Tales of the tail

There were a few oddities in England's 