Botham474:eng: v :aus: (3), 1977:eng: v :ind: (3), 1990
:eng: :bat: Mike Gatting477:pak: v :eng: (3), 1977-78:ind: v :eng: (2), 1992-93
:eng: :bat: David Gower479:eng: v :pak: (1), 1978:eng: v :wi: (2), 1991
:eng: :ar: John Emburey480:eng: v :nzf: (3), 1978:eng: v :aus: (4), 1989
:eng: :bat: Wayne Larkins484:aus: v :eng: (3), 1979-80:eng: v :ind: (1), 1990
:eng: :bat: Allan Lamb494:eng: v :ind: (1), 1982:wi: v :eng: (4), 1989-90
:eng: :ar: Derek Pringle495:eng: v :ind: (1), 1982:eng: v :aus: (6), 1989
:eng: :bwl: Eddie Hemmings497:eng: v :pak: (1), 1982:wi: v :eng: (5), 1989-90
:eng: :bwl: Neil Foster502:eng: v :nzf: (3), 1983:eng: v :pak: (1), 1992
:eng: :bat: Tim Robinson511:ind: v :eng: (1), 1984:eng: v :wi: (5), 1991
:eng: :bwl: Gladstone Small521:eng: v :nzf: (2), 1986:eng: v :sri:, 1991
:eng: :ar: Phillip DeFreitas522:aus: v :eng: (1), 1986-87:saf: v :eng: (1), 1995-96
:eng: :bat: Neil Fairbrother525:eng: v :pak: (1), 1987:nzf: v :eng: (3), 1987-88
:eng: :ar: David Capel526:eng: v :pak: (3), 1987:eng: v :aus: (6), 1989
:eng: :bwl: Paul Jarvis527:nzf: v :eng: (1), 1987-88:eng: v :pak: (5), 1992
:eng: :bat: Robin Smith530:eng: v :wi: (4), 1988:eng: vs :aus: (5), 1997
:eng: :bat: Rob Bailey531:eng: v :wi: (5), 1988:eng: v :wi: (4), 1991
:eng: :bat: Matt Maynard532:eng: v :wi: (5), 1988only Test
:eng: :bwl: Syd Lawrence534:eng: v :sri:, 1988:eng: v :sri:, 1991
:eng: :bwl: Phil Newport535:eng: v :sri:, 1988:eng: v :aus: (1), 1989
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell536:eng: v :sri:, 1988:wi: vs :eng: (4), 1997-98
:eng: :bwl: Angus Fraser537:eng: v :aus: (3), 1989:eng: vs :aus: (2), 1997
:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton538:eng: v :aus: (5), 1989:wi: vs :eng: (5), 1997-98
:eng: :bwl: Devon Malcolm539:eng: v :aus: (5), 1989:eng: v :pak: (3), 1996
:eng: :bwl: Alan Igglesden540:eng: v :aus: (6), 1989only Test
- - - - - - - - - -- - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart542:wi: v :eng: (1), 1989-90:wi: vs :eng: (5), 1997-98
:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell543:wi: v :eng: (1), 1989-90:wi: vs :eng: (5), 1997-98
:eng: :ar: Chris Lewis544:wi: v :eng: (4), 1989-90:eng: v :pak: (3), 1996
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick545:wi: v :eng: (5), 1989-90:wi: vs :eng: (5), 1997-98
:eng: :bwl: Martin Bicknell546:eng: v :ind: (3), 1990:nzf: v :eng: (4), 1991-92
:eng: :bwl: Steve Watkin547:eng: v :wi: (1), 1991:eng: v :wi: (2), 1991
:eng: :bwl: Peter Such548:eng: v :wi: (3), 1991:zim: v :eng: (3), 1996-97
:eng: :bwl: Ian Salisbury549:ind: v :eng: (1), 1992-93only Test
:eng: :bat: Mark Ramprakash550:ind: v :eng: (2), 1992-93:wi: vs :eng: (4), 1997-98
:eng: :ar: Dermot Reeve551:ind: v :eng: (3), 1992-93only Test
:eng: :bwl: Andy Caddick552:eng: v :aus: (2), 1993:wi: vs :eng: (5), 1997-98
:eng: :bat: Nasser Hussain553:eng: v :aus: (3), 1993:eng: vs :aus: (4), 1997
:eng: :bwl: Mark Ilott554:wi: v :eng: (4), 1993-94only Test
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe555:wi: v :eng: (4), 1993-94:wi: vs :eng: (5), 1997-98
:eng: :bwl: Darren Gough556:eng: v :nzf: (1), 1994:wi: vs :eng: (5), 1997-98
:eng: :ar: Dominic Cork557:eng: v :nzf: (2), 1994:wi: vs :eng: (5), 1997-98
:eng: :wk: Richard Blakey558:eng: v :nzf: (3), 1994:zim: v :eng: (3), 1996-97
:eng: :ar: Glen Chapple559:aus: v :eng: (4), 1994-95:zim: v :eng: (1), 1996-97
:eng: :bwl: Richard Johnson560:eng: v :wi: (2), 1995only Test
:eng: :ar: Mark Alleyne561:eng: v :wi: (5), 1995:zim: v :eng: (3), 1996-97
:eng: :ar: Robert Croft562:saf: v :eng: (5), 1995-96:wi: vs :eng: (3), 1997-98
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight563:saf: v :eng: (5), 1995-96:wi: vs :eng: (5), 1997-98
:eng: :bat: Mark Butcher564:zim: v :eng: (1), 1996-97:wi: vs :eng: (3), 1997-98
:eng: :bwl: Alan Mullally565:zim: v :eng: (1), 1996-97:wi: vs :eng: (4), 1997-98
:eng: :bat: John Crawley566:zim: v :eng: (2), 1996-97:zim: v :eng: (3), 1996-97
:eng: :bwl: Dean Headley567:zim: v :eng: (2), 1996-97:wi: vs :eng: (2), 1997-98
:eng: :ar: Craig White568:zim: v :eng: (2), 1996-97:wi: vs :eng: (3), 1997-98
:eng: :ar: Ben Hollioake569:eng: vs :aus: (3), 1997:wi: vs :eng: (5), 1997-98
:eng: :wk: Paul Nixon570:wi: vs :eng: (5), 1997-98only Test

Captains
PlayerMatWTDLFirstLast
:eng: :bat: Graham Gooch552211616:eng: v :wi: (5), 1988:aus: v :eng: (5), 1994-95
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick3419087:ind: v :eng: (2), 1992-93:wi: vs :eng: (5), 1997-98

Batting & Fielding
PlayerMatInnNORunsAvg100s50sBestCtSt
:eng: :ar: Mark Alleyne4729519.00-156*4-
:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton :slvo:611159463943.76102124240-
:eng: :bat: Rob Bailey1528181530.191219615-
:eng: :bwl: Martin Bicknell4406516.25--482-
:eng: :wk: Richard Blakey48216627.67-150*11-
:eng: :ar: Ian Botham (RET)1081767565633.471425208135-
:eng: :bat: Mark Butcher510017417.40-1554-
:eng: :bwl: Andy Caddick1922225812.90--37*3-
:eng: :ar: David Capel (RET)1118029316.27-2984-
:eng: :ar: Glen Chapple3517318.25--301-
:eng: :ar: Dominic Cork1520335220.71-1728-
:eng: :bat: John Crawley2405814.50--37--
:eng: :ar: Robert Croft44011528.75-1541-
:eng: :ar: Phillip DeFreitas :slvo::slvo:3656678615.72-1827-
:eng: :ar: John Emburey (RET)608918154021.49-87533-
:eng: :bat: Neil Fairbrother44051.25--33-
:eng: :bwl: Neil Foster (RET)39601260012.50--42*13-
:eng: :bwl: Angus Fraser5879116439.46--349-
:eng: :bat: Mike Gatting (RET)7012114403737.7391920753-
:eng: :bat: Graham Gooch :slvo::slvo::slvo: (RET)131244101124248.042860294147-
:eng: :bwl: Darren Gough2128929115.32--35*2-
:eng: :bat: David Gower (RET)12421517850642.96154721575-
:eng: :bwl: Dean Headley1118513610.46--24--
:eng: :bwl: Eddie Hemmings (RET)1319333220.75-1954-
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick :slvo:7113010519143.261427172*101-
:eng: :ar: Ben Hollioake814232827.33-2606-
:eng: :bat: Nasser Hussain915134024.29-26818-
:eng: :bwl: Alan Igglesden (RET)1112---2*1-
:eng: :bwl: Mark Ilott12226---25*--
:eng: :bwl: Paul Jarvis (RET)1015418917.18--35*1-
:eng: :bwl: Richard Johnson11011.00--1--
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight611064358.45132477-
:eng: :bat: Allan Lamb (RET)601059322433.58912137*53-
:eng: :bat: Wayne Larkins (RET)1019034818.31--435-
:eng: :bwl: Syd Lawrence (RET)22063.00--4--
:eng: :ar: Chris Lewis (RET)569012197325.2917114*61-
:eng: :bwl: Devon Malcolm3750132336.30--21*11-
:eng: :bat: Matt Maynard120136.50--10--
:eng: :bwl: Alan Mullally13156707.78--153-
:eng: :bwl: Phil Newport (RET)2307023.33--361-
:eng: :wk: Paul Nixon1101515.00--152-
:eng: :ar: Derek Pringle (RET)2136351215.51-2667-
:eng: :bat: Mark Ramprakash18342104732.7219100*1-
:eng: :ar: Dermot Reeve (RET)120126.00--6--
:eng: :bat: Tim Robinson (RET) :slvo:41716236236.3341217514-
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell8914835379833.61121128*23625
:eng: :bwl: Ian Salisbury1102121.00--21--
:eng: :bwl: Gladstone Small (RET)2026738220.10-2592-
:eng: :bat: Robin Smith :slvo::slvo: (RET)8215217666249.32193420420-
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart :slvo::slvo:641257549946.60162020016-
:eng: :bwl: Peter Such12157475.88--14*5-
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe :slvo:30549209146.4761011619-
:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell :slvo::slvo:7392174125.49--3619-
:eng: :bwl: Steve Watkin2405513.75--27--
:eng: :ar: Craig White :slvo:1322366034.7414104*3-

