Anderson and Broad reach landmark totals in rainy summer

LEGENDARY bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad reached major wicket landmarks as England won both of their rain-hit Test series this summer.

Anderson - who already held the status of England's all-time leading wicket taker - became the first ever fast bowler in history to reach 600 scalps on the final day of the last Test of the summer.

Earlier in the season, Broad - on the last day of the third Test against the West Indies - became only the seventh bowler to take 500 wickets in Test cricket by dismissing Kraigg Brathwaite.

Coincidentally, Anderson had also reached the milestone of 500 wickets against Braithwaite in 2017.

For the most part, though, this summer has been an exercise in frustration with all six Test matches affected by the weather at some point.

Renowned slow series starters England were at it again in the first Test against the West Indies, falling to 87-5 on their way to 204 all out.

West Indies replied with a score of 318, despite Ben Stokes's 4-49 before England gave themselves some hope by compiling 313 in the second innings. 

Chasing 200 exactly, the men from the Caribbean struggled against the pace of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, and were reduced to 100-4 with opener John Campbell also going off injured.

However, Jermaine Blackwood hit an assured 95 and the Windies eased to their target with four wickets to spare for a 1-0 lead.

The result meant England had lost the opening Test in each of their previous five series - and, with only two more matches to be played in this particular series, Joe Root's men were already up against it. 

In the second Test, the hosts responded well - and opener Dom Sibley (120) and Stokes (176) both hit centuries to set up a declaration on 469-9.

West Indies looked solid enough in reply at 242-4 - but Broad came up with one of those spells seen so many times before to take the wickets of Blackwood, Shane Dowrich, and Shamarh Brooks. 

Young spinner Dom Bess then joined in and suddenly the Windies were all out for 287.

To their credit, the tourists had beaten the follow-on target - but, with a big lead, England had another route to victory: quick runs and 10 wickets.

In pursuit of the first of those aims, England promoted World Cup winners Jos Buttler and Stokes - however, it did not exactly go to plan.

Buttler was out for a duck and number three Zak Crawley (11) followed shortly afterwards, both being undone by Kemar Roach.

Stokes was still there though - and, dominating the scoring in partnerships with Root and Ollie Pope, the Durham all-rounder made 78 not out as England went at more than six-per-over to declare on 129-3.

For the first time in the series, England had the West Indies right where they wanted them - and the tourists quickly collapsed to 37-4.

A recovery of sorts was staged by Blackwood and Brooks - but, from the last ball before tea, the former was caught behind off Stokes. 

Dowrich was then out in the first full over following the interval - and, once Sam Curran trapped Brooks lbw, even the Windies' hopes of a draw were up in smoke. 

The third Test performance was probably the most dominant by England this summer, despite the loss of a whole day of play for the second match in a row. 

Pope made 91, Buttler 67 and Broad (62) even returned to form with the bat as England made a competitive 369 to start off the decider. 

That proved more than enough as Broad, in inspired form, took 6-31 to bowl the West Indies out for just 198.

Again, the visitors had at made it past the follow on target - but, in contrast to the need for speed in the second Test, there was still enough time for England to strangle the life out of their opponents with slow and steady accumulation.

Rory Burns made 90 off 163 balls and Sibley 56 off 132 as England produced their first century opening stand in Tests since a match against India in December 2016. 

The scoring rate increased when Root replaced Sibley, who was lbw to Jason Holder, and England declared on 226-2 on the fall of Burns's wicket. 

Holder's men required 399 to win - but, with the score on 10-2 at the end of the third day, they never looked like pulling it off. 

The fourth day was a washout but the Windies were beaten before tea on the fifth, bowled out for 129 as Chris Woakes took 5-50 and Broad collected match figures of 10-67.

England had regained the Wisden Trophy for one last time with the honour now retired and replaced by the Richards-Botham Trophy, named after Sir Viv Richards and Sir Ian Botham. 

For the record, the West Indies won 14 of the 28 series and 48 of the 120 Tests in the Wisden Trophy. England won 10 series and 36 Tests while four series and 36 Tests were drawn. 

Nevertheless, the result this summer means the West Indies have still not won a Test series in England since 1988.

Pakistan were next up and arrived defending a 10-year unbeaten record against England.

Effectively, though, their chance of achieving this came and went within the four days of the first Test, such was the weather towards the end of the series.

Yet it could have very easily been Pakistan who walked away from the campaign with a 1-0 win, considering they dominated for long periods of the opening match.

Shan Masood made 156 to steer the Pakistanis to 326 in the first innings of the series - and England, once again, started badly with the bat.

Root's men were reduced to 12-3 and had middle and lower order players such as Pope (62), Buttler (38), and Broad (29 not out) to thank for dragging the side to a total of 219.

That was still in excess off 100 runs short of Pakistan - but it was almost then at that point as if the tourists could not believe the position which they were in, and they failed badly to push on in their second innings.

By the close of day three, Pakistan were 137-8 - and, while that was still a seemingly handy lead of 244, England sensed they had found their way back into the game.

Within three overs of the start of day four, the match had moved into its final chapter with Pakistan dismissed for 169, a lead of 276.

Time, therefore, was not an issue for England - but, unfortunately, batting under pressure appeared to be, and - at 117-5 - the target suddenly looked a long way off. 

Enter Buttler (75) and Chris Woakes, with the latter making 84 not out in a sixth-wicket partnership of 139 to put England on the brink.

Still, there threatened to be a final twist when Yasir Shah trapped both Buttler and Broad lbw in quick succession. 

But player of the match Woakes, whose many fine contributions with the ball is so often overshadowed by Anderson and Broad - looked assured with the bat and he guided England safely home.

Without any crowd in attendance, it was not quite the same as that chase at Headingley last year - but the same sort of relief was palpable.

It is important, though, that Root's side are aware that successful chases after the concession of a big deficit will always be special, simply because they are uncommon. Certainly, they should not be relied upon too regularly.

Nevertheless, the chase demonstrated an encouraging determination not to give in - and ended up effectively being enough to win the series.

After all, the second Test became a collosal farce and, altogether, an absolute waste of time. 

True, the weather made it unlikely there was ever going to be a result - but the umpires' overly-cautious bad light reading on the first day caused problems for them for the rest of the match.

Worse still, the early abandonment on day four made no sense whatsoever with photographs from reporters on Twitter presenting a completely empty cricket ground bathed in sunlight.

At least there had actually been some play on that fourth day as Pakistan finally completed their first innings with wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan scoring 72 out of a total of 236.

