'The further north England travelled, the more lop-sided the result'
Friday 9 September 2016 13:54, UK
As the English summer comes to an end, cricket statistician Richard Isaacs reviews England's Test match performances against Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the latest Sky Sports data feature in partnership with HPE...
The 2016 summer of Test cricket will surely be remembered as one of two distinct halves. The first part was played in the cool of late May and early June that the Sri Lankan tourists barely enjoyed, and the latter part against an impassioned Pakistan side basking in the warmth of July and August.
There were seven Tests in total, of which England won four, lost two, and endured a rain-ruined Lord's draw against Sri Lanka in June. It equates to a year that the hosts will look back on with some pleasure, but with areas to work upon.
England won the Sri Lankan leg of the summer comfortably 2-0, with victories at Headingley and Emirates Riverside, but then went through a topsy-turvy series against Pakistan, which turned into one of the most enthralling Test series of recent times, finishing 2-2.
The four Tests that England won were all played outside of the nation's capital. England suffered a defeat and a washout at Lord's and a final loss of the Pakistan series at The Kia Oval.
We will come back to that later in the piece, but the facts are that England scored heavier than their opponents in terms of runs scored and average runs per wicket, and also faster in terms of runs per over.
Across the seven Tests, England scored 4,089 runs at a decent average of 40.08, with six centuries and 20 fifty plus scores. They also rattled along at 3.54 runs per over which, while in itself quite impressive, is slightly slower than their average in 2015 - 3.60 runs per over.
Pakistan hit four centuries in their four Tests but scored at just 3.19 runs per over, which was only slightly in advance of Sri Lanka's rate of 3.16 in very different conditions.
Sri Lanka lost their wickets at 22.58 runs per wicket, showing in detail their struggles in the bowler-friendly conditions of the northern reaches of the country - and the third lowest average of any visiting Test side playing in England over three or more Tests in a series since 1978.
And it did appear that the further north England travelled, the more lopsided the result. Wins over Sri Lanka by an innings and 88 runs at Headingley and a comfortable nine-wicket triumph at Emirates Riverside were followed by a thumping 330-run victory over Pakistan at Old Trafford.
England scored a total of 1,638 runs in these three games alone, for the loss of just 29 wickets, at an average of a fine 56.48 runs per wicket; whereas the opponents totalled only 1,218 runs for 60 wickets at an average of only 20.30. The northern atmosphere certainly seemed to suit the hosts rather than the visitors.
The Edgbaston Test against Pakistan, in front of a packed audience, was closer in terms of the statistics, although England still triumphed by 141 runs, having overturned a 103-run first innings deficit.
It is just the anomaly of the Tests in the capital that hangs over England. Since the final Test match of the 2013 Ashes at The Oval, England have played in 10 Tests in London and won just two.
Those victories came in 2014 over India at The Oval and then at Lord's in 2015 against New Zealand. Since then, it has been four defeats and a rain-affected draw against Sri Lanka in the subsequent five. The 2016 triplet of Tests in London saw the visitors average 36.68 and the home side 29.98 - such a marked difference from those northern venues.
A total of 41 players set foot on the field across the seven Tests, with Jonny Bairstow leading the way with 753 runs at an average of 75.30, striking two centuries and four fifties in his 11 innings.
When you consider that he batted at No 6 or below in 10 of those innings, and scored 721 runs at 80.11 in that time, he was certainly the standout performer. In fact, only Sir Garfield Sobers in the 1966 West Indies series in England, scored more runs that low down the order in a series - he scored 722 runs in eight innings at 103.14.
Bairstow also stood at the crease the longest in the Test summer, occupying it for a total of 1,720 minutes (or 28 hours and 40 minutes).
Alastair Cook wasn't too far behind with 635 runs at 63.50, but also batted 1,552 minutes (25 hours and 52 minutes), while Joe Root managed 599 runs at 54.45, along with 1,336 minutes at the wicket (22 hours and 16 minutes).
Maybe a little bit surprising was that while Alex Hales was deemed to have struggled with the bat with just 437 runs at 33.61, and a highest score of 94, he batted for 1,400 minutes (23 hours and 20 minutes), the third highest of the summer behind Bairstow and Cook.
Hales' efforts equate to 18 runs per hour batted. Compare that to his magnificent record-breaking ODI innings at Trent Bridge of 171 in 166 minutes - that's 58 runs per hour.
On the flip side, there was James Vince who batted for just over 10 hours across the seven Test matches and scored only 212 runs at 19.27 - a series he will wish to forget but hope to bounce back from.
One player who certainly enjoyed his Test summer was Warwickshire all-rounder Chris Woakes. With 282 runs to his name, at an average of 40.28, and 34 wickets at 17.20 each, that is some going! In fact, only Sir Ian Botham in 1978 can match Woakes' achievement of 250 runs and 30 wickets in a home Test summer.
You have to feel for the Sri Lankans, who averaged just 65 minutes per innings at the crease. Kaushal Silva led the way with 661 minutes, the only batsman to clock up over 10 hours from their team.
By contrast, Pakistan certainly enjoyed their time here - well, in the Test matches anyway! Veterans Younus Khan (991 minutes) and Misbah-ul-Haq (791 minutes) sandwiched Azhar Ali (941 minutes) in terms of time at the crease.
All three averaged over 40 in the series, with Younus smashing his sixth Test double century, equaling Javed Miandad's Pakistani record.
Kaushal Silva was Sri Lanka's leading run-scorer, but was only the 14th highest overall for the summer, with just 193 runs from his six innings at 32.16.
It wasn't just about the batsmen, of course, and while Woakes claimed a superb 34 wickets, James Anderson and Stuart Broad both jumped to the top of the Test bowling rankings for a spell with 30 and 25 wickets respectively.
But, once again, we go back to the great north/south split: Anderson took 26 wickets outside of London at an average of 11.23, but just four from within the capital (at 41.50).
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Yasir Shah seemed to show a preference for playing on the big stage. In his two Tests in London, he grabbed 15 wickets at 18.13 apiece, but up at Old Trafford and Edgbaston - 4 wickets at 125.50!
If you had tickets for day two of any of the Tests, you certainly got your money's worth. Three times on day two there were over 300 runs scored, while at Headingley on day two, it was the wickets that kept you entertained, with 15 taken as Sri Lanka collapsed.
The highest scoring days of Test cricket both came at The Oval. Day one saw 331 runs for 11 wickets, but that was passed on day two when 337 were scored for five wickets in 88 overs.
When you look at the statistics, it has been a terrific summer of cricket and one that will live long in the memory for its balance of play, and the brilliance on show. And although the stats might argue in favour of an English summer without a Lord's or Oval Test, it would probably signal an obituary akin to that which was printed in the Sporting Times in 1882!
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