A world record for Warne

The wicket of Marcus Trescothick on the fifth and final day of Oval Test was something special for Shane Warne since it gave him a world record.

Trescothick’s was Wicket # 168 for Warne against England in his 31st Test, which put him ahead of countryman Dennis Lillee in the list of bowlers capturing most wickets against a particular country. Lillee had taken 167 wickets in 29 Tests - also against England. Warne, at the end of series, has taken 172 wickets in 31 Tests.

Earlier in this series, Warne had achieved the world record of taking most wickets in a country other than his own. Already the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, Warne is also the only bowler to have taken 100-plus wickets against three different countries with 172 wickets against England, 103 against New Zealand and 101 against South Africa. One wonders how many more records will Warne end up with, whenever he decides to retire from the game!

The following table lists the leading wicket-takers against a particular country in Test cricket:

Bowler     For   Wkts   Vs     Tests   Ave   Best  5 10
SK Warne    Aus  172  England    31   22.30  8-71  10 4
DK Lillee   Aus  167  England    29   21.00  7-89  11 4
CEL Ambrose WI   164  England    34   18.79  8-45   8 2
IT Botham   Eng  148  Australia  36   27.66  6-78   9 2
CA Walsh    WI   145  England    36   25.40  6-74   5 1
H Trumble   Aus  141  England    31   20.89  8-65   9 3
CA Walsh    WI   135  Australia  38   28.68  6-54   4 0

Series of Flintoff’s all-round brilliance

England have regained the Ashes for the first time since 1986-87. If one were to choose a single English player who made the biggest impact on the series, it can not be one other than Freddie Flintoff.

Making his first appearance in the Ashes contests, Flintoff gave one of the best all-round performance in a series in the history of the Test cricket. That it was after a gap of more than 30 years a player scored 400 runs with the bat and at the same time captured 20 wickets with the balls speaks volumes of Flintoff’s awesome talent.

Flintoff is only the second English all-rounder and seventh in Test cricket annals to achieve the grand double of 400-plus runs and 20-plus wickets in a series. Tony Greig is the only other Englishman in this very short list. Greig, incidentally, was also the last player to have done so before Flintoff. West Indian Gary Sobers remains alone in performing this feat twice.

Allrounder   For   Vs   Season Mts Runs  Ave  Wkts  Ave
G Giffen    Aus*  Eng  1894-95  5  475  52.78  34  24.12
GA Faulkner SA *  Eng  1909-10  5  545  60.56  29  21.90
JM Gregory  Aus*  Eng  1920-21  5  442  73.66  23  24.17
KR Miller   Aus   WI * 1954-55  5  439  73.17  20  32.05
GStA Sobers WI *  Ind  1961-62  5  424  70.66  23  20.57
GStA Sobers WI    Eng* 1966     5  722 103.14  20  27.25
AW Greig    Eng   WI * 1973-74  5  430  47.78  24  22.63
A Flintoff  Eng*  Aus  2005     5  402  40.20  24  27.29

* Series venue