However, the overhead cloud and humid conditions were like something out of a dream for bowlers and a nightmare for the batsmen. 

Opener Rory Burns, who struggled across the summer, was dismissed for an entirely forgivable duck in the first over of the England reply - and only four more overs followed before the rain returned. 

The weather cleared up towards the end of the afternoon but there appeared to be little desire to get the game restarted - and the delay continued beyond lunch on the fifth day. 

At that point, there was a certain sense of wonderment as to why the players bothered to come out play at all for the short period in which they eventually did. The match had, long before that point, become utterly pointless.

For the record, there were 45.4 overs on day one, 40.2 overs on day two, a complete washout on day three, 10.2 overs on day four, and 38.1 overs on day five.

Altogether, the total of 134.3 overs corresponds to just under one-and-a-half days worth of play - and, in worse news still, the forecast for the third Test was not looking overly clever either.

Thankfully, there was a full day of play on the first day - and it featured the first half of a partnership between Crawley (267) and Buttler (152) which, at 359 runs, ended up becoming an all-time England record for the fifth wicket.

Oddly, despite the poor forecast for the second half of the match, England continued to bat even once both centurions were out, before belatedly declaring on the fall of Broad's wicket with the score on 583-8. 

Under-pressure Pakistan captain Azhar Ali responded to his critics in excellent manner with 141 not out - but it still was not enough to prevent his team from falling short of the follow on target as Anderson picked up 5-56 to move his career total onto 598.

The Lancashire bowler probably should have made it to 600 quicker than he did but two dropped catches in the slip cordon in the same over by Burns and Sibley left him fuming. 

Anderson's mood became worse again in his next over when Broad dropped an absolute dolly at mid-on, although he did immediately make amends with a superb, instinctive throw to run out Abbas with a direct hit.

To the great relief of everyone, Sibley took the next chance to come from Anderson's bowling - with Naseem Shah out for a duck - and Pakistan were all out for 273.

England duly enforced the follow on as gloomy skies enveloped the Ageas Bowl - far darker than those which had caused the abandonment of play in the second Test. 

Perhaps, the umpires were overcompensating for their timidity in the previous week - and spinner Bess certainly thought this was the case.

The poor conditions will also likely provide some explanation for the dropped catches, especially considering the cherry-red colour of the new ball.

Remarkably, though, Anderson suffered a fourth drop off his bowling at the start of the fourth day as Buttler - who was otherwise in impeccable form with the gloves - put down a simple chance.

Anderson later took the field out of the equation altogether by trapping Abid Ali lbw for wicket number 599 - but he was made to wait overnight again for his landmark moment. 

It eventually came in the final session of an otherwise unremarkable fifth day in another match which was rapidly heading towards a draw. 

Skipper Azhar became the famous victim of the Burnley Express, caught at slip by the opposing captain Root off a ball which found a bit of extra bounce.

Sadly, of course, there was no crowd to see this historical achievement in the flesh due to coronavirus - but, even at the age of 38, Anderson shows no sign of stopping or, indeed, of decline. 

Looking ahead, the England Test team have a fascinating 18 months in front of them with tours in the notoriously difficult sub-continent region of Sri Lanka and India at the start of 2021.

Next summer, India are scheduled to play a return series of five Tests in England before the next Ashes series, away in Australia, follows at the end of next year. 

For now, England remain a promising team - Sibley, Crawley and Pope have contributed to a more settled batting line-up alongside Root and Stokes, and one which has shown it can perform under pressure. 

Burns, despite scoring just 20 runs in his last four innings, retains some credit from earlier successes - and, in any case, his lack of runs against Pakistan was offset by the welcome return to form with the bat by Buttler in red-ball cricket.

In the bowling ranks, there is healthy competition for places with Woakes the most impressive outside of Anderson and Broad, leaving Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Sam Curran all battling it out for just a single place.

Young Bess continues to show some good signs but, at 22, there is still much for him to learn and better sides might expose his inexperience. 

In general against the stronger sides, England cannot afford to start as slowly as they have been, and they desperately need to improve their catching which remains mediocre. 

Simply put, India and Australia - the two best sides in the world - will not allow England to wiggle off the hook especially on their own patch. 

Root's side are already now playing catch-up in the World Test Championship following the defeat to the West Indies and the draws against Pakistan, having now also played a series more than Australia. 

Nevertheless, Australia and India are due to play each other before the end of this godforsaken year and then, as mentioned, England play the Indians twice in 2021.

The chance remains for England to barge their way into the top two and the one-off Test Championship match at Lord's - but can they step it up when it matters in a massive 2021 for the team? 

You never know - if England can pull it off and win the Ashes back Down Under, Anderson might finally be able to retire in the satisfaction that he can achieve nothing more.

WORLD TEST CHAMPIONSHIP ▪️ ENGLAND WON THE SERIES 2-1
WISDEN TROPHY

08-12 Jul	(1) West Indies 318 & 200-6 beat England 204 & 313 by four wickets	Southampton
16-20 Jul	(2) England 469-9d & 129-3d beat West Indies 287 & 198 by 113 runs	Old Trafford
24-28 Jul	(3) England 369 & 226-2d beat West Indies 197 & 129 by 269 runs	Old Trafford

WORLD TEST CHAMPIONSHIP ▪️ ENGLAND WON THE SERIES 1-0

05-08 Aug	(1) England 219 & 277-7 beat Pakistan 326 & 169 by three wickets	Old Trafford
13-17 Aug	(2) England 110-4 drew with Pakistan 236	Southampton
21-25 Aug	(3) Pakistan 273 & 187-4 drew with England 583-8d	Southampton

ICC WORLD TEST CHAMPIONSHIP ▪️ LATEST STANDINGS

Pos		Series Won	Tests Won	Tests Drawn	Tests Lost	Points	Runs Per Wicket	Remain
(1)	INDIA	3	7	0	2	360	2.011	240
(2)	AUSTRALIA	2	7	1	2	296	1.604	360
(3)	ENGLAND	3	8	3	4	292	1.223	240
(4)	NEW ZEALAND	1	3	0	4	180	0.883	360
(5)	PAKISTAN	1	2	3	3	166	0.853	300
(6)	SRI LANKA	0	1	1	2	80	0.589	480
(7)	WEST INDIES	0	1	0	4	40	0.527	480
(8)	SOUTH AFRICA	0	1	0	6	24	0.521	480
(9)	BANGLADESH	0	0	0	3	0	0.351	540

Youthful England rejuvenate Test prospects

BASIL D'OLIVEIRA TROPHY ENGLAND WON THE SERIES 3-1

26-29 Dec	1 South Africa 284 & 272 beat England 181 & 268 by 107 runs	Centurion
03-07 Jan	2 England 269 & 391-8d beat South Africa 223 & 248 by 189 runs	Cape Town
16-20 Jan	3 England 499-9d beat South Africa 209 & 237 by innings and 53 runs	Port Elizabeth
24-27 Jan	4 England 400 & 248 beat South Africa 183 & 274 by 191 runs	Johannesburg

Player of the series Ben Stokes (England)

ENGLAND overcame a whole slew of early issues to complete a 3-1 series win over South Africa with victory in the fourth Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.