Bowling
PlayerMatOvrRunsWktsAvgEcon5WI10WMBest
:eng: :ar: Mark Alleyne41093071030.702.8--2/27
:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton :slvo:611445001338.463.9--3/32
:eng: :bat: Rob Bailey1543175287.504.1--1/0
:eng: :bwl: Martin Bicknell41914691142.632.5--3/72
:eng: :wk: Richard Blakey4--------
:eng: :ar: Ian Botham (RET)10837791122340028.133.02748/34
:eng: :bat: Mark Butcher52515.002.0--1/0
:eng: :bwl: Andy Caddick1978321346731.852.72-7/53
:eng: :ar: David Capel (RET)112096281252.333.0--2/13
:eng: :ar: Glen Chapple3128398666.333.1--3/99
:eng: :ar: Dominic Cork1555715824832.962.81-5/59
:eng: :bat: John Crawley2--------
:eng: :ar: Robert Croft41404371236.423.11-5/117
:eng: :ar: Phillip DeFreitas :slvo::slvo:361324353010433.942.7415/19
:eng: :ar: John Emburey (RET)602371510513836.992.16-7/78
:eng: :bat: Neil Fairbrother4290-4.5---
:eng: :bwl: Neil Foster (RET)391451390211533.932.7518/107
:eng: :bwl: Angus Fraser582364580817633.002.55-6/68
:eng: :bat: Mike Gatting (RET)70125317479.252.5--1/14
:eng: :bat: Graham Gooch :slvo::slvo::slvo: (RET)1313067401743.532.4--2/12
:eng: :bwl: Darren Gough2181622265838.382.72-5/50
:eng: :bat: David Gower (RET)124620120.003.3--1/1
:eng: :bwl: Dean Headley1148012954330.112.72-5/49
:eng: :bwl: Eddie Hemmings (RET)1351314543146.902.8--4/90
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick :slvo:712016581447.003.3--3/38
:eng: :ar: Ben Hollioake82567702530.803.02-5/53
:eng: :bat: Nasser Hussain9--------
:eng: :bwl: Alan Igglesden (RET)137146348.673.9--2/91
:eng: :bwl: Mark Ilott1381271127.003.3--1/106
:eng: :bwl: Paul Jarvis (RET)1035910692641.123.0--4/50
:eng: :bwl: Richard Johnson1441550-3.5---
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight6--------
:eng: :bat: Allan Lamb (RET)60523123.004.6--1/6
:eng: :bat: Wayne Larkins (RET)10--------
:eng: :bwl: Syd Lawrence (RET)268223455.753.3--2/74
:eng: :ar: Chris Lewis (RET)561580426612334.682.71-6/70
:eng: :bwl: Devon Malcolm371292419513730.623.26-7/86
:eng: :bat: Matt Maynard1--------
:eng: :bwl: Alan Mullally1347811424127.852.41-6/94
:eng: :bwl: Phil Newport (RET)292339937.663.7--4/87
:eng: :wk: Paul Nixon1--------
:eng: :ar: Derek Pringle (RET)2162518074837.642.92-5/95
:eng: :bat: Mark Ramprakash18120-2.0---
:eng: :ar: Dermot Reeve (RET)114390-2.8---
:eng: :bat: Tim Robinson (RET) :slvo:41100-0.0---
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell89--------
:eng: :bwl: Ian Salisbury113760-5.9---
:eng: :bwl: Gladstone Small (RET)2078419806033.002.53-5/48
:eng: :bat: Robin Smith :slvo::slvo: (RET)82--------
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart :slvo::slvo:64--------
:eng: :bwl: Peter Such1257216695033.382.92-8/47
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe :slvo:25--------
:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell :slvo::slvo:733403996335428.142.92658/114
:eng: :bwl: Steve Watkin264223544.603.51-5/56
:eng: :ar: Craig White :slvo:1343011304326.282.61-7/63

Rankings, records and career stats are all updated. England are still narrowly the world's number one team, but the Australians are coming. South Africa have nabbed the Bannerman Shield off Pakistan. Phil Tufnell passes 350 career wickets.
Post automatically merged:

Half of this is elite and half of this is 'elite'
Edit: I posted this before looking at the Windies' team for the fifth test and all I can say is that is somehow a top order that I'd expect to do worse than England did on Wednesday
Yeah; Goughy ruling Lara out with injury wasn't in the script. Junior Murray came in as keeper in real life, but given how David Williams had been performing in this series it seemed realistic that the selectors would allow him to keep his place; scarily there is also real-life precedent for Junior Murray, Test specialist batter. (I'm a bit sad not to be able to play against Lincoln Roberts though)
 

Aislabie

Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Moderator
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PlanetCricket Award Winner
Joined
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Location
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South Africa Tour of England, 1998

Itinerary

04 Jun 1998 - :eng: England vs South Africa :saf: at Edgbaston - Match drawn
18 Jun 1998 - :eng: England vs South Africa :saf: at Lord's - South Africa won by an innings and 47 runs
02 Jul 1998 - :eng: England vs South Africa :saf: at Old Trafford - England won by 10 wickets
23 Jul 1998 - :eng: England vs South Africa :saf: at at Trent Bridge - South Africa won by 246 runs
06 Aug 1998 - :eng: England vs South Africa :saf: at Headingley - South Africa won by 7 wickets

England Squad

:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick :c:

:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton
:eng: :bat: John Crawley
:eng: :bat: Nasser Hussain
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight
:eng: :wkb: Alec Stewart
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe

:eng: :wk: Paul Nixon
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell

:eng: :ar: Robert Croft
:eng: :ar: Ben Hollioake
:eng: :ar: Craig White

:eng: :bwl: Andy Caddick
:eng: :ar: Dominic Cork
:eng: :bwl: Darren Gough
:eng: :bwl: Dean Headley
:eng: :bwl: Alan Mullally

:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell

After a tremendous tour of the West Indies, there are very few changes to the squad. Those two changes are also pretty self-explanatory: Mark Butcher (who wasn't on debut like I thought he was) and Mark Ramprakash find themselves on the outer, while Nasser Hussain - considered by the coaching staff to have excellent leadership potential - and John Crawley come back into the team, the latter of whom has been dominant in the County Championship. Robert Croft and Phil Tufnell remain the top two spinning choices despite some noticeable performances from Ashley Giles of Warwickshire, while the pace battery remains unchanged after a collectively stellar winter.

Jack Russell has also announced that this will be his final Test series, as the pain in his back and hips is becoming incapacitating.
 
Last edited:

Aislabie

Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Moderator
Ireland
PlanetCricket Award Winner
Joined
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Location
Derbyshire
:eng: England vs South Africa :saf: - First Test at Edgbaston

England XI
:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick :c:
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe
:eng: :bat: John Crawley
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell
:eng: :ar: Dominic Cork
:eng: :bwl: Dean Headley
:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell
:eng: :bwl: Alan Mullally

South African XI
:saf: :bat: Gary Kirsten
:saf: :bat: Gerhardus Liebenberg
:saf: :ar: Jacques Kallis
:saf: :bat: Daryll Cullinan
:saf: :ar: Hansie Cronje :c:
:saf: :bat: Jonty Rhodes
:saf: :ar: Shaun Pollock
:saf: :wk: Mark Boucher
:saf: :ar: Lance Klusener
:saf: :bwl: Allan Donald
:saf: :bwl: Paul Adams

- - -

England win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

The team selections for the opening Test match of this series were a tale of all-rounders: South Africa's team was full of them with Kallis, Cronje, Pollock and Klusener all crammed in; England opted to omit both White and Hollioake from the team, preferring the batting form of John Crawley to bolster the team against a feared bowling attack. It will be interesting to see which of those approaches serves them better on what looks like a very flat Edgbaston wicket, of which England have first use - Graeme Hick again proving his pedigree as an excellent tosser.

