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Butcher and Hussain's record
Wisden CricInfo staff - August 16, 2001

The partnership of 179 between Mark Butcher and Nasser Hussain is a new record for England's third wicket against Australia at Headingley. The previous record of 155 was set in 1948, in the famous match which Australia went on to win after England's third-innings declaration. The two England batsmen involved in 1948 were Bill Edrich, who made 111, and Alec Bedser, who hit 79 (his highest Test score) after going in as nightwatchman. The Australian record – the best for the third wicket for any country at Headingley – is 229 by Don Bradman and Alan Kippax in 1930. Dial 1 for success
England do well at Headingley when the year ends with 1. They've just won in 2001; in 1991 they beat West Indies, courtesy of Graham Gooch's magnificent 154 not out; in 1981 they beat Australia, thanks to You-Know-Who; in 1971 Ray Illingworth's team beat Pakistan by 25 runs; and in 1961 Australia were downed again, by eight wickets (Fred Trueman took 5 for 58 and 6 for 30). The sequence comes to a watery end in 1951, with a rain-affected draw against South Africa. Atherton's unwanted record
Mike Atherton's second-innings dismissal by Glenn McGrath means he has now fallen to him on 18 occasions – equalling the Test record. Arthur Morris, the left-handed Aussie opener who made Don Bradman's dream team, fell to Alec Bedser (another of The Don's selections) 18 times between 1946-47 and 1953.

Atherton's miserable average against McGrath dips slightly as a result. It's only 13.17, in 32 innings in which he faced McGrath – quite a contrast to his overall average of 37.96.

Both Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh also dismissed Atherton 17 times in Tests – but at least they won't be doing it again. McGrath will be waiting for Athers at The Oval ...

Butcher's third ton
Mark Butcher's hundred was his third in Tests, his second against Australia (after 116 at Brisbane in 1998-99) and his second at Headingley (after 116 against South Africa in 1998). Not a bad effort for someone selected almost as an afterthought.

Mullally's best friend behind the stumps
Alan Mullally has been getting it in the neck from some quarters – too slow to trouble good batsmen, they said. Not steady enough, they said. On the fourth day the commentators even teased him about his hairstyle, as static electricity turned him into a mad scientist. But when Mullally dismissed Matthew Hayden, he upped his percentages in one area. Mullally has now taken 58 Test wickets, and 20 of them have been caught behind. That's 36.21%, which has been bettered in Test cricket only twice by bowlers who have taken more than 50 wickets. Top of the pile is another current player, West Indies' Merv Dillon, with 38.60% (22 of his 57 wickets). And Mudassar Nazar, Pakistan's friendly-looking part-time seamer of the 1980s, lies second with 36.36% (24 of his 66 wickets). Mullally has just shaded past Sri Lanka's Ashantha de Mel (35.59%) to go into the bronze-medal position.

McGrath joins the Leeds sevens
Not only did Jason Gillespie fail to take a wicket in England's first innings, he had to watch his opening partner Glenn McGrath pick up seven at the other end. Mixed feelings for Gillespie - because he was the last Australian before McGrath to take seven wickets in a Test innings on this ground.

Only three Australians have achieved this at Headingley. Apart from McGrath's 7 for 76 and Gillespie's 7 for 37 in 1997, the other Australian to take seven in a Test innings at the ground was Charlie Macartney, who was better known as a brilliant stroke-making batsman. Macartney's slow left-arm spin took 7 for 58 to help win the Headingley Test of 1909.

McGrath is now the only bowler from either side to take seven wickets in an innings three times in Ashes Tests in England. In 1997 he took 8 for 38 at Lord's (his best against any country) and 7 for 76 at The Oval (identical to his figures here at Headingley).

England pass 300 shock
This is the first time England have reached 300 in the series - and the first time they have done so in their last nine innings against Australia at home. The last time they scored 300 against the old enemy was at Trent Bridge in 1997, the fifth Test of six in that series. Even then, England's first innings of 313 couldn't save them from defeat.

Meanwhile, in their four completed innings of this 2001 series so far, Australia have scored 576, 401, 190 and now 447 at Headingley.

England can take a crumb of comfort from having made the Aussies bat twice in Headingley Test for the first time since 1989. In the last two Tests here (1993 and 1997), Australia were able to declare at 653 for 4 and 501 for 9 and win each match by an innings.

Stewart's long-service record
Alec Stewart's first innings at Headingley is his 205th in Test cricket, taking him clear of David Gower into sixth place on the all-time list.

Inns

Test

Allan Border

Aus

265

156

Steve Waugh

Aus

219

138

Graham Gooch

Eng

215

118

Sunil Gavaskar

Ind

214

125

Mike Atherton

Eng

209

114

Alec Stewart

Eng

205

114

David Gower

Eng

204

117

Desmond Haynes

WI

202

116

Geoff Boycott

Eng

193

108

David Boon

Aus

190

107

Mark Waugh

Aus

190

115


The totals for Atherton, Stewart and Mark Waugh include the first innings of the Headingley Test.

McGrath five-for hat-trick
Glenn McGrath's five-wicket haul is his third of the series, all in consecutive Tests. He took 5 for 54 at Lord's and 5 for 49 at Trent Bridge. This is the fifth time McGrath has taken five wickets in a Test innings over here. His first was the 8 for 38 at Lord's in 1997 which remains his best analysis in any Test.