Player of the match Mark Wood (9-100) returned the best overseas figures for an English seamer in almost 12 years as the tourists wrapped up a comfortable 191-run win inside four days.

Indeed, the relative ease of this victory - and the positive outcome of the Test tour as a whole - is a far cry from how the campaign began.

A viral illness spread like wildfire through the touring party ahead of and during the first Test at Centurion in what was a rare case of England having too many runs.

Meanwhile, talisman Ben Stokes was understandably unsettled by news on the eve of the Boxing Day match of his father Ged being taken to a Johannesburg hospital in a critical condition.

It was rather surprising then that, with everything going on, captain Joe Root opted to bowl first after winning the toss.

Sam Curran and Stuart Broad (both 4-58) did their best in restricting South Africa to 284 - but England were left well behind in the game when subsequently bowled out for 181.

Set a record 376 to win with the amazing chase at Headingley in the Ashes still fresh in the memory, England started well and were 139-1 at one stage.

But this chase ultimately proved the exceptionalism of the heist on that sunny day in Leeds as Root's men were all out for 268 to lose by 107 runs.

It meant that - excluding the series in 2018 against a severely weakened Sri Lanka team - England had lost nine of their previous 13 away Tests dating back to start of Root's tenure.

Somehow, matters got even worse ahead of the second Test when opener Rory Burns, ended his series prematurely by injuring his ankle while playing football in training.

The practice of playing football was banned on the following day - but the injury to the team's top scorer from Centurion meant such a move had not come before seemingly significant damage had already been done.

Bowling trio Jofra Archer, Jack Leach and Wood were also unavailable for the match in Cape Town so thankfully, this time, skipper Root opted to bat when again he won the toss.

England began tentatively, struggling to 269 - and looked set to concede another first innings deficit when South Africa reached 200-5.

But, after Curran accounted for the dangerous Rassie van der Dussen, England's record wicket-taker James Anderson added to his haul by cleaning up the tail for his 28th five-for in Tests.

South Africa had collapsed to 223 all out - and, rather than facing a deficit, the tourists bounded into their second innings with a lead of 46.

Warwickshire's 24-year-old batsmen Dom Sibley - opening in the absence of Burns with 21-year-old Zak Crawley - made 133 not out for his maiden Test century. 

Sibley also found support from Root (61) and especially Stokes with the latter making 72 off just 47 balls.

It meant England were able to declare on 391-8 shortly after lunch on the fourth day - and, to Root's credit, the timing of the declaration would end up turning out to be an excellent use of judgement.

From this point onwards, the hosts never threatened to get anywhere near to their notional target of 438 - but, nonetheless, they dug in and scored at around just two runs-per-over to take the match beyond tea on the fifth day.

Shortly after the break, though, the Proteas' chance of rescuing the draw disappeared as they lost Quinton de Kock and van der Dussen in quick succession, before Stokes dealt with the tail.

It really should not be underestimated just how much heart and confidence was gained by skipper Root and his recovering team from their second Test declaration and triumph.

And, at the beginning of the third match in Port Elizabeth, each of the top four got themselves in before disappointingly getting out for scores between 25 and 44.

Consequently, the contest had reached an important early juncture at 148-4 when 22-year-old Ollie Pope joined Stokes at the crease.

But England need not have worried - the pair put on a massive 203 for the sixth wicket as Stokes scored his ninth Test century.

Even after his departure, young Pope found ample support lower down the order from Curran (44) and Wood (42) who ensured the Surrey man had enough time to make his own maiden Test ton.

Pope, indeed, was 135 not out when England declared on the fall of the ninth wicket with their score on 499.

Remarkably, in the South African response, England unearthed another gem as 22-year-old spinner Dom Bess ravaged the Proteas' top order.

Bess - who was not even part of the original touring party - in fact became the first English spinner to take the first five wickets in an innings since Derek Underwood against Australia in 1975.

Nevertheless, the poor weather in Port Elizabeth looked set to provide South Africa with a lifeline and made it inevitable that they would be asked to bat again if they could not make it beyond the follow-on target.

South Africa duly failed - and in rather spectacular fashion - as they lost their last four first innings wickets for a single run before then being reduced to 102-6 in their second innings, still a hopeless 188 runs behind. 

Bizarrely, in their second knock, the main threat came from Root himself as he took four wickets with his occasional off-spin to ensure he would pick up his best Test figures.
 
The Proteas did survive into a fifth day - an argument, if any was really needed, against the push in some quarters for four-day Tests.

But it did not look as if their resistance would last for too long when Vernon Philander was out to Broad in the first over of the final day.

Kagisa Rabada and Anrich Nortje quickly followed - but, as Root strived for his first five-for in any First Class cricket, England temporarily lost their way completely against the final pair.

Thankfully, the weather overhead had cleared to leave England with plenty of time - and, after an incredibly entertaining stand of 99, Curran threw a direct hit from mid-on to run out Keshav Maharaj.

At 2-1, the series had inextricably moved in England's favour - and the visitors immediately hammered home their advantage in the fourth Test as Crawley (66) and Sibley (44) combined for a century opening stand.

The runs continued down the order with Root (59) and Pope (56) contributing again - and, even after South Africa had taken the ninth English wicket, their pain did not end.

Wood (35 not out) and Broad (43) enjoyed themselves in a record 10th-wicket stand at the Wanderers as England reached 400, and only no more than that because Broad skied a pull.

Next, Wood (5-46) starred with the ball as - except for a singular stand between De Kock and Dwaine Pretorius - South Africa struggled again with the bat.

At 183 all out, the Proteas had once more failed to make it beyond the follow-on target - but, on this occasion, with plenty of time left in the game, Root understandably opted to bat again.

England played fast and loose to pile up a target and still make the best use of the time remaining.

