Ask The Spider #129

With their second Test score of 620/5d England have scored over 500 in consecutive innings. How many times has this happened before, and have they ever achieved more than twice consecutively?

England have achieved back-to-back scores of over 500 on seven previous occasions:- 1933 vs New Zealand, 1947 vs South Africa, 1962 vs Pakistan, 1966-67 against first West Indies then India, 1975 against first Australia then New Zealand, 1994 against first West Indies then New Zealand and 2002 vs Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka series was the only time that England have scored more than 500 three times in a row.

Ryan Harris was dismissed for a king pair in the second Ashes Test – has this ever happened before to an Australian in a Test match?

In the second Test against India at Eden Gardens in March 2001, Adam Gilchrist was dismissed for nought first ball in both innings, being the only time this happened to an Australian player previously.

Has England ever previously eclipsed 600 in an Ashes Test in Australia?

This occurence was only the second time England has scored as much as 600 runs in a Test in Australia – the only other time was in Sydney in 1928 when England amassed 636, largely on the back of a magnificent 251 by Wally Hammond.

The win in Adelaide was England’s 100th in Ashes cricket – how many of the previous victories were by an inngs?

This was England’s 25th victory by an innings in Ashes Tests, though the first since December 1986, when England won by an innings and 14 runs in Melbourne.

And how does the victory rank in terms of margin of victory?

This victory ranks fifteenth in innings victories, led of course by the famous innings and 579 run victory at The Oval in 1938.

.

.

.

.