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

Usman Khawaja | Photo Credit: AFP

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


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