Indeed, such was the South Africans' form with the bat, the 248 runs put on the board in the second innings always looked sufficient to guarantee victory.

So it proved - although at least the hosts did not go down without a fight and their second innings total of 274 was their best effort since the very first innings of the series.

That, in itself, speaks volumes, however - and this sad farewell to fast-bowler Philander has left yet another hole in a side which is now in a complete state of flux.

Until this defeat, it had been 70 years since South Africa had lost two consecutive home series - while this was a fifth defeat in their last six home Tests.

Still, that should not take anything away from England who have had to overcome their own difficulties to produce this excellent comeback victory.

Youngsters Sibley, Crawley and Pope threaten to provide some much-needed stability to the England batting order - while this series has revealed a hitherto unseen depth to the bowling options.

No fewer than eight separate players - Root, Wood, Broad, Anderson, Stokes, Bess, Archer, and Curran - took at least four wickets in a single innings at some point in the series.

Meanwhile, six batsman - Pope (88.66), Sibley (54.00), Wood (47.50), Burns (46.50), Root (45.42), and Stokes (45.28) - averaged more than 40 across the whole campaign.

England may still be some way yet from gaining a reputation as a Test team to be feared at home and away - but this was undoubtedly a step in the right direction.

As a matter of fact, England have indeed moved up one place to third in both the Test rankings and the inaugural ICC World Test Championship behind India, the leaders, and Australia.

The tour to Sri Lanka in March before home series against West Indies and Pakistan appear to present Root's team with further opportunities to close the gap to the top two. 

However, England simply cannot get too carried away.

Young teams often provide exuberance and inconsistency in almost equal measure - and the next step will be just as important as this one has been.

ICC TEST CHAMPIONSHIP 2019-2021

Date	Tests
Aug-Sep 2019	(5)	ENGLAND 2-2 AUSTRALIA
Aug 2019	(2)	SRI LANKA 1-1 NEW ZEALAND
Aug-Sep 2019	(2)	WEST INDIES 0-2 INDIA
Oct 2019	(3)	INDIA 3-0 SOUTH AFRICA
Oct 2019	(2)	PAKISTAN 1-0 SRI LANKA
Nov-Dec 2019	(2)	AUSTRALIA 2-0 PAKISTAN
Nov 2019	(2)	INDIA 2-0 BANGLADESH
Dec-Jan 2020	(3)	AUSTRALIA 3-0 NEW ZEALAND
Dec-Jan 2020	(4)	SOUTH AFRICA 1-3 ENGLAND
Jan 2020	(2)	PAKISTAN v BANGLADESH
Feb-Apr 2020	(2)	BANGLADESH v AUSTRALIA
Feb-Mar 2020	(2)	NEW ZEALAND v INDIA
Mar 2020	(2)	SRI LANKA v ENGLAND
Jun 2020	(3)	ENGLAND v WEST INDIES
Jul 2020	(3)	ENGLAND v PAKISTAN
Jul 2020	(2)	SRI LANKA v BANGLADESH
Jul 2020	(2)	WEST INDIES v SOUTH AFRICA
Aug 2020	(2)	BANGLADESH v NEW ZEALAND
Nov 2020	(3)	NEW ZEALAND v WEST INDIES
Nov-Jan 2021	(4)	AUSTRALIA v INDIA
Dec 2020	(2)	NEW ZEALAND v PAKISTAN
Jan 2021	(3)	BANGLADESH v WEST INDIES
Jan 2021	(5)	INDIA v ENGLAND
Jan 2021	(2)	PAKISTAN v SOUTH AFRICA
Jan 2021	(2)	SOUTH AFRICA v SRI LANKA
Feb 2021	(3)	SOUTH AFRICA v AUSTRALIA
Feb 2021	(2)	WEST INDIES v SRI LANKA
Jun 2021	(1)	FINAL

Pos		Series Won	Tests Won	Tests Drawn	Tests Lost	Points	Runs Per Wicket	Remain
(1)	INDIA	3	7	0	0	360	2.897	360
(2)	AUSTRALIA	2	7	1	2	296	1.604	360
(3)	ENGLAND	1	5	1	3	146	1.068	480
(4)	PAKISTAN	1	1	1	2	80	0.765	480
(5)	SRI LANKA	0	1	1	2	80	0.589	480
(6)	NEW ZEALAND	0	1	0	4	60	0.698	480
(7)	SOUTH AFRICA	0	1	0	6	24	0.521	480
(8)	WEST INDIES	0	0	0	2	0	0.411	600
(9)	BANGLADESH	0	0	0	2	0	0.304	600

• Top two teams qualify for the Final at Lord's in June 2021.
• Teams on equal points are ranked by number of series won then Runs Per Wicket.
• Remain = points still yet to be played for

Points distribution is based on number of matches in a series
(2) 60 points for a Test win, 20 points each for a draw
(3) 40 points for a Test win, 13.3 points each for a draw
(4) 30 points for a Test win, 10 points each for a draw
(5) 24 points for a Test win, eight points each for a draw
NB A team that is behind the required over-rate at the end of a match will have two competition points deducted for each over it is behind

Amazing chase

ASHES SERIES 2019

01-05 August	1 Australia 284 & 487-7dec beat England 374 & 146 by 251 runs	Edgbaston
14-18 August	2 Australia 250 & 154-6 drew with England 258 & 258-5dec	Lord's
22-26 August	3 England 67 & 362-9 beat Australia 179 & 246 by one wicket	Headingley
04-08 September	FOURTH TEST	Old Trafford
12-16 September	FIFTH TEST	The Oval

BEN STOKES hit an unbeaten 135 as England completed their highest successful fourth innings run chase in history in incredible fashion at Headingley to keep their Ashes hopes alive.

England - who had been bowled out for just 67 inside 28 overs on Friday - somehow survived some of the most intense cricket in Ashes history to finish on 362-9 and level the series at 1-1 with two matches still to play.

For sure, Australia - despite this significant setback - remain favourites for the urn, if only because a win in either of the remaining matches will be enough for them, as the holders, to retain the Ashes.

Nevertheless, this Test in Leeds - and even the presence of Jofra Archer in the draw just over a week ago at Lord's - has given the Aussies plenty to think about heading into the last two chapters of this five-match series.

At the start of the series, the teams had gone to Edgbaston - or Fortress Edgbaston as it became billed in the ground's pre-match publicity.

Australia had failed to win any of their previous visits to the Birmingham venue in all forms of cricket, a run which began back in 2001.