Even on the very flattest pitches, Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock are a problematic proposition as an opening batter. On this particular occasion, Michael Atherton couldn't quite stand up to the challenge - clean bowled by Donald for four. Stewart (61) and Knight (36) rebuilt before lunch, although they never looked entirely comfortable and Knight fell immediately after the interval. This brought to the wicket the England captain, who has in recent years begun to assert himself as England's leading batter since Gooch: Graeme Hick. Hick offered the bowlers absolutely nothing: no loose shots, nothing catchable - only twice did the bowlers even get so much as a sniff of an LBW appeal. Even as the lower middle-order crumbled, Hick remained unruffled, and found an ally in Dominic Cork at number eight. The Derbyshire man applied himself admirably to grind out an unexpected 70, which was more than enough to see his captain past yet another England century, and his team well past 400.

Compared to Kirsten, Atherton and Stewart, Gerhardus Liebenberg doesn't strike so much as a flicker of concern in the heart of an opposition fast bowler. His was a wicket that was gratefully accepted by the pick of England's bowlers, Dean Headley. This proved to be the first of the Kent man's five wickets: he would go on to add Kallis, Kirsten, Pollock and Boucher to his haul, but all of those batters except Pollock made telling contributions. Although the headlines will no doubt be about the deep South African batting (Boucher scored 74 and Klusener 67 from numbers eight and nine respectively), they should really be about how Gary Kirsten wore down the English bowling to such an extent that England had no choice but to turn to Graeme Hick and even the slow medium pace of Graham Thorpe to offer some respite to the four-man battery. Given Crawley's meagre contribution of just 22 runs, the non-selection of a fifth bowling option may yet come to be regarded as a mistake.

After assembling a 60-run lead, Hansie Cronje opted to declare the South African innings with just over a day's play left. Unfortunately the wicket was still deader than Tutankhamun, and no amount of probing line and length was about to change that. Atherton (71 not out), Stewart (38), Knight (62) and Hick (11 not out) were all perfectly content to play the game out for a draw and indeed provided a masterclass in doing so. They played sensible, low-risk cricket until such a point as even the most cussed Klusener counter-attack couldn't hurt the home side, then promptly declared the innings. It left a few dead overs to bowl before the game was officially done, but that didn't take too long.

One Test down, four to go; the series still poised at nil-nil.

1639241147439.png

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Graeme Hick - 3 points (+3)
2. Dean Headley - 2 points (+2)
3. Nick Knight - 1 point (+1)
 

Aislabie

Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Moderator
Ireland
PlanetCricket Award Winner
Joined
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Location
Derbyshire
Can I also say that it is only at this point that I've realised I can do two and four Test series without any trouble - I just set the game up for a three or five Test series, but stop when I'm done. Literally a year of playing the game this way, and thousands of hours of total gameplay and I have only just had this thought.

1639241391383.png

I'm not sure I want to do this though, because I was hoping to stat-pad with some three-Test series against Bangladesh in the early 2000s
 

Aislabie

Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Moderator
Ireland
PlanetCricket Award Winner
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Derbyshire
:eng: England (0) vs (0) South Africa :saf: - Second Test at Lord's

England XI
:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick :c:
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe
:eng: :ar: Craig White
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell
:eng: :ar: Dominic Cork
:eng: :bwl: Dean Headley
:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell
:eng: :bwl: Alan Mullally

South African XI
:saf: :bat: Adam Bacher
:saf::bat: Gary Kirsten
:saf: :ar: Jacques Kallis
:saf: :bat: Daryll Cullinan
:saf: :ar: Hansie Cronje :c:
:saf: :bat: Jonty Rhodes
:saf: :ar: Shaun Pollock
:saf: :wk: Mark Boucher
:saf: :ar: Lance Klusener
:saf: :bwl: Allan Donald
:saf: :bwl: Paul Adams

- - -

England win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

After a bat-dominated first Test, each team made one change ahead of Lord's: for England, this change was to bring in Craig White as an all-round option at number six; for South Africa, this was to replace Gerhardus Liebenberg with Adam Bacher at the top of the order. After losing only nine wickets in the Test, South Africa strengthened their batting. That sure is a statement of intent to grind one's opposition into the dirt.

To make matters worse, the English batting did not respond well to South African fast bowling. The heavy London cloud helped Klusener find ample movement through the air, helping himself to an attack-leading four wickets: the most important was that of captain Graeme Hick for only 10 - the other three were England's three tail-end bowlers, for a total of 10 runs. The other six recognised batters were shared evenly between Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald, who each recorded identical figures of 22 overs, 3 maidens, 3 wickets for 44 runs. Not one Englishman managed to score a fifty. It was dire.

Even worse for England, when their bowlers got to work there was absolutely no sign of the snakepit that their batters had tried to score runs on. Instead, Adam Bacher and Gary Kirsten put together a huge 155-run opening stand: Bacher's 80 was his third-highest score in Tests, and the third time he'd come so far only to fall short of scoring that elusive Test century. Kirsten made no such error, even after the miniature collapse of three for 21 that had followed Bacher's dismissal. He fought his way to a vital 131 before finally being trapped LBW by Dean Headley - England's second and final wicket by a fast bowler in this Test. Despite already being well behind in the game, England fell still further: as South Africa's lead approached 200 and captain Cronje continued confidently compiling runs, Hick decided that enough was enough. He turned to spin at both ends - his own, and that of Tufnell. Hick even managed to pick up three handy wickets before the visitors reached the 500 mark - at which point, Cronje called them in. Two declarations in as many Tests.

With half of the Test match still remaining, all England could do was get their heads down and bat, and hope it could be enough. England's go-to man in such situations, the usually stoic Michael Atherton, fell to the wiles of Allan Donald for the third time in four innings. Indeed, the only contribution of note in the team's second innings came from Nick Knight: the tall left-hander has really begun to look at home as a Test player, and he compiled an excellent second Test century against bowling none of his teammates could handle. Stewart's 32, Thorpe's 31 and Hick's 28 were the nearest that anybody else could get to matching Knight's standards, and that was absolutely not near enough to avoid a soul-crushing innings defeat for the home side at the Home of Cricket.

Graeme Hick's England have recovered from starts like this before, but quite how they will go about doing so against such a dominant team remains to be seen.

1639246837480.png

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Nick Knight - 4 points (+3)
=. Dean Headley - 4 points (+2)
3. Graeme Hick - 3 points
4. Alec Stewart - 1 point (+1)
 

Aislabie

Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Moderator
Ireland
PlanetCricket Award Winner
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Derbyshire
:eng: England (0) vs (1) South Africa :saf: - Third Test at Old Trafford

England XI
:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick :c:
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe
:eng: :bat: John Crawley
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell
:eng: :ar: Robert Croft
:eng: :bwl: Andy Caddick
:eng: :bwl: Darren Gough
:eng: :bwl: Dean Headley

South African XI
:saf: :bat: Gary Kirsten
:saf: :bat: Gerhardus Liebenberg
:saf: :ar: Jacques Kallis
:saf: :bat: Daryll Cullinan
:saf: :ar: Hansie Cronje :c:
:saf: :bat: Jonty Rhodes
:saf: :ar: Lance Klusener
:saf: :wk: Mark Boucher
:saf: :bwl: Allan Donald
:saf: :bwl: Paul Adams
:saf: :bwl: Makhaya Ntini

- - -

England win the toss and choose to bowl

- - -

With England reeling from the dismal result of the second Test, it seemed vitally important that South Africa keep up the pressure to quash any thoughts of the home side staging a comeback in the series. In that quest, they made a couple of changes: Adam Bacher, despite his excellent efforts in the second Test, missed out again while the injured Shaun Pollock was replaced by the pacy Makhaya Ntini. Lance Klusener looks likely to benefit from that too as he is promoted to number seven. For England though, the changes were many and necessary: the dishevelled bowling attack was almost entirely replaced, with only Dean Headley retaining his place from the Second Test. Better, in the eyes of the English selectors, to pick players who are fresh and unscarred by that experience.

After winning the toss, Graeme Hick looked upwards rather than downwards and his conclusions were clear: under thick Manchester cloud, he asked South Africa to bat first. The cloud was so thick in fact that rain forced the players into taking regular breaks from the cricket, but when they were on the field it was the recalled Gough who made an early statement by dismissing the in-form Kirsten for a tortuous 15-ball duck. Liebenberg (LBW to Headley for 9) and Cullinan (bowled by Gough for 5) would follow him before the players took an early tea break with England firmly in the driving seat. The impressive Jacques Kallis attempted to wrest back momentum, but found himself thwarted by Gough, caught behind after making 60 of South Africa's 94 runs to that point. Had it not been for the fight and determination shown by the South African captain, England would have been able to count themselves as firm favourites in the match. Instead, Cronje's excellent unbeaten 117 was the cornerstone to a substantial recovery: by the time Darren Gough took his fourth and England's tenth wicket, the tourists had recovered to a respectable 286.

The clouds hadn't cleared over Old Trafford though, and in that time Allan Donald in particular made the ball talk - his swing, pace and bounce were too much for Michael Atherton, and he edged to the slips as a result. Worse was to follow as Alec Stewart was prised out by first-change Lance Klusener for 25: another first innings deficit in this Test could put paid to England's series ambitions. Again though, Warwickshire's Nick Knight stood up to be counted at an all-important point in the game. The left-hander had a torrid time of things early in his innings, playing and missing time after time and even finding the boundary with a perilous edge past his leg stump. But when the sun broke through the cloud, he made those early struggles count and began to find the boundary with a succession of classy drives and pulls. As he so often does for his county team, he made it all the way to three figures yet again in what really is becoming a breakout series for him. The only other English batter to go past 30 was another left-hander, but Graeme Thorpe too went big once he'd got himself in: the Surrey man scored slightly more slowly to record a century of his own. As a result of these two contibutions, the home side managed to earn a 100-run lead that they would most certainly want to convert into an easy run-chase.

