VVS Laxman made a slow start to Test cricket, but once he found his groove, his stats compared favourably with the best in the world

A look at the rise of a South African batsman, and the fall of many batting legends at Lord's

Kevin Pietersen's absence will be a huge blow, but the rest of England's current batsmen also have superb records at Lord's

Andrew Strauss' contributions for England go beyond the stats that he has achieved as an opening batsman

Kevin Pietersen took 64 runs off 72 balls from Dale Steyn, which is the most dominant performance against him in a Test innings

In the run-up to the Under-19 World Cup 2012, here's a look at some of the key numbers from previous tournaments

Batting second under lights in Sri Lanka - specifically at the Premadasa Stadium - has become a lot easier recently

After 28 consecutive wins in home ODIs when they've scored at least 250 batting first, Sri Lanka's amazing run was ended in a nailbiter at the Premadasa

Hashim Amla's Oval heroics have taken his Test average beyond 50 for the first time - a club he thoroughly deserves to be in

For only the fifth time in Test history, a team won a match losing only two wickets

New Zealand have been a tough outfit in the past, but their recent stats in both Tests and ODIs are alarmingly dismal

Graeme Smith has handled the responsibilities of opening the batting and leading the team remarkably well over the last ten years

His Test average in England is 29.30, which is 27.48 lower than his career average. Can he make amends this time?

Mark Boucher fell short of a few significant landmarks, but even more important were the ones he achieved

The SSC has consistently produced pitches that are loaded in favour of batting. Shouldn't this be questioned, just as Galle was last year?

A look at how no other Pakistan batsman has managed 1000 fourth-innings runs in Tests

Once thought to be too slow for the format, Alastair Cook has transformed himself into one of the best ODI openers going around today

Pakistan have won more ODIs than they've lost over the last couple of years, and much of it is due to their bowlers, especially the spinners

A look at how the Duckworth-Lewis and VJD methods work in different situations

After Jayasuriya and Atapattu they've struggled for a solid opening combination, and have among the worst first-wicket stats in the last six years