Meanwhile, the visitors' most recent visit was an eight-wicket semi final thrashing in the World Cup only a few weeks previously.

It looked little better for the Aussies this time as they fell to 122-8 - but former skipper Steve Smith scored a scintillating 144 to help his team to record a modest opening offering of 284.

England replied with a far more solid 374, mainly built on the back of a magnificent 133 from opener Rory Burns.

But, critically, the hosts had lost their main bowler James Anderson after four overs of the first day - and, limited to four main bowlers, Smith dined out on some buffet bowling to hit another fine century.

Moeen Ali - 2-130 off 29 overs - was particularly expensive on a generous fourth-day pitch as Australia were able to declare on 487-7, the tireless Stokes having picked up three of the wickets.

England - therefore - were asked to bat out the whole of the final day to secure a draw.

However, it was something which they never looked like doing as the middle order failed and plunged the team to a desperate 97-7.

Chris Woakes smacked a few fours on his home ground for a creditable 37 - but, eventually, England were all out for 144 and lost by the not insignificant margin of 251 runs. Australia had breached Fortress Edgbaston.

There was therefore work to be done ahead of the second Test at Lord's. Ultimately, it turned to be a rainy draw which came to life just too late for England.

Day one was a complete washout and there were less than 25 overs on day three.

Nevertheless, the match moved along at quite apace as England were bowled out for 258 - and, even with a 92 from Smith, the Aussies fell eight runs short of that.

It left the Test as basically a one-innings match - and things did not look too clever when England were 71-4 on the fourth evening.

But, thankfully, Stokes had other ideas and his mature 115, which increased in intensity on the fifth day, set up an unlikely victory opportunity.

After all, Australia - by this time - were deprived of Smith who was concussed after being hit on the helmet in the first innings by a bouncer by Archer.

The Barbados-born fast bowler was seriously fast and, even in this draw, seemed to make quite an impression on the visiting batsmen.

Archer took 3-32 as Australia, on the fall of captain Tim Paine's wicket, found themselves at 149-6 with no chance of victory.

By then, though, the match was in its last hour and a solid 42 from Travis Head eased any worries on the away balcony. Australia had secured the draw so were still leading 1-0 with now just three to play.

The third Test, therefore, was always going to be pivotal.

A win for England would bring the hosts level at 1-1 - but, frighteningly, victory for Australia would confirm their retention of the Ashes at the earliest possibility - and would mark their first successful Test campaign in England since 2001.

Anderson was still out for England with a rare injury to his calf while Smith was absent from the Aussie line-up following his knock on the head by Archer's bouncer in the second Test at Lord's.

The absence of Smith could only surely be good news for Joe Root - and, winning the toss under cloudy skies, the Yorkshire man inserted Australia at his home ground.

With the Ashes on the line, it looked like it had all gone wrong as Stokes and Woakes bowled loosely to allow Paine's men to reach 136-2 after tea on a rain-interrupted first day.

But England - and Archer in particular - fought back impressively as the 24-year-old took 6-45 to restrict the Aussies to a first innings total of 179 at the close of the first day.

England were well in the game - but, within a few hours of the resumption on Friday, they appeared to have thrown it all away.

Only Joe Denly (12) reached double figures as Root's men played a whole series of unnecessary shots on the way to 67 all out, a matter of 122 runs behind.

If anything, the Australian second innings was still yet more painful as Smith stand-in Marnus Labuschagne took advantage of some sloppy fielding to add 80 to his other scores of 59 and 74 in the series.

The South African-born number four, who grew up in Queensland, looked like emulating Smith at his immovable best until he foolishly attempted a second run on a misfield by Joe Denly and was run out.

Australia did not last much longer - but, with 246 runs on the board to add to their first innings lead, it seemed as if their two incredibly modest scores were going to be comfortably enough for them to retain the urn.

Hardly anyone excepted England to make it to a record 359 following their horrendous innings of 67 - and, indeed, another low score looked likely when both openers Burns and then Jason Roy fell again for single-figure scores.

At this point, most England fans were simply looking for some sort of respectability on the scorecard - and Root, Denly and Stokes at least achieved that by pushing the hosts to 156-3 at the close of play.

England resumed on the fourth day still needing 203 runs to win - but Root fell before lunch after the ball looped to slip off the bowling of spinner Nathan Lyon.

Stokes and Jonny Bairstow added 85 before latter ridiculously chased a wide one and his replacement Jos Buttler was run out by the former.

Woakes followed all too quickly, chipping Josh Hazelwood for a solitary run - and, at 261-7, the Ashes looked done.

Archer took a slightly different approach by attacking the Aussie bowlers - but this admittedly understandable and entertaining high-risk strategy was never going to be too successful.

In the next over following Archer's departure, Broad was trapped lbw by James Pattinson for a duck - and England seemed stranded on 286-9, still 73 runs short.

Jack Leach came out to bat as last man - and, despite a 92 as nightwatchman against Ireland a few weeks ago, the spinner knew the part he had to play.

Somerset bowler Leach channelled the belief and skill of Stokes to finish on one off 17 balls while his partner did his best to man the strike.

Stokes, magnificently, had himself curbed his attacking instincts to score three off 73. Geoffrey Boycott,  and surely even Chris Tavare, would have been proud.

But, at the fall of the ninth wicket, something changed in Stokes - he realised he could no longer be anywhere near as defensive.

Leach blocked out the rest of the over from Pattinson then, in the next over Stokes thumped Lyon for six over long-off.

Surely it was a matter of time, so it felt - but Stokes repeated his trick against Lyon off the first ball of the next over - before a reverse sweep brought another six off the fifth ball.

A few overs later, it became properly ridiculous as Stokes took the best Australian bowler Hazlewood to the cleaners by hitting 19 off the over.

Another nine runs off Pat Cummins brought the required total down to eight, or seven for a tie.

In the third ball of the 125th over of the innings, Stokes despatched Lyon for yet another six to bring the requirement down to two runs, his shot down the ground only just making it over the despairing reach of a fielder.

Incredibly, it was not the closest chance by far of those six balls. On the fifth ball of the over, Leach charged down the pitch from the non-strikers before realising there was no run.

Leach was well short of his ground as Lyon attempted to gather the ball - but the pressure clearly got to the Aussie as he fumbled and failed to hit the wickets.

At this stage, every ball really was an event as the cliché goes - and, off the last ball of this crazy over, Lyon thought he had trapped Stokes lbw.

Umpire Joel Wilson - in a team with Chris Gaffaney - have not had a particularly good series so far, many of their decisions having been overturned.

And, apparently, Wilson would have had another decision reversed if the Aussies had retained any reviews.

To their immense frustration, though, the tourists had earlier burned their last review on a speculative call against Leach. Frankly, they only have themselves to blame.

Cummins stepped up to the mark for the next over which became the last over of the match - and, crucially it seemed, he was bowling at Leach.

By now, though, Leach was probably as confident as he could be still - still on 0 but off 14 balls. 

The first ball was a bouncer which easily cleared the batman's head - but the second was far more testing and Leach had to wear it well. 

From the third ball of the over, Leach nervously prodded the ball past short leg and scampered a single. 

Amazingly, that put the scores level - and it was confirmed that the Ashes were not being lost in Leeds at least. 

It could still have been a tie, of course - England are familiar enough with those this summer - but Stokes was in no mood to leave England with a deficit heading into the last two Test. 

A glorious cover drive for four brought victory and brought yet more history for Stokes. 

Seemingly not content with getting England over the line in easily the tightest World Cup Final ever, he has now helped the national team surpass their highest previous successful chase of 332, set against the Aussies in 1928. 

Magnificently, both achievements have been incredibly hard-fought - and Stokes himself has been critical to the successful outcome. 

Looking at things a little more soberly, England still have big problems with their batting line-up and there is definitely a feeling that bowling from Archer and Broad - and batting from Stokes - has only just about kept the home side in this series. 

It is no bad thing to have good players in superb form though - and, following this result, it can only be England who take the momentum into the next Test at Old Trafford in Manchester on 4 September. 

CENTURIES
144 Steve Smith (Australia), first Test
142 Steve Smith (Australia), first Test
135* Ben Stokes (England), third Test
133 Rory Burns (England), first Test
115* Ben Stokes (England), second Test
110 Matthew Wade (Australia), first Test

FIVE-FORS
6-45 Jofra Archer (England), third Test
6-49 Nathan Lyon (Australia), first Test
5-30 Josh Hazlewood (Australia), third Test
5-86 Stuart Broad (England), first Test

MOST RUNS
378 Steve Smith (Australia) @ 126.00
327 Ben Stokes (England) @ 81.75
242 Rory Burns (England) @ 40.33
213 Marnus Labaschagne (Australia) @ 71.00

176 Joe Root (England) @ 29.33

160 Travis Head (Australia) @ 32.00
151 Matthew Wade (Australia) @ 25.16
147 Joe Denly (England) @ 24.50

MOST WICKETS
17 Pat Cummins (Australia) @ 18.52
14 Stuart Broad (England) @ 25.35
14 Nathan Lyon (Australia) @ 31.92
13 Jofra Archer (England) @ 13.53
12 Josh Hazlewood (Australia) @ 18.00

9 Chris Woakes (England) @ 29.00

Fairytale at the Oval for retiring Cook

CRICKET legend Alastair Cook signed off his illustrious international career in style as he helped England seal a 4-1 series win over world number one team India.

Former captain Cook scored 147 at the Oval in his last ever Test knock to become only the fifth man ever to make a century in both his first and his last matches.

Cook thus finished his career in fifth place on the all-time run-scoring list with 12,472 Test runs, by far the most by an England player and also the most ever by a left-hander.

In all, the Essex man hit 33 Test centuries - another national record - and his eventual batting average stands at a still healthy 45.35.

Finally, the 33-year-old claimed 175 Test catches - as well as the solitary wicket of Ishant Sharma in 2014 - during his 161 matches.

Indeed, his retirement brings to an end a remarkable all-time record run of 159 consecutive Tests.

Yes, come rain or shine, triumph or disaster, Cook has been a reassuring constant in England's shaky batting line-up over the past 12 years.

Undoubtedly, though, Cook's zenith came Down Under back in 2010-11 when he scored an aggregate of 766 runs at a Bradman-esque average of 127.66 as England won an away Ashes series for the first time since 1987.

Cook won further Ashes series as captain in 2013 and 2015 - and, in his first campaign following his appointment as permanent skipper in 2012, he guided England to a rare away win in India.

Of course, there were also tougher times. The disastrous Ashes whitewash in 2013-14 obviously stands out - but it was another heavy away defeat, 4-0 against India in 2016, which truly spelt the beginning of the end.

Cook resigned the captaincy in the wake of that series but confirmed he was happy to drop back into the ranks as an opener under new skipper Joe Root.

Thereafter, there were occasional glimpses of classic Cook, and he scored two double centuries in the space of just over four months in 2017 against the West Indies at Edgbaston and Australia at the MCG.

Both of those scores came on fairly placid surfaces, however - and, tellingly, his average in 2018 before the fifth Test was just 18.62 from nine innings.

Admittedly, it has been a difficult summer against the new ball in England - but, when a press conference was hastily convened at Lord's last Monday, it did not take a genius to work out what Cook was about to announce.

From that moment, it was perhaps inevitable England's greatest run scorer would find a way to conclude his Test career with a final flourish.

After all, his even temperament has always been one of his greatest assets. It has helped him remain a threat and a prized scalp even when horribly out of form, and surely also helped him cope with any extra nerves on this marquee occasion.

Rather wonderfully, the Oval saw the very best of Cook on the fourth day of the fifth Test - the late cut and the pull were played with aplomb as he shared a third-wicket stand with Root (125) of 259.

Bizarrely, Cook brought up his century with a five as a result of overthrows from Jasprit Bumrah.

But the slightly odd circumstances took nothing away from a magnificent sporting moment which was greeted all around the Oval with a rapturous standing ovation.

England eventually piled up a second innings total of 423-8 declared, setting a target of 464 for India to gain an unlikely consolation victory.

Almost immediately, though, the tourists were in trouble as new ball pair James Anderson and Stuart Broad reduced them to 2-3.

KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane guided their side to stumps without any further loss - but Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali struck before lunch on the fifth day.

Deeper and deeper into day five, India resisted - and things looked good for them when Rahul (149) and Rishabh Pant (114) put on 204 for the sixth wicket.

However, once they both fell in consecutive Adil Rashid overs, England made light work of the tail and the Indians fell 118 runs short.

To his great relief, the final wicket fell to Anderson who had been forced to wait patiently during the innings for his own moment in the sun.

Anderson had taken the first two wickets to fall at the end of day four but had gone wicketless during day five until he breached Mohammed Shami's defence and splattered his middle stump with what was the last ball of the series.

And so the Burnley Express surpassed Glenn McGrath as the most successful fast bowler in Test history with his 564th scalp.