There was no pair for Gary Kirsten, but that didn't stop him from being dismissed early. This time it was Dean Headley who dismissed him for only 13. This was part of a fiery opening spell in which the grandson of George picked up the first three wickets to fall - Liebenberg (10) and Cullinan (9) also among his victims. When Caddick added the wicket of Cronje and Headley returned for the final over of the day to remove Rhodes, England still led by 20 runs with only five more opposition wickets to take. The biggest delay to their progress was not the South African batting, but the English rain that delayed the start of play until it was absolutely done. Once it passed, Headley and Caddick couldn't find the rhythm that had been available to them earlier in the innings, and a great deal of responsibility fell the way of Darren Gough. He responded to it admirably, taking four of the remaining five wickets, saving one tail-ender for Headley to complete his match haul of ten.

The resulting target of 132 was not expected to pose much of a challenge to England with an entire day in which to score it, and so it proved: for the first time in the series, both Atherton and Stewart looked completely comfortable and the pair used 47 of the overs available to them to complete the chase without losing a wicket, just prior to the scheduled tea interval. With the series all square at 1-1, who knows that the last two matches have in store.

1639506827376.png

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Dean Headley - 9 points (+5)
2. Nick Knight - 7 points (+3)
3. Graeme Hick - 3 points
4. Darren Gough - 2 points (+2)
5. Alec Stewart - 1 point
=. Graham Thorpe - 1 point (+1)
 
Last edited:

Aislabie

Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Moderator
Ireland
PlanetCricket Award Winner
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Derbyshire
:eng: England (1) vs (1) South Africa :saf: - Fourth Test at Trent Bridge

England XI
:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick :c:
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe
:eng: :bat: Nasser Hussain
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell
:eng: :ar: Robert Croft
:eng: :bwl: Darren Gough
:eng: :bwl: Dean Headley
:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell

South African XI
:saf: :bat: Gary Kirsten
:saf: :bat: Gerhardus Liebenberg
:saf: :ar: Jacques Kallis
:saf: :bat: Daryll Cullinan
:saf: :ar: Hansie Cronje :c:
:saf: :bat: Jonty Rhodes
:saf: :ar: Shaun Pollock
:saf: :wk: Mark Boucher
:saf: :bwl: Steve Elworthy
:saf: :bwl: Allan Donald
:saf: :bwl: Paul Adams

- - -

South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first

- - -

So dry was the Trent Bridge pitch when the two teams arrived on the eve of the game that the home side sent for an extra spinner: Phil Tufnell came back into the side alongside Glamorgan's Robert Croft. For South Africa Steve Elworthy replaced Makhaya Ntini in a selection decision with absolutely no racial undertones whatsoever. Lance Klusener also missed out to make way for a fit-again Shaun Pollock. Clearly, neither team wanted last use of this wicket and it was Hansie Cronje who won the toss and chose to bat first.

Gerhardus Liebenberg, who continues to be bafflingly picked ahead of Adam Bacher, fell before his team could reach double figures as per usual. Of course, that created the usual problem for England of reuniting the Kirsten-Kallis partnership. On this occasion, that pairing contributed a mere 52 runs - a failure by their high standards. This South African team bats very deep though, and today's heroes were to be found at numbers six and seven. Jonty Rhodes made a highly proactive 79, and Pollock made a slightly more sedate 82. Between them, they lifted South Africa from ignominy to the respectability of 337.

England's top order also failed. At 98 for four, only Michael Atherton was still standing strong out of the top five, his characteristically stoic style taking him to a half-century. He found some similarly stubborn company in Nasser Hussain, who hung around for two difficult hours against some top quality fast bowling. It was only 32 runs, but it did suggest the fighting spirit for which he is so highly regarded. It also put enough overs in the legs of the bowlers that Jack Russell and Robert Croft could make 40-odd each in an 80-run partnership that was reminiscent of the South African lower order.

In South Africa's second innings, something very concerning happened: Liebenberg was one half of a century opening partnership. He fell just short of his half-century as one half of a two-wicket over for Phil Tufnell, but it was a huge improvement. It also meant that by the time their first wicket fell, South Africa were already 175 runs ahead. Things just went from bad to worse at that point as Kallis (83), Rhodes (81) and Pollock (61 not out) hammered additional nails into the English coffin, biffing their way to an unassailable 430-run lead before Cronje declared the innings.

England were not getting 430 runs on the fifth day, but they might have hoped to at least survive. They did not. Allan Donald was simply too good - he claimed five of the first six English wickets to fall (Stewart, Knight, Hick, Thorpe and Hussain) before letting everyone else have a go. Ultimately though, you don't win very many Test matches when your team's highest scorer makes 51.

1640708630115.png

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Dean Headley - 9 points
2. Nick Knight - 7 points
3. Michael Atherton - 3 points (+3)
=. Graeme Hick - 3 points
5. Darren Gough - 2 points
=. Phil Tufnell - 2 points (+2)
7. Robert Croft - 1 point (+1)
=. Alec Stewart - 1 point
=. Graham Thorpe - 1 point
 

Aislabie

Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Moderator
Ireland
PlanetCricket Award Winner
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Derbyshire
:eng: England (1) vs (2) South Africa :saf: - Fifth Test at The Oval

England XI
:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick :c:
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe
:eng: :ar: Craig White
:eng: :ar: Ben Hollioake
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell
:eng: :bwl: Darren Gough
:eng: :bwl: Dean Headley
:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell

South African XI
:saf: :bat: Gary Kirsten
:saf: :bat: Gerhardus Liebenberg
:saf: :ar: Jacques Kallis
:saf: :bat: Daryll Cullinan
:saf: :ar: Hansie Cronje :c:
:saf: :bat: Jonty Rhodes
:saf: :ar: Brian McMillan
:saf: :ar: Shaun Pollock
:saf: :wk: Mark Boucher
:saf: :bwl: Allan Donald
:saf: :bwl: Makhaya Ntini

- - -

England win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

South Africa are quite good at cricket aren't they. It is probably this realisation that has led to the much more chaotic selection policy this series, which sees yet another change in personnel at England's problematic number six spot. This time, it is Craig White who comes back into the side, as England's management roll the dice and pick both of their star all-rounders in an attempt to combat South Africa's star all-rounders.

Unfortunately, the usual pattern continued for the English batters: none of them was able to do very well against the South African pace battery. The first innings collapse that followed the excellent Atherton-Stewart opening partnership was absolutely awful: the home side collapsed from 107 for none to 244 all out, and only Graham Thorpe (stranded on 36 not out) and Phil Tufnell (who actually got into line and hung around for a 40-run last wicket stand) could really hold his head up after such a collapse. The rest of them were an absolute shambles.

In reply, the South African batters had no such trouble. Headlined by a superb unbeaten 197 from Daryll Cullinan, they put most of the English bowlers through an utterly dispiriting two days of play in the field. Cullinan was robbed of a chance for maiden Test double-century by the British weather: nearly six hours of play were lost to rain, the last and longest of those delays coming when Cullinan was on 197. Cronje chose to declare during the rain interval, rather than sending his batters back out to face another over or so while Cullinan reached his milestone. This was criticised heavily in the media, but would ultimately prove to be very significant in the course of the game.

The dogged defence of Michael Atherton underpinned the England team's shaky rearguard as they attempted to take as much time out of the game as they possibly could. Hick and Thorpe each made decent 30s, but the biggest contribution towards salvaging a draw came from Craig White: the England number six ground out a superb unbeaten 71 - even though he ultimately ran out of partners ten overs before the scheduled close of play, he did manage to force South Africa to bat again.

South Africa needed eight of those overs (and three of their wickets) to stumble over the finishing line and secure a 3-1 series victory away from home. This really does mark the end of an era for England: they are truly beatable again, and will have to come to terms with this without the retiring legend Jack Russell.

1640709507203.png

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Dean Headley - 10 points (+1)
2. Nick Knight - 7 points
3. Michael Atherton - 6 points (+3)
4. Graeme Hick - 3 points
5. Darren Gough - 2 points
=. Phil Tufnell - 2 points
=. Craig White - 2 points (+2)
8. Robert Croft - 1 point
=. Alec Stewart - 1 point
=. Graham Thorpe - 1 point

1640710662113.png

:eng: :wk: Jack Russell retires from Test cricket as an England legend.

94 Test matches
:bat: 3,954 runs @ 32.68 (1 century, best 128*)
:wk: 243 catches and 27 stumpings

He has been a fantastic servant to the England team; the post-Russell era could be a difficult one for the England team.
 

