Below you’ll find the statistics for all of the players who competed in the 2009 Ashes Test series in England. Statistically speaking, it was kind of a freak series. Australia had the best bowlers, with three guys taking 20 or more wickets each in the series. For England, their best bowler was Stuart Broad with a relatively low 18 wickets. The third best bowler for England was James Anderson with 12 wickets in 5 Tests … which is only 2 wickets more than Aussie bowling discard Nathan Hauritz (10 wickets in just the three Tests).
Then there’s the batsmen, where Australia dominates the list of averages. Of Australia’s top 7 batsmen, 6 of them scored more than 350 runs in the series. For England, only 1 man – Andrew Strauss – scored more than 350 runs. And their top order batsmen of Cook, Collingwood, and Bopara are all in the bottom six when it comes to batting averages. Pathetic!
How did England win?
Yet despite all of these rather ordinary looking results, England won the series 2-1. How on earth did they manage that??! I think it’s because they put runs on the board in crucial moments, and sent Aussie batsmen back to the sheds when it really mattered. When the big moments came, someone stood up and delivered a match winning performance. Australia wasn’t capable of that, and that’s why they lost.
Players missing in action
I also think Australia really missed Brett Lee. If he had been able to play all five Tests, Australia might have had a better result … certainly if he’d been present at Cardiff, I don’t think Anderson and Panesar would have been able to bat out those final 11 overs as they did. In my series review I suggested that the absence of Lee could prove as costly for Australia as Glenn McGrath’s absence from two Tests in 2005 (the only Tests England won that year), and that would seem to be the case this time too. But then England were without Kevin Pietersen for three Tests, and when they were without Freddie Flintoff at Headingley they lost their only Test of the summer, so it all evens out.
England batting averages
| Player | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IJL Trott | 1 | 2 | 0 | 160 | 119 | 80.00 |
| AJ Strauss | 5 | 9 | 0 | 474 | 161 | 52.66 |
| KP Pietersen | 2 | 4 | 0 | 153 | 69 | 38.25 |
| GP Swann | 5 | 8 | 1 | 249 | 63 | 35.57 |
| A Flintoff | 4 | 7 | 1 | 200 | 74 | 33.33 |
| MJ Prior | 5 | 9 | 1 | 261 | 61 | 32.62 |
| SJ Harmison | 2 | 3 | 2 | 31 | 19* | 31.00 |
| SCJ Broad | 5 | 9 | 1 | 234 | 61 | 29.25 |
| IR Bell | 3 | 5 | 0 | 140 | 72 | 28.00 |
| PD Collingwood | 5 | 9 | 0 | 250 | 74 | 27.77 |
| AN Cook | 5 | 9 | 0 | 222 | 95 | 24.66 |
| JM Anderson | 5 | 8 | 2 | 99 | 29 | 16.50 |
| RS Bopara | 4 | 7 | 0 | 105 | 35 | 15.00 |
| MS Panesar | 1 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 7* | 11.00 |
| G Onions | 3 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 17* | 9.50 |
England bowling averages
| Player | Mat | Inns | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCJ Broad | 5 | 8 | 154.1 | 25 | 544 | 18 | 6/91 | 6/91 | 30.22 |
| G Onions | 3 | 5 | 77.4 | 11 | 303 | 10 | 4/58 | 5/132 | 30.30 |
| SJ Harmison | 2 | 3 | 43.0 | 10 | 167 | 5 | 3/54 | 3/69 | 33.40 |
| GP Swann | 5 | 8 | 170.2 | 30 | 567 | 14 | 4/38 | 8/158 | 40.50 |
| JM Anderson | 5 | 8 | 158.0 | 38 | 542 | 12 | 5/80 | 6/127 | 45.16 |
| A Flintoff | 4 | 7 | 128.5 | 18 | 417 | 8 | 5/92 | 6/119 | 52.12 |
| PD Collingwood | 5 | 4 | 18.0 | 1 | 76 | 1 | 1/38 | 1/38 | 76.00 |
| MS Panesar | 1 | 1 | 35.0 | 4 | 115 | 1 | 1/115 | 1/115 | 115.00 |
| RS Bopara | 4 | 1 | 8.2 | 1 | 44 | 0 | - | - | - |
Australia batting averages
| Player | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MJ Clarke | 5 | 8 | 1 | 448 | 136 | 64.00 |
| MJ North | 5 | 8 | 1 | 367 | 125* | 52.42 |
| RT Ponting | 5 | 8 | 0 | 385 | 150 | 48.12 |
| SR Watson | 3 | 5 | 0 | 240 | 62 | 48.00 |
| BJ Haddin | 4 | 6 | 0 | 278 | 121 | 46.33 |
| SM Katich | 5 | 8 | 0 | 341 | 122 | 42.62 |
| MEK Hussey | 5 | 8 | 0 | 276 | 121 | 34.50 |
| NM Hauritz | 3 | 3 | 1 | 45 | 24 | 22.50 |
| GA Manou | 1 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 13* | 21.00 |
| BW Hilfenhaus | 5 | 6 | 4 | 40 | 20 | 20.00 |
| PJ Hughes | 2 | 3 | 0 | 57 | 36 | 19.00 |
| PM Siddle | 5 | 6 | 1 | 91 | 35 | 18.20 |
| MG Johnson | 5 | 6 | 0 | 105 | 63 | 17.50 |
| SR Clark | 2 | 3 | 0 | 38 | 32 | 12.66 |
Australia bowling averages
| Player | Mat | Inns | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BW Hilfenhaus | 5 | 9 | 180.5 | 40 | 604 | 22 | 4/60 | 5/80 | 27.45 |
| PM Siddle | 5 | 9 | 161.4 | 24 | 616 | 20 | 5/21 | 6/71 | 30.80 |
| NM Hauritz | 3 | 5 | 103.2 | 17 | 321 | 10 | 3/63 | 6/158 | 32.10 |
| MG Johnson | 5 | 9 | 162.1 | 15 | 651 | 20 | 5/69 | 6/99 | 32.55 |
| SR Clark | 2 | 4 | 47.0 | 12 | 176 | 4 | 3/18 | 3/92 | 44.00 |
| MJ North | 5 | 4 | 67.3 | 13 | 204 | 4 | 4/98 | 4/131 | 51.00 |
| MJ Clarke | 5 | 5 | 19.0 | 1 | 75 | 1 | 1/12 | 1/27 | 75.00 |
| SM Katich | 5 | 3 | 10.0 | 2 | 27 | 0 | - | - | - |
| SR Watson | 3 | 2 | 8.0 | 0 | 49 | 0 | - | - | - |