Of course, England had already wrapped up the series ahead of Cook's farewell with earlier victories at Edgbaston, Lord's, and Southampton.

The first Test in Birmingham was a cracker as England squeezed home by 31 runs after bowling India out in the fourth innings for 162.

By contrast, the second Test was a cakewalk with overhead conditions favouring the hosts throughout.

The result - victory by an innings after bowling India out for 107 and 130 - was never in doubt but what was not clear then was if the Indians would subsequently continue to collapse in a heap for the rest of the campaign.

Creditably, Virat Kohli's men stood up to the challenge - and their 203-run win in the third Test will surely rank among the best ever performances by India on these shores.

All of a sudden, heading into the fourth match, all of the big questions were instead being asked about England - despite their 2-1 advantage.

The questions were valid, of course. Even in the first Test, the hosts were rocking on 87-7 in the second innings, leading by just 100, before the raw all-rounder Sam Curran struck 63 alongside the the tail.

Ultimately, it proved to be just enough - but, in an incredible selection own goal for the third Test, it was not enough to keep Curran in the team.

The 20-year-old was restored for the fourth game - but there was a certain familiarity about proceedings when England found themselves on 86-6 on the first day.

Again, Curran intervened with a 78 and got England to a somewhat competitive total of 246 - and, again, it was ultimately enough when the result was decided on day four.

For India then, this was a series of missed opportunities - and the 4-1 final score is more reflective of England's ability to wriggle out of tough situations through individual efforts than anything else.

After all, as good as it has been to beat the world number one side in exciting fashion at home, the England Test side under Joe Root remain a work in progress.

Undoubtedly, the two biggest holes are the openers' slots, and they have only just got bigger following Cook's decision.

The refusal to go into the next series away in Sri Lanka with two new openers may be the main thing to save the woeful Keaton Jennings.

And, while the Lancashire batsman can also point to his century on debut in a spin-dominated match against India in Mumbai, even on that occasion he was dropped while he was on 0.

More pertinently, Jennings's average and high score in this series were 18.11 and 42 respectively - and, if anything, his dismissals have been getting worse.

In particular, the lbw to Bumrah in the fourth Test and his leave to be clean bowled by Shami in the fifth Test were comically bad misjudgements not befitting of an international-class player.

And, certainly, any decision to retain Jennings for this winter feels overly generous - and misguided in the extreme.

For Cook, the selectors are now the least of his concerns - and he will no doubt look forward to tending his farm while winding down his cricket career at Essex.

Meanwhile, the fact that his wife Alice is imminently expecting their third child further reinforces Cook has made the right call to curtail his involvement in international cricket.

Undoubtedly, though, he will be an immediate miss to England - and the struggle to produce another player like him will go on for a long time.
 
Indeed, such was Cook's precocious talent, fitness, and determination, it may in fact prove to be an impossible task. 

ENGLAND v INDIA 2018

ALASTAIR COOK In numbers
Test debut v India at Nagpur, Mar 1-5, 2006

12,472 Test runs
294 Test high score
175 Test catches
161 Tests
159 consecutive Tests
59 Tests as captain
45.35 Test average 

33 Test centuries (including five double centuries)
24 Test wins as captain
4 Ashes series wins (two as captain)
1 Test wicket

 

TEST MATCHES

01-04 Aug	FIRST Edgbaston	England 287 & 180 beat India 274 & 162 by 31 runs
09-11 Aug	SECOND Lord's	England 396-7dec beat India 107 &130 by an innings and 159 runs
18-22 Aug	THIRD Trent Bridge	India 329 & 352-7dec beat England 161 & 317 by 203 runs
30 Aug-03 Sep	FOURTH Southampton	England 246 & 271 beat India 273 & 184 by 60 runs
07-11 Sep	FIFTH The Oval	England 332 & 423-8dec beat India 292 & 345 by 118 runs

Series result ENGLAND won 4-1
Players of the series: Sam Curran (England), Virat Kohli (India)

ODI & T20I SERIES

03-July	T20I 1	India 163-2 (18.2) beat England 159-8 by eight wickets	Old Trafford
06-July	T20I 2	England 149-5 (19.4) beat India 148-5 by five wickets	Cardiff
08-July	T20I 3	India 201-3 (18.4) beat England 198-9 by seven wickets	Bristol
12-July	ODI 1	India 269-2 (40.1) beat England 268 (49.5) by eight wickets	Trent Bridge
14-July	ODI 2	England 322-7 beat India 236 by 86 runs	Lord's
17-July	ODI 3	England 260-2 (44.3) beat India 256-8 by eight wickets	Headingley

T20I series INDIA won 2-1
ODI series ENGLAND won 2-1

The Ashes 2015: Consolation for Australia, celebrations for England

FIFTH TEST: Australia 481 beat England 149 & 286 (f/o) by an innings and 46 runs Scorecard
Man of the match: Steve Smith

AUSTRALIA restored some pride with a dominant innings win in the fifth Test at the Oval - but England, of course, could already celebrate a fourth successive home Ashes triumph.

Steve Smith (143) scored his second big ton of the summer as the Aussies set up a platform on days one and two to control the final chapter of this bewildering campaign.

For this Ashes series can only accurately be described as having been bewildering. From the start, it has constantly confounded expectations.

It seems a long time ago now but Australia went into the series as favourites having completed a whitewash over England only 18 months previously.

England, though, won the first Test by the not insignificant margin of 169 runs before Australia dwarfed that with a massive 405-run victory at Lord's.

Perhaps, it was thought, it had just taken the Aussies a little time to wake up. Perhaps now they would pulverise England the rest of the series.

But no - it was the English bowlers who dominated at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge with Steven Finn and James Anderson spearheading the first of those efforts before Stuart Broad produced, in the absence of Anderson, his now legendary spell of 8-15.

Australia were blown away for 60 in their first innings in Nottingham, the shortest first innings in Test history - and, having only done slightly better second time around, had lost the Ashes and looked a shambles of a team.

Surely then England would cap a glorious summer at the Oval by grinding the Aussies' noses in the dust to emerge as 4-1 winners.

Alas, sadly not. Despite England winning the toss, any early Aussie vulnerability was steadied at the top of the order by Chris Rogers (43) and David Warner (85).

The openers guided the tourists to 82-0 at lunch on the first day - and their position at the end of day one, 287-3, was no less dominant with Smith at the crease alongside Adam Voges.

Voges had played himself into a bit of form at the back end of the fourth Test with an unbeaten half century there - but he will have enjoyed his 76 at the Oval far more.

There was, however, no last big satisfying score for outgoing skipper Michael Clarke. He made just 15 before being caught behind off Ben Stokes - and, by later enforcing the follow-on for the first time ever, did not get a second chance.

Australia eventually made 481 as Smith found another useful ally lower down the order in Mitchell Starc (58).

The big question at that point was whether England, facing similar first innings scoreboard pressure to that which affected them at Lord's, could do any better this time.

In short, they could not. On the stroke of tea on day two, the hosts lost skipper Alastair Cook (22) - castled by Nathan Lyon - and, after the interval, the rest of the team collapsed in a heap to 92-8.

Only a bit of counter-punching from Moeen Ali (30) and Mark Wood (24) pushed England onto three-figures. However, both were dismissed by Mitchell Johnson early on the third day.

Clarke then made his momentous decision to enforce the follow-on for the first time ever in his final Test match.

With one eye on the inclement British weather, and England trailing by a massive 332 runs, it was really the only sensible choice.

But, by denying himself the chance to improve on his own first innings score, Clarke admirably favoured the value of a crushing win over any valedictory vainglory.

Australia delivered for him. Peter Siddle may have been terribly under-employed on this tour but he was belatedly able to show his quality by taking 4-35 in the second innings for match figures of 6-67.

Notably, Siddle twice dismissed Adam Lyth cheaply - and, with the Yorkshireman having failed to make any sort of truly significant contribution in this series, it now seems certain he will be dropped for the winter tours.

Ian Bell, meanwhile, is rumoured to be on the verge of international retirement, satisfied with a career which has made him a five-times Ashes winner.

Bell, of course, will always have the 2013 series to cherish, his three centuries being the foundation stone to that England victory.

But it would not be unfair to suggest that this series has rather passed him by. He has averaged 26.87, and even that mark is boosted by a strong performance on his home ground which was not repeated elsewhere.

So, the wheel turns for England again - ahead of a completely different sort of challenge against Pakistan on the dry pitches of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah in October.

Captain Cook, however, remains steadfastly at the head of the ship - and deservedly so after such an unexpected series victory.

Of course, there has still been some horror shows with the bat from England but a lot of the bowling has been genuinely thrilling.

Remember, it was this England attack which was the first Test side in history to have four different players take at least six wickets in four consecutive innings at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge.

And while Clarke and Australia can continue to moan all they like about the pitches favouring the hosts, they have no real argument unless they transform the Gabba in Brisbane or the Waca in Perth into a dry-turner for a visit of Pakistan or India.

English pitches in England should not really come as a surprise to Australia - there were, after all, few complaints from them about the surfaces in 1989 or 1993 or 1997. Or 2001 for that matter.

Yes, it is now 14 years since Australia last won a series in England - and it will be 18 years by the time they are scheduled to arrive on these shores for Tests again.

England, in the meantime, can bask in the glory of holding the urn for the next two-and-a-half years before the next contest Down Under in the winter of 2017-18.

For, although the series ended on the damp squib of a defeat at the Oval, the performance level overall from a developing side has restored some faith in the team around the country.

My preview suggested most supporters would be satisfied with a 2-2 draw and some entertaining cricket, even if that meant the Aussies retaining the urn.

In that case, a 3-2 victory - even when finishing on an innings defeat - is more than satisfactory. Now, if only the infuriating inconsistency could be sorted out.

THE ASHES 2015: ENGLAND WON 3-2

8-11 July	1ST England 430 & 289 beat Australia 308 & 242 by 169 runs	Cardiff
16-19 July	2ND Australia 566-8d & 254-2d beat England 312 & 103 by 405 runs	Lord's
29-31 July	3RD England 281 & 124-2 beat Australia 136 & 265 by eight wickets	Edgbaston
6-8 August	4TH England 391-9d beat Australia 60 & 253 by an innings and 78 runs	Trent Bridge
20-23 August	5TH Australia 481 beat England 149 & 286 by an innings and 46 runs	The Oval

Man of the series: Joe Root (England)

TEAM AGGREGATES
Runs scored England 2365, Australia 2565
Wickets taken England 80, Australia 81 

CENTURIES
Australia 3-2 England
215 Steve Smith (Australia) in the second Test, Lord's
173 Chris Rogers (Australia) in the second Test, Lord's
143 Steve Smith (Australia) in the fifth Test, The Oval
134 Joe Root (England) in the first Test, Cardiff
130 Joe Root (England) in the fourth Test, Trent Bridge

TOP RUN SCORERS
508 Steve Smith (Australia)
480 Chris Rogers (Australia)
460 Joe Root (England)
418 David Warner (Australia)
330 Alastair Cook (England)
293 Moeen Ali (England)
215 Ian Bell (England)
201 Ben Stokes (England), Adam Voges (Australia) 

BEST BATTING AVERAGES
60.00 Chris Rogers (Australia)
57.50 Joe Root (England)
56.44 Steve Smith (Australia)
46.44 David Warner (Australia)
36.66 Alastair Cook (England)
36.62 Moeen Ali (England)
29.50 Jonny Bairstow (England)
28.71 Adam Voges (Australia)
26.87 Ian Bell (England)
25.75 Mark Wood (England)

FIVE-WICKET HAULS
England 4-2 Australia
8-15 Stuart Broad (England) in the fourth Test, Trent Bridge
6-36 Ben Stokes (England) in the fourth Test, Trent Bridge 
6-47 James Anderson (England) in the third Test, Edgbaston
6-79 Steven Finn (England) in the third Test, Edgbaston 
6-111 Mitchell Starc (Australia) in the fourth Test, Trent Bridge 
5-114 Mitchell Starc (Australia) in the first Test, Cardiff

TOP WICKET TAKERS 
21 Stuart Broad (England)
18 Mitchell Starc (Australia)
16 Josh Hazlewood (Australia), Nathan Lyon (Australia)
15 Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
12 Steven Finn (England), Moeen Ali (England)
11 Ben Stokes (England)
10 James Anderson (England), Mark Wood (England) 

BOWLING AVERAGES minimum 10 wickets
20.90 Stuart Broad (England)
22.50 Steven Finn (England)
25.75 Josh Hazlewood (Australia)
27.50 James Anderson (England)
28.25 Nathan Lyon (Australia)
30.50 Mitchell Starc (Australia)
33.45 Ben Stokes (England)
34.93 Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
39.10 Mark Wood (England)
45.50 Moeen Ali (England)