Aislabie

Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Moderator
Ireland
PlanetCricket Award Winner
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Derbyshire
Sri Lanka Tour of England, 1998

Itinerary

27 Aug 1998 - :eng: England vs Sri Lanka :sri: - Only Test at The Oval - England won by 3 wickets

England Squad

:eng: :bat: Nick Knight :c:

:eng: :bat: John Crawley
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick
:eng: :bat: Nasser Hussain
:eng: :bat: Mal Loye :redo:
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe

:eng: :wk: Paul Nixon

:eng: :ar: Andrew Flintoff :redo:
:eng: :ar: Ben Hollioake
:eng: :ar: Craig White

:eng: :bwl: Angus Fraser
:eng: :bwl: Alan Mullally

:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell

The Test summer isn't quite done yet though. Hot on the heels of that exhausting five-match series comes a one-off Test against an improving Sri Lankan team. The England management is, however, choosing to rest some of its key players ahead of the winter's all-important Ashes series. As a result, the squad is much changed, with debuts looking likely for Andrew Flintoff, the Lancashire all-rounder, and Mal Loye, the Northants triple-centurion. There is also a captaincy audition for Nick Knight: the Warwickshire man has jumped to the head of the queue for who might replace Graeme Hick as England captain: the Zimbabwean-born batsman has already announced that this winter's Ashes will be his last as captain. He is still in the squad, although it is not certain yet whether he will make the playing XI. Finally, it looks like there will also be an unofficial farewell match for Angus Fraser, as the 33-year-old Middlesex and England stalwart has now slipped behind the likes of Dean Headley in the pecking order.
 
Last edited:

Aislabie

Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Moderator
Ireland
PlanetCricket Award Winner
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Derbyshire
:eng: England vs Sri Lanka :sri: - Only Test at The Oval

England XI
:eng: :bat: Mal Loye (debut)
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight :c:
:eng: :bat: Nasser Hussain
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick
:eng: :bat: John Crawley
:eng: :ar: Craig White
:eng: :ar: Andrew Flintoff (debut)
:eng: :ar: Ben Hollioake
:eng: :wk: Paul Nixon
:eng: :bwl: Angus Fraser
:eng: :bwl: Alan Mullally

Sri Lankan XI
:sri: :ar: Sanath Jayasuriya
:sri: :bat: Marvan Atapattu
:sri: :bat: Mahela Jayawardene
:sri: :bat: Aravinda de Silva
:sri: :bat: Arjuna Ranatunga :c:
:sri: :bat: Hashan Tillakaratne
:sri: :wk: Romesh Kaluwithurana
:sri: :ar: Kumar Dharmasena
:sri: :bwl: Suresh Perera
:sri: :bwl: Pramodya Wickramarasinghe
:sri: :bwl: Muttiah Muralitharan

- - -

Sri Lanka win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

Both teams arrived at The Oval to find an extremely flat wicket: clearly, the powers that be wanted to get a full five days of cricket (and therefore gate receipts) out of the fixture. There were also rumours that Muttiah Muralitharan would be devastating on anything but the flattest possible wicket (and possibly even still then), and 52 wickets at nineteen apiece in the calendar year so far certainly suggest that he is the world's best spin bowler. On England's part, this was seen as an opportunity to look to the future, with Test debuts for the exciting Mal Loye and Andrew Flintoff, the latter as part of a trio of exciting young all-rounders who would not normally play together. Nick Knight also made his captaincy debut, with full-time captain Graeme Hick as his deputy to bounce ideas off of.

Things did not start ideally for him, as he lost the toss and his team were sent out to field first while Sri Lanka's long batting line-up got the opportunity to make first use of this absolute road. Pretty much everybody cashed in to some extent: Jayasuriya (97), Jayawardene (92), de Silva (105), Ranatunga (64) and Tillakaratne (68) all played their part in the English bowlers having to toil well into the second day. The final total of 531 was very imposing, but would have been still more if not for a masterclass from Alan Mullally. Across the 32 overs he bowled, he took six wickets (Atapattu, Ranatunga, Tillakaratne, Dharmasena, Perera and Murali) at a cost of only 70 runs - both England's most incisive and economical bowler. Though some pundits argued that perhaps Mullally could have bowled more, he was already England's most-used bowler, and Knight did not want to bowl him into the ground ahead of an Ashes series.

The England reply fell somewhat short of the mammoth total, but Graeme Hick's commanding 133 spoke of his quality as an England batsman. He led the way in attempting to neutralise Murali; where all the other Sri Lankan bowlers were taken for around three runs per over, the approach to Murali's threat was to play him strokelessly and to wear him out. He eventually managed only two wickets from 61 overs, effectively earning wickets for whomever was bowling at the other end. For a while, it looked like England might struggle to make the unusually large follow-on target, but a stellar eighth wicket partnership between Hollioake (54) and Nixon (50) saw them all the way up to an eventual total of 469 - certainly competitive with five sessions of play left in the game.

It was therefore crucial that England go on the attack in their second bowling innings; Mullally and Fraser did just that by reducing Sri Lanka to 27 for three. The scalp of Marvan Atapattu will be Fraser's last in Test cricket unless he returns to the Test squad, but what an important wicket it was, setting England's bowlers down the path of attacking the stumps. In the end, five Sri Lankans would fall either bowled or LBW before Ranatunga made an unexpected declaration half an hour before lunch on day five. Many captains have rued early declarations against an England team which almost always go for the win. Both Mullally and White may also have been aggrieved that they couldn't pursue their fifth wicket in the innings, although Mullally's fourth did make it ten in total for the game for the first time in his Test career.

With batting all the way down to number nine (a rare thing for England), it was absolutely possible to attack the tricky target of 274. Conditions weren't too challenging, and the Sri Lankans would still be relying a lot on Murali if they wanted to bowl England out and take the win (which they must if they're declaring). Loye and Knight are both accomplished one-day players, and they played like this was a tall run chase in an ODI, despite the Test match field settings - and they did so with great success. Both Sri Lankan opening bowlers were pummelled for over six runs per over as Loye (92 off 106) and new captain Knight (64 off 62) found the boundary 30 times between them. Their 150-run demolition of Sri Lanka left England as the absolute favourites to take the win.

Even as Murali started taking wickets, there was suddenly plenty of margin for error. Both Hussain (32 off 32, with two sixes) and Crawley (29 off 30) played selflessly to edge closer to the target, and with just a few overs left in the day's play, Craig White punched the winning boundary past extra cover.

This thrilling win, while not as historic as if it had decided an Ashes series or something, but it is significant: England go into the Ashes with an extra Test win under their belts, and a few young players (and one young captain) have all got valuable experience under their belts for when Atherton, Stewart and co choose to move on.

1640789151713.png

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Dean Headley - 10 points
2. Nick Knight - 9 points (+2)
3. Michael Atherton - 6 points
=. Graeme Hick - 6 points (+3)
5. Alan Mullally - 5 points (+5)
6. Craig White - 3 points (+1)
7. Darren Gough - 2 points
=. Phil Tufnell - 2 points
8. Robert Croft - 1 point
=. Alec Stewart - 1 point
=. Graham Thorpe - 1 point

1640789250621.png

Despite being rested from the last game of the summer, Dean Headley takes home the Barrington Medal thanks to an excellent series against South Africa in which he managed to take 26 wickets at 24 apiece, including three five-wicket hauls. It seems likely that he, Mullally and Darren Gough will be the first-choice pace attack at the Gabba.
 

Aislabie

Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Moderator
Ireland
PlanetCricket Award Winner
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Derbyshire
World Test Rankings, as of 31 Mar 1998
Minumum qualification: 5 series

RankTeamRating
1:aus: Australia714
2:eng: England700
3:saf: South Africa679
4:pak: Pakistan625
5:wi: West Indies538
6:ind: India393
7:sri: Sri Lanka344
8:nzf: New Zealand250
9:zim: Zimbabwe150
*If two teams are level on points, their head-to-head against each other is taken into consideration

Opp.HomeAway
:eng:L (1-0)D (2-2)
:ind:W (4-0)L (2-1)
:nzf:W (2-0)D (1-1)
:pak:W (2-1)L (1-0)
:saf:W (1-0)W (2-1)
:sri:W (3-0)W (1-0)
:wi:W (3-2)W (2-1)
:zim:--
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:D (2-2)W (1-0)
:ind:W (2-0)W (2-1)
:nzf:W (1-0)W (2-0)
:pak:L (2-1)L (1-0)
:saf:L (3-1)L (2-1)
:sri:W (1-0)W (1-0)
:wi:W (3-1)W (4-0)
:zim:-W (3-0)
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:W (2-1)L (4-0)
:eng:L (2-1)L (2-0)
:nzf:W (1-0)D (0-0)
:pak:L (1-0)D (0-0)
:saf:W (2-1)L (2-0)
:sri:D (0-0)D (0-0)
:wi:D (1-1)L (1-0)
:zim:--
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:D (1-1)L (2-0)
:eng:L (2-0)L (1-0)
:ind:D (0-0)L (1-0)
:pak:L (1-0)D (1-1)
:saf:L (1-0)L (2-1)
:sri:W (2-0)L (1-0)
:wi:L (1-0)L (1-0)
:zim:W (2-0)D (0-0)
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:W (1-0)L (2-1)
:eng:W (1-0)W (2-1)
:ind:D (0-0)W (1-0)
:nzf:D (1-1)W (1-0)
:saf:L (1-0)D (1-1)
:sri:L (2-1)D (0-0)
:wi:W (3-0)L (2-0)
:zim:W (1-0)W (1-0)
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:L (2-1)L (1-0)
:eng:W (2-1)W (3-1)
:ind:W (2-0)L (2-1)
:nzf:W (2-1)W (1-0)
:pak:D (1-1)W (1-0)
:sri:W (2-0)W (1-0)
:wi:-L (1-0)
:zim:-W (1-0)
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:L (1-0)L (3-0)
:eng:L (1-0)L (1-0)
:ind:D (0-0)D (0-0)
:nzf:W (1-0)L (2-0)
:pak:D (0-0)W (2-1)
:saf:L (1-0)L (2-0)
:wi:D (0-0)L (1-0)
:zim:W (2-0)D (0-0)
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:L (2-1)L (3-2)
:eng:L (4-0)L (3-1)
:ind:W (1-0)D (1-1)
:nzf:W (1-0)W (1-0)
:pak:W (2-0)L (3-0)
:saf:W (1-0)-
:sri:W (1-0)D (0-0)
:zim:--
Opp.HomeAway
:aus:--
:eng:L (3-0)-
:ind:D (0-0)L (1-0)
:nzf:D (0-0)L (2-0)
:pak:L (1-0)L (1-0)
:saf:L (1-0)-
:sri:D (0-0)L (2-0)
:wi:--