Among Australian bowlers in England, McGrath's five five-wicket performances in England put him level with Charlie Turner (1888-93) and Ray Lindwall (1948-53) behind the six of Dennis Lillee (1972-81), the seven of Clarrie Grimmett (1926-34) and the nine of Terry Alderman (1981-89). Shane Warne has taken four five-wicket hauls in Tests over here, including two in this series. Against all countries, this is the 21st time McGrath's has taken five wickets in a Test innings, bringing him level with Clarrie Grimmett among Australian bowlers, behind the 23 of Dennis Lillee. Shane Warne is in fourth place with 18.

McGrath is still outside the top ten of bowlers from all countries, a list headed by Richard Hadlee (36) and Ian Botham (27).

McGrath's bunny
Mike Atherton maintains his average against Glenn McGrath. Not much of a headline - until you realise that the average is under 13, and this summer it has hardly changed from one Test to another (he scored 14 off McGrath in the first innings at Headingley).

Oh well, if your opening batsman doesn't take too many runs off a world-class opening bowler, you hope he'll stay in for a while and see him off. Unfortunately Atherton hasn't been too successful at that either. In his Test career so far, he has survived only long enough to face an average of 32.6 balls per innings from McGrath. Again, this figure has barely altered throughout the series: he faced 30 from him in his first knock at Headingley.

The tall Aussie has now dismissed him 17 times in Tests, just short of the record held by England's Alec Bedser, who removed Australian opener Arthur Morris ("Bedser's Bunny") 18 times from 1946-47 (the first time they faced each other) to 1953.

Both Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh also dismissed Atherton 17 times in Tests - but at least they won't be doing it again. McGrath is waiting in the second innings.

Ton up duos
Damien Martyn's hundred means that at least two Australia batsmen have scored centuries in each of the last four Ashes Tests at Headingley. Ricky Ponting made 144 earlier in this innings. In 1989, Mark Taylor scored 136 and Steve Waugh 177 not out. In 1997, Matthew Elliott hit 199 and Ricky Ponting 127. And in 1993 three Australian scored hundreds at Headingley: David Boon 107, Allan Border 200 not out and Steve Waugh 157 not out. Waugh is the only batsman from either country to hit two unbeaten Test centuries in Ashes Tests at Headingley. Not surprisingly, Australia have won all of their last three Tests at the ground.

Another five at home for Gough
The last Australian wicket to fall was Darren Gough's fifth of the innings. Gough also took 5 for 149 against Australia on his home ground in 1997. He is the only England bowler to take five in an innings of an Ashes Test at Headingley since Ian Botham and Bob Willis in the famous 1981 match. Before Gough, Botham was the last England bowler to take five wickets in an innings of two Ashes Tests at Headingley. He had figures of 5 for 21 in 1977. The only bowler from either side to take three five-fors in Ashes Tests at Headingley was Terry Alderman, who took 6 for 135 in 1981, then 5 for 107 and 5 for 44 in 1989.

Australia hoping for another Dizzy spell
Australia will be expecting big things of Jason Gillespie here. He took 7 for 37 at Headingley in 1997, the best figures of his Test career so far and the best by any Australian bowler in a Test at the ground. The only other Australian to take seven wickets in a Test innings here was Charlie Macartney, who was better known as a dazzling batsman. He took 7 for 58 at Headingley in 1909. Only one bowler from either side has taken eight wickets in an innings of an Ashes Test at Headingley. Bob Willis's 8 for 43, which won the 1981 match, is at No. 7 in the Wisden 100.

Waugh passes 2000 against England
When he scored 12, Mark Waugh reached 2000 runs in Tests against England. He is the 25th batsman - the 15th from Australia - to reach that landmark in Ashes Tests. His twin brother Steve has scored 2738 against England. Don Bradman inevitably tops the list with 5028. Jack Hobbs, in second place, is the highest-placed Englishman with 3636.

Two Tests, four captains
Mike Atherton and Steve Waugh were the captains in the third Test at Trent Bridge, but Nasser Hussain and Adam Gilchrist are in charge at Headingley. This is the first time since 1968 that two different pairs of captains have tossed up in consecutive Tests in the same series. In that 1968 Ashes clash, the captains in the third Test at Edgbaston, Colin Cowdrey and Bill Lawry, were both injured and were replaced by Tom Graveney and Barry Jarman for the fourth Test at Headingley. Graveney and Jarman were both making their only appearances as Test captains. Cowdrey and Lawry returned for the fifth Test at The Oval.

Ponting's happy hunting ground
Ricky Ponting made 127 at Headingley in 1997. He is the fourth Australian to make two Test centuries at Headingley, after Steve Waugh in 1989 and 1993, Neil Harvey in 1948 and 1953, Charlie Macartney in 1921 (the first Test hundred by an Australian on the ground) and 1926 - and a certain DG Bradman, who made tons of runs at Headingley: 334 in 1930, 304 in 1934, and mere single hundreds in 1938 and 1948.

Stewart goes fifth
When he caught Shane Warne, Alec Stewart moved clear of Wasim Bari (228 dismissals) to take sole possession of fifth place on the alltime Test list. The catch off Damien Martyn that ended Australia's innings was Stewart's 230th Test dismissal (including 36 catches when not keeping wicket). The only wicketkeepers ahead of him are Alan Knott (269), Jeff Dujon (272), Rod Marsh (355) and Ian Healy (395).

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd