Statsman: Usman Khawaja’s unique feat, Stokes’ early declaration and more
Khawaja becomes the 13th player to have faced atleast one ball on each of the five days of a Test match.
Published : Jul 10, 2023 18:27 IST - 0 MINS READ
13 The number of players who have the distinction of batting for some time (i.e. facing at least one ball) on each of the five days of a Test match. Australian opener Usman Khawaja, in the Birmingham Ashes Test match, became the latest to join this elite list. He thus became only the second Australian to achieve the feat, after Kim Hughes, who did so against England in the Lord’s Test match in 1980, which incidentally was not a part of any Ashes series. The lone Test match was then played as the Centenary Test.
Some batting by a player on all the five days of a Test match
Batter | Bat1 | bat2 | For | Opp | Venue | Dates | Result |
M. L. Jaisimha | 20* | 74 | Ind | Aus | Kolkata | 23-28 Jan 1960 | Drawn |
Geoff Boycott | 107 | 80* | Eng | Aus | Nottingham | 28 Jul-2 Aug 1977 | Won |
Kim Hughes | 117 | 84 | Aus | Eng | Lord’s | 28 Aug-2 Sep 1980 | Drawn |
Allan Lamb | 23 | 110 | Eng | WI | Lord’s | 28 Jun-3 Jul 1984 | Lost |
Ravi Shastri | 111 | 7* | Ind | Eng | Kolkata | 31 Jan 1984-5 Jan 1985 | Drawn |
Adrian Griffiths | 114 | 18 | WI | NZ | Hamilton | 16-20 Dec 1999 | Lost |
Andrew Flintoff (capt) | 70 | 51 | Eng | Ind | Mohali | 9-13 Mar 2006 | Lost |
Alviro Petersen | 156 | 39 | SAf | NZ | Wellington | 23-27 Mar 2012 | Drawn |
Cheteshwar Pujara | 52 | 22 | Ind | SL | Kolkata | 16-20 Nov 2017 | Drawn |
Rory Burns | 133 | 11 | Eng | Aus | Birmingham | 1-5 Aug 2019 | Lost |
Kraigg Brathwaite | 182 | 25 | WI | Zim | Bulawayo | 4-8 Feb 2023 | Drawn |
Tagenarine Chanderpaul | 207* | 15 | WI | Zim | Bulawayo | 4-8 Feb 2023 | Drawn |
Usman Khawaja | 141 | 65 | Aus | Eng | Birmingham | 16-20 Jun 2023 | Won |
Note: Occurred twice in the same Test innings in Bulawayo in Feb 2023
78 The number of overs faced by the English batters before the innings was declared on the opening day of the first Ashes Test in Edgbaston, Birmingham on 16 Jun 2023. This declaration by England makes it the fourth-quickest by a captain in Test cricket history. Before this, no captain in Ashes history has declared so early in the first innings.
Earliest team declaration on day one of a Test match
Overs | Total | by | Agst | Venue | Date | Match result | Captain |
44.5 | 130/9d | Pak | Eng | Lord’s | 8 Aug 1974 | Drawn | Intikhab Alam |
58.2 | 325/9d | Eng | NZ | Mt Maunganui+ | 16 Feb 2023 | Eng won by 267 runs | Ben Stokes |
76.0 | 259/9d | SA | Aus | Adelaide+ | 24 Nov 2016 | SAf lost by 7 wickets | Faf du Plessis |
78.0 | 393/8d | Eng | Aus | Birmingham | 16 Jun 2023 | Eng lost by 2 wickets | Ben Stokes |
78.3 | 309/9d | SA | Zim | Port Elizabeth+ | 26 Dec 2017 | SAf won by inns & 120 runs | AB de Villiers |
+ day-night Tests
44 The number of runs made by the Aussie captain Pat Cummins during his match-winning fourth innings, run chase in Birmingham. His score is now the highest for a number nine or below batter in a successful run chase in Tests in the fourth innings.
Highest individual scores for a batter at number nine or below in a successful run chase
Score | Batter | Bat# | For | Agst | Venue | Date |
44* | Pat Cummins (Capt) | 9 | Aus | Eng | Birmingham | 20 June 2023 |
42* | R. Ashwin | 9 | Ind | Ban | Mirpur | 25 Dec 2022 |
40* | Winston Benjamin | 10 | WI | Pak | Bridgetown | 27 Apr 1988 |
38* | Sydney Barnes | 9 | Eng | Aus | MCG | 7 Jan 1908 |
35 | Rashid Latif (WK) | 9 | Pak | Aus | Karachi | 2 Oct 1994 |
61 The number of runs added by the Australian pair — Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon — in the match-winning fourth innings run chase. The stand is now the seventh-highest stand for the ninth and the 10th wickets in Test cricket history, where the batting side managed to win the Test match. The Cummins-Lyon stand also became the third-highest in Ashes history.
Highest partnership for the 9th and 10th wickets in a successful fourth-innings run chase in Test cricket
Runs | Wkt | Batter1 | Batter2 | For | Opp | Venue | Date | Result |
81 | 9th | V. V. S. Laxman | Ishant Sharma | Ind | Aus | Mohali | 5 Oct 2010 | Ind won by 1 wkt |
78* | 10th | Kusal Perera | Vishwa Fernando | SL | SAf | Durban | 16 Feb 2019 | SL won by 1 wkt |
76* | 10th | Ben Stokes | Jack Leach | Eng | Aus | Leeds | 25 Aug 2019 | Eng won by 1 wkt |
61* | 9th | Jeff Dujon | Winston Benjamin | WI | Pak | Bridgetown | 27 Apr 1988 | WI won by 2 wkts |
57* | 10th | Inzamam-ul-Haq | Mushtaq Ahmed | Pak | Aus | Karachi | 2 Oct 1994 | Pak won by 1 wkt |
56* | 9th | Tibby Cotter | Gerry Hazlitt | Aus | Eng | Sydney | 19 Dec 1907 | Aus won by 2 wkts |
55* | 9th | Pat Cummins | Nathan Lyon | Aus | Eng | Birmingham | 20 Jun 2023 | Aus won by 2 wkts |
26 The number of consecutive innings where the England bowlers could dismiss their opponents since 2022. However, Australia’s victory in Birmingham by two wickets meant that the English bowlers could not extend this sequence. In Test cricket history, England’s recent effort occupies the joint-third position for sides bowling out the opposition in most consecutive innings.
Test bowling sides dismissing opponents in most consecutive innings.
Inns | Opponent | From | To | Opponents involved (number of occasions) |
59 | England | 21 Mar 1885 | 18 Jul 1896 | Aus (47), SA (12) |
33 | Australia | 14 Oct 1999 | 12 Mar 2001 | Zim (2), Pak (6), Ind (9), NZ (6), WI (10) |
26 | England | 1 Jun 1978 | 2 Aug 1979 | Pak (5), NZ, (6), Aus (12), Ind (3) |
26 | England | 2 Jun 2022 | 18 Jun 2023 | NZ (10), Ind (2), SA (5), Pak (6), Ire (2), Aus (1) |
25 | South Africa | 6 Aug 2017 | 21 Jul 2018 | Eng (2), Ban (4), Zim (2), Ind (6), Aus (8), SL (3) |
All records are correct and updated until 27 June 2023