South Africa are the Bannerman Shield holders

Records

Highest Innings Score
for :eng:
589 for 6 dec vs South Africa, Headingley 1994
vs :eng: 571 all out, Australia, Adelaide Oval 1991

Lowest Innings Score
for :eng:
74 all out vs Australia, The WACA 1995
vs :eng: 62 all out, India, Trent Bridge 1996

Highest Innings
for :eng:
294, Graham Gooch vs West Indies, The Oval 1991
vs :eng: 239*, Brian Lara, West Indies, Kensington Oval 1994

Best Innings Bowling
for :eng:
8 for 47, Peter Such vs India, Calcutta 1993
vs :eng: 8 for 79, Javagal Srinath, India, Lord's 1996

Best Match Bowling
for :eng:
12 for 173, Phil Tufnell vs Sri Lanka, Colombo, 1993
vs :eng: 12 for 152, Javagal Srinath, India, Lord's 1996

All-Time Record for Most Runs in a Series
1016 - Graham Gooch vs West Indies, 1991

Tied Test Match
:aus: Australia vs England :eng:, The WACA 1995

Partnerships
1. 323 - Mike Atherton & Alec Stewart vs India :ind: 1996
2. 262 - Graham Gooch & Mike Atherton vs New Zealand :saf: 1994
3. 325 - Graham Gooch & Robin Smith vs West Indies :wi: 1991
4. 247 - Robin Smith & Graeme Hick vs Pakistan :pak: 1992
5. 176 - Graeme Hick & Jack Russell vs West Indies :wi: 1991
6. 137 - Mike Atherton & Chris Lewis vs South Africa :saf: 1994
7. 174 - Chris Lewis & Phillip DeFreitas vs Australia :aus: 1993
8. 110 - Jack Russell & Dominic Cork vs South Africa :saf: 1995
9. 95 - Robin Smith & Dominic Cork vs Australia :aus: 1995
10. 61 - Graham Thorpe & Peter Such vs West Indies :wi: 1994

Most Test Runs for England
1. :eng: :bat: Graham Gooch - 11,242 runs @ 48.04 (28 centuries, best 294)
2. :eng: :bat: David Gower - 8,506 runs @ 42.96 (15 centuries, best 215)
3. :eng: :bat: Geoffrey Boycott - 8,114 runs @ 47.72 (22 centuries, best 246*)

Most Test Wickets for England
1. :eng: :ar: Ian Botham - 400 wickets @ 28.13 (27 5WI, best 8/34)
2. :eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell - 366 wickets @ 28.94 (26 5WI, best 8/114)
3. :eng: :bwl: Bob Willis - 325 wickets @ 25.20 (16 5WI, best 8/43)

Honours Board
:bat:
:wi: vs :eng:, 1989-90
Graham Gooch - 112
Robin Smith - 101
Robin Smith - 112
Graham Gooch - 100

:eng: vs :nzf:, 1990
Graham Gooch - 127
Rob Bailey - 196

:eng: vs :ind:, 1990
none

:aus: vs :eng:, 1990-91
Robin Smith - 110
Graham Gooch - 170

:eng: vs :wi:, 1991
Robin Smith - 127
Graham Gooch - 175*
Graeme Hick - 108*

Graham Gooch - 165
Graham Gooch - 294
Robin Smith - 145


:eng: vs :sri:, 1991
Alec Stewart - 166
Graeme Hick - 100


:nzf: vs :eng:, 1991-92
Alec Stewart - 126*
Graham Gooch - 124
Graeme Hick - 107


:eng: vs :pak:, 1992
Graham Gooch - 103
Robin Smith - 132
Graeme Hick - 147

Graham Gooch - 150*

:ind: vs :eng:, 1992-93
Graham Gooch - 132
Alec Stewart - 151*

Mike Atherton - 147
Robin Smith - 137


:sri: vs :eng:, 1992-93
Alec Stewart - 137
Robin Smith - 102*


:eng: vs :aus:, 1993
Alec Stewart - 132
Alec Stewart - 111
Graham Gooch - 139
Chris Lewis - 114*

:wi: vs :eng:, 1993-94
Graham Gooch - 143
Alec Stewart - 156
Graham Gooch - 167
Mike Atherton - 127
Graham Thorpe - 111


:eng: vs :nzf:, 1994
Mike Atherton - 117
Alec Stewart - 132
Mike Atherton - 105

Robin Smith - 191

:eng: vs :saf:, 1994
Graham Gooch - 241
Graham Gooch - 175
Mike Atherton - 242

Graeme Hick - 101
Graeme Hick - 131


:aus: vs :eng:, 1994-95
Robin Smith - 106
Alec Stewart - 159

Robin Smith - 134
Alec Stewart - 115

Mike Atherton - 157*
Robin Smith - 100

Graham Gooch - 205
Robin Smith - 204

:eng: vs :wi:, 1995
Alec Stewart - 162
Graham Gooch - 117
Graham Gooch - 135
Robin Smith - 129*

Alec Stewart - 115
Graham Gooch - 159
Mark Ramprakash - 100*


:saf: vs :eng:, 1995-96
Robin Smith - 118*
Michael Atherton - 109
Graeme Hick - 106
Graham Thorpe - 107*

Michael Atherton - 108
Graeme Hick - 113
Graham Thorpe - 114*


:eng: vs :ind:, 1996
Alec Stewart - 200
Mike Atherton - 129

Robin Smith - 117*

:eng: vs :pak:, 1996
Alec Stewart - 149
Alec Stewart - 153

Robin Smith - 104*

:zim: vs :eng:, 1996-97
Nick Knight - 247
Graham Thorpe - 106


:nzf: vs :eng:, 1996-97
Graeme Hick - 110
Craig White - 104*

:eng: vs :aus:, 1997
Graham Thorpe - 116
Graeme Hick - 126*
Graeme Hick - 172*


:wi: vs :eng:, 1997-98
Graeme Hick - 115
Graham Thorpe - 100
Alec Stewart - 159*

Michael Atherton - 107
Graeme Hick - 135
Graeme Hick - 100*


:eng: vs :saf:, 1998
Graeme Hick - 132
Nick Knight - 119
Nick Knight - 115
Graeme Thorpe - 111


:eng: vs :sri:, 1998
Graeme Hick - 133

:bwl:
:wi: vs :eng:, 1989-90
Angus Fraser - 5 for 47
Gladstone Small - 5 for 72

Chris Lewis - 6 for 70

:eng: vs :nzf:, 1990
none

:eng: vs :ind:, 1990
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 116
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 72


:aus: vs :eng:, 1990-91
Angus Fraser - 5 for 116
Devon Malcolm - 6 for 75

:eng: vs :wi:, 1991
Steve Watkin - 5 for 56
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 138
Devon Malcolm - 5 for 47
Angus Fraser - 5 for 86

:eng: vs :sri:, 1991
none

:nzf: vs :eng:, 1991-92
Angus Fraser - 5 for 51
Phil Tufnell - 7 for 57

:eng: vs :pak:, 1992
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 100
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 31
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 45


:ind: vs :eng:, 1992-93
Phil Tufnell - 8 for 114
Peter Such - 8 for 47

Phil Tufnell - 5 for 72
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 167

Phil Tufnell - 7 for 171

:sri: vs :eng:, 1992-93
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 102
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 71


:eng: vs :aus:, 1993
Phil Tufnell - 7 for 105
Phillip DeFreitas - 5 for 19
Phillip DeFreitas - 5 for 62


:wi: vs :eng:, 1993-94
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 141
Peter Such - 6 for 119
Angus Fraser - 5 for 21
Phillip DeFreitas - 5 for 98

:eng: vs :nzf:, 1994
Darren Gough - 5 for 50
Phillip DeFreitas - Hattrick
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 71


:eng: vs :saf:, 1994
Phil Tufnell - 7 for 124
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 117

:aus: vs :eng:, 1994-95
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 79
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 122
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 96

:eng: vs :wi:, 1995
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 97
Devon Malcolm - 7 for 86

Devon Malcolm - 5 for 68
Devon Malcolm - 5 for 46

:saf: vs :eng:, 1995-96
Devon Malcolm - 6 for 76
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 79

Angus Fraser - 6 for 68

:eng: vs :ind:, 1996
none

:eng: vs :pak:, 1996
Andy Caddick - 5 for 69
Darren Gough - 5 for 117

:zim: vs :eng:, 1996-97
Alan Mullally - 6 for 94
Andy Caddick - 7 for 53

Craig White - 7 for 63

:nzf: vs :eng:, 1996-97
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 83

:eng: vs :aus:, 1997
Dean Headley - 5 for 75
Dean Headley - 5 for 49
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 92


:wi: vs :eng:, 1997-98
Ben Hollioake - 5 for 53
Ben Hollioake - 5 for 74
Robert Croft - 5 for 117
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 38
Dominic Cork - 5 for 59

:eng: vs :saf:, 1998
Dean Headley - 5 for 112
Dean Headley - 5 for 106
Dean Headley - 5 for 119


:eng: vs :sri:, 1998
Alan Mullally - 6 for 70
Career Statistics
Includes all players who debuted before 1990 and played from that date onwards either in real life or in this universe.


Cap Numbers
Player#DebutLast Test
:eng: :bat: Graham Gooch461:eng: v :aus: (1), 1975:eng: v :wi: (5), 1995
:eng: :ar: Ian Botham474:eng: v :aus: (3), 1977:eng: v :ind: (3), 1990
:eng: :bat: Mike Gatting477:pak: v :eng: (3), 1977-78:ind: v :eng: (2), 1992-93
:eng: :bat: David Gower479:eng: v :pak: (1), 1978:eng: v :wi: (2), 1991
:eng: :ar: John Emburey480:eng: v :nzf: (3), 1978:eng: v :aus: (4), 1989
:eng: :bat: Wayne Larkins484:aus: v :eng: (3), 1979-80:eng: v :ind: (1), 1990
:eng: :bat: Allan Lamb494:eng: v :ind: (1), 1982:wi: v :eng: (4), 1989-90
:eng: :ar: Derek Pringle495:eng: v :ind: (1), 1982:eng: v :aus: (6), 1989
:eng: :bwl: Eddie Hemmings497:eng: v :pak: (1), 1982:wi: v :eng: (5), 1989-90
:eng: :bwl: Neil Foster502:eng: v :nzf: (3), 1983:eng: v :pak: (1), 1992
:eng: :bat: Tim Robinson511:ind: v :eng: (1), 1984:eng: v :wi: (5), 1991
:eng: :bwl: Gladstone Small521:eng: v :nzf: (2), 1986:eng: v :sri:, 1991
:eng: :ar: Phillip DeFreitas522:aus: v :eng: (1), 1986-87:saf: v :eng: (1), 1995-96
:eng: :bat: Neil Fairbrother525:eng: v :pak: (1), 1987:nzf: v :eng: (3), 1987-88
:eng: :ar: David Capel526:eng: v :pak: (3), 1987:eng: v :aus: (6), 1989
:eng: :bwl: Paul Jarvis527:nzf: v :eng: (1), 1987-88:eng: v :pak: (5), 1992
:eng: :bat: Robin Smith530:eng: v :wi: (4), 1988:eng: vs :aus: (5), 1997
:eng: :bat: Rob Bailey531:eng: v :wi: (5), 1988:eng: v :wi: (4), 1991
:eng: :bat: Matt Maynard532:eng: v :wi: (5), 1988only Test
:eng: :bwl: Syd Lawrence534:eng: v :sri:, 1988:eng: v :sri:, 1991
:eng: :bwl: Phil Newport535:eng: v :sri:, 1988:eng: v :aus: (1), 1989
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell536:eng: v :sri:, 1988:eng: v :saf: (5), 1998
:eng: :bwl: Angus Fraser537:eng: v :aus: (3), 1989:eng: vs :sri:,1998
:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton538:eng: v :aus: (5), 1989:eng: v :saf: (5), 1998
:eng: :bwl: Devon Malcolm539:eng: v :aus: (5), 1989:eng: v :pak: (3), 1996
:eng: :bwl: Alan Igglesden540:eng: v :aus: (6), 1989only Test
- - - - - - - - - -- - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart542:wi: v :eng: (1), 1989-90:eng: v :saf: (5), 1998
:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell543:wi: v :eng: (1), 1989-90:eng: v :saf: (5), 1998
:eng: :ar: Chris Lewis544:wi: v :eng: (4), 1989-90:eng: v :pak: (3), 1996
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick545:wi: v :eng: (5), 1989-90:eng: vs :sri:,1998
:eng: :bwl: Martin Bicknell546:eng: v :ind: (3), 1990:nzf: v :eng: (4), 1991-92
:eng: :bwl: Steve Watkin547:eng: v :wi: (1), 1991:eng: v :wi: (2), 1991
:eng: :bwl: Peter Such548:eng: v :wi: (3), 1991:zim: v :eng: (3), 1996-97
:eng: :bwl: Ian Salisbury549:ind: v :eng: (1), 1992-93only Test
:eng: :bat: Mark Ramprakash550:ind: v :eng: (2), 1992-93:wi: vs :eng: (4), 1997-98
:eng: :ar: Dermot Reeve551:ind: v :eng: (3), 1992-93only Test
:eng: :bwl: Andy Caddick552:eng: v :aus: (2), 1993:eng: v :saf: (3), 1998
:eng: :bat: Nasser Hussain553:eng: v :aus: (3), 1993:eng: vs :sri:,1998
:eng: :bwl: Mark Ilott554:wi: v :eng: (4), 1993-94only Test
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe555:wi: v :eng: (4), 1993-94:eng: v :saf: (5), 1998
:eng: :bwl: Darren Gough556:eng: v :nzf: (1), 1994:eng: v :saf: (5), 1998
:eng: :ar: Dominic Cork557:eng: v :nzf: (2), 1994:eng: v :saf: (2), 1998
:eng: :wk: Richard Blakey558:eng: v :nzf: (3), 1994:zim: v :eng: (3), 1996-97
:eng: :ar: Glen Chapple559:aus: v :eng: (4), 1994-95:zim: v :eng: (1), 1996-97
:eng: :bwl: Richard Johnson560:eng: v :wi: (2), 1995only Test
:eng: :ar: Mark Alleyne561:eng: v :wi: (5), 1995:zim: v :eng: (3), 1996-97
:eng: :ar: Robert Croft562:saf: v :eng: (5), 1995-96:eng: v :saf: (4), 1998
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight563:saf: v :eng: (5), 1995-96:eng: vs :sri:,1998
:eng: :bat: Mark Butcher564:zim: v :eng: (1), 1996-97:wi: vs :eng: (3), 1997-98
:eng: :bwl: Alan Mullally565:zim: v :eng: (1), 1996-97:eng: vs :sri:,1998
:eng: :bat: John Crawley566:zim: v :eng: (2), 1996-97:eng: vs :sri:,1998
:eng: :bwl: Dean Headley567:zim: v :eng: (2), 1996-97:eng: v :saf: (5), 1998
:eng: :ar: Craig White568:zim: v :eng: (2), 1996-97:eng: vs :sri:,1998
:eng: :ar: Ben Hollioake569:eng: vs :aus: (3), 1997:eng: vs :sri:,1998
:eng: :wk: Paul Nixon570:wi: vs :eng: (5), 1997-98:eng: vs :sri:,1998
:eng: :ar: Andrew Flintoff571:eng: vs :sri:,1998only Test
:eng: :bat: Mal Loye572:eng: vs :sri:,1998only Test

Captains
PlayerMatWTDLFirstLast
:eng: :bat: Graham Gooch552211616:eng: v :wi: (5), 1988:aus: v :eng: (5), 1994-95
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick38200810:ind: v :eng: (2), 1992-93:eng: v :saf: (5), 1998
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight11000:eng: vs :sri:,1998only Test

Batting & Fielding
PlayerMatInnNORunsAvg100s50sBestCtSt
:eng: :ar: Mark Alleyne4729519.00-156*4-
:eng: :bat: Michael Atherton :slvo:6612511497843.67102524241-
:eng: :bat: Rob Bailey1528181530.191219615-
:eng: :bwl: Martin Bicknell4406516.25--482-
:eng: :wk: Richard Blakey48216627.67-150*11-
:eng: :ar: Ian Botham (RET)1081767565633.471425208135-
:eng: :bat: Mark Butcher510017417.40-1554-
:eng: :bwl: Andy Caddick2023327413.70--37*3-
:eng: :ar: David Capel (RET)1118029316.27-2984-
:eng: :ar: Glen Chapple3517318.25--301-
:eng: :ar: Dominic Cork1723544524.72-2728-
:eng: :bat: John Crawley58020926.13-1611-
:eng: :ar: Robert Croft67019928.43-1541-
:eng: :ar: Phillip DeFreitas :slvo::slvo:3656678615.72-1827-
:eng: :ar: John Emburey (RET)608918154021.49-87533-
:eng: :bat: Neil Fairbrother44051.25--33-
:eng: :ar: Andrew Flintoff1202010.00--171-
:eng: :bwl: Neil Foster (RET)39601260012.50--42*13-
:eng: :bwl: Angus Fraser5980116779.81--3410-
:eng: :bat: Mike Gatting (RET)7012114403737.7391920753-
:eng: :bat: Graham Gooch :slvo::slvo::slvo: (RET)131244101124248.042860294147-
:eng: :bwl: Darren Gough24331034214.87--35*2-
:eng: :bat: David Gower (RET)12421517850642.96154721575-
:eng: :bwl: Dean Headley162661819.05--242-
:eng: :bwl: Eddie Hemmings (RET)1319333220.75-1954-
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick :slvo:7714111560943.141627172*113-
:eng: :ar: Ben Hollioake916232823.43-2608-
:eng: :bat: Nasser Hussain1119147126.17-26820-
:eng: :bwl: Alan Igglesden (RET)1112---2*1-
:eng: :bwl: Mark Ilott12226---25*--
:eng: :bwl: Paul Jarvis (RET)1015418917.18--35*1-
:eng: :bwl: Richard Johnson11011.00--1--
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight12220115552.503524714-
:eng: :bat: Allan Lamb (RET)601059322433.58912137*53-
:eng: :bat: Wayne Larkins (RET)1019034818.31--435-
:eng: :bwl: Syd Lawrence (RET)22063.00--4--
:eng: :ar: Chris Lewis (RET)569012197325.2917114*61-
:eng: :bat: Mal Loye1209547.50-192--
:eng: :bwl: Devon Malcolm3750132336.30--21*11-
:eng: :bat: Matt Maynard120136.50--10--
:eng: :bwl: Alan Mullally16198867.82--153-
:eng: :bwl: Phil Newport (RET)2307023.33--361-
:eng: :wk: Paul Nixon2317135.50-1503-
:eng: :ar: Derek Pringle (RET)2136351215.51-2667-
:eng: :bat: Mark Ramprakash18342104732.7219100*1-
:eng: :ar: Dermot Reeve (RET)120126.00--6--
:eng: :bat: Tim Robinson (RET) :slvo:41716236236.3341217514-
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell (RET)9415635395432.68121128*24327
:eng: :bwl: Ian Salisbury1102121.00--21--
:eng: :bwl: Gladstone Small (RET)2026738220.10-2592-
:eng: :bat: Robin Smith :slvo::slvo: (RET)8215217666249.32193420420-
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart :slvo::slvo:691358588046.30162320017-
:eng: :bwl: Peter Such12157475.88--14*5-
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe :slvo:356210237145.5971011620-
:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell :slvo::slvo:7799184896.04--3620-
:eng: :bwl: Steve Watkin2405513.75--27--
:eng: :ar: Craig White :slvo:1628580535.0015104*4-

Bowling
PlayerMatOvrRunsWktsAvgEcon5WI10WMBest
:eng: :ar: Mark Alleyne41093071030.702.8--2/27
:eng: :bat: Michael Atherton :slvo:661445001338.463.9--3/32
:eng: :bat: Rob Bailey1543175287.504.1--1/0
:eng: :bwl: Martin Bicknell41914691142.632.5--3/72
:eng: :wk: Richard Blakey4--------
:eng: :ar: Ian Botham (RET)10837791122340028.133.02748/34
:eng: :bat: Mark Butcher52515.002.0--1/0
:eng: :bwl: Andy Caddick2081622546932.662.82-7/53
:eng: :ar: David Capel (RET)112096281252.333.0--2/13
:eng: :ar: Glen Chapple3128398666.333.1--3/99
:eng: :ar: Dominic Cork1761617804936.332.91-5/59
:eng: :bat: John Crawley5--------
:eng: :ar: Robert Croft62106641544.273.21-5/117
:eng: :ar: Phillip DeFreitas :slvo::slvo:361324353010433.942.7415/19
:eng: :ar: John Emburey (RET)602371510513836.992.16-7/78
:eng: :bat: Neil Fairbrother4290-4.5---
:eng: :ar: Andrew Flintoff1331041104.003.2--1/80
:eng: :bwl: Neil Foster (RET)391451390211533.932.7518/107
:eng: :bwl: Angus Fraser592400592917733.492.55-6/68
:eng: :bat: Mike Gatting (RET)70125317479.252.5--1/14
:eng: :bat: Graham Gooch :slvo::slvo::slvo: (RET)1313067401743.532.4--2/12
:eng: :bwl: Darren Gough2495925917037.012.72-5/50
:eng: :bat: David Gower (RET)124620120.003.3--1/1
:eng: :bwl: Dean Headley :slvo:1670419406928.112.8515/49
:eng: :bwl: Eddie Hemmings (RET)1351314543146.902.8--4/90
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick :slvo:772488581847.673.4--3/38
:eng: :ar: Ben Hollioake103159722834.713.12-5/53
:eng: :bat: Nasser Hussain11--------
:eng: :bwl: Alan Igglesden (RET)137146348.673.9--2/91
:eng: :bwl: Mark Ilott1381271127.003.3--1/106
:eng: :bwl: Paul Jarvis (RET)1035910692641.123.0--4/50
:eng: :bwl: Richard Johnson1441550-3.5---
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight12--------
:eng: :bat: Allan Lamb (RET)60523123.004.6--1/6
:eng: :bat: Wayne Larkins (RET)10--------
:eng: :bwl: Syd Lawrence (RET)268223455.753.3--2/74
:eng: :ar: Chris Lewis (RET)561580426612334.682.71-6/70
:eng: :bat: Mal Loye1--------
:eng: :bwl: Devon Malcolm371292419513730.623.26-7/86
:eng: :bat: Matt Maynard1--------
:eng: :bwl: Alan Mullally1660214415327.192.4216/70
:eng: :bwl: Phil Newport (RET)292339937.663.7--4/87
:eng: :wk: Paul Nixon2--------
:eng: :ar: Derek Pringle (RET)2162518074837.642.92-5/95
:eng: :bat: Mark Ramprakash18120-2.0---
:eng: :ar: Dermot Reeve (RET)114390-2.8---
:eng: :bat: Tim Robinson (RET) :slvo:41100-0.0---
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell (RET)94--------
:eng: :bwl: Ian Salisbury113760-5.9---
:eng: :bwl: Gladstone Small (RET)2078419806033.002.53-5/48
:eng: :bat: Robin Smith :slvo::slvo: (RET)82--------
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart :slvo::slvo:69--------
:eng: :bwl: Peter Such1257216695033.382.92-8/47
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe :slvo:3512360-3.0---
:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell :slvo::slvo:7735991059336628.942.92658/114
:eng: :bwl: Steve Watkin264223544.603.51-5/56
:eng: :ar: Craig White :slvo:1651814234929.042.71-7/63

It's the end of an era - we're no longer the number one Test team in the world.

An inauspicious debut for Flintoff as well, but at least if gives him a taste of Test cricket at this stage in his career
 

Aislabie

Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Moderator
Ireland
PlanetCricket Award Winner
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Derbyshire
England Tour of Australia, 1998-99

Itinerary

20 Nov 1998 - :aus: Australia vs England :eng: - First Test at The 'Gabba - Match drawn
28 Nov 1998 - :aus: Australia vs England :eng: - Second Test at The WACA - Match drawn
11 Dec 1998 - :aus: Australia vs England :eng: - Third Test at Adelaide Oval - Match drawn
26 Dec 1998 - :aus: Australia vs England :eng: - Fourth Test at The MCG - England won by 2 runs
02 Jan 1998 - :aus: Australia vs England :eng: - Fifth Test at The SCG - Match drawn

England Squad

:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick :c:

:eng: :bat: Michael Atherton
:eng: :bat: John Crawley
:eng: :bat: Nick Knight
:eng: :bat: Mal Loye
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart
:eng: :bat: Graham Thorpe

:eng: :wk: Paul Nixon

:eng: :ar: Andrew Flintoff
:eng: :ar: Ben Hollioake
:eng: :ar: Graeme Swann :redo:
:eng: :ar: Craig White

:eng: :bwl: Andy Caddick
:eng: :bwl: Kevin Dean :redo:
:eng: :bwl: Darren Gough
:eng: :bwl: Dean Headley
:eng: :bwl: Alan Mullally

:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell

The English squad for the all-important away Ashes series contains a lot of young faces, including two players who have been called up for their first-ever Test series off the back of very impressive county cricket seasons. Derbyshire's 23-year-old left-armer Kevin Dean took 71 County Championship wickets at 20.92 apiece, taking a wicket every 37 balls, while Northants' 19-year-old Graeme Swann has got the nod as the squad's second spinner after a season which yielded 548 runs at 34.25 and 22 wickets at 30.27 apiece: if he plays, he will be the youngest England debutant since Brian Close - even younger than Ben Hollioake was last year. England have also opted to name only one specialist wicket-keeper in this series' squad; Alec Stewart and John Crawley have both been deemed to have sufficient keeping skill to do the job if called upon. We have quite the Ashes series to look forward to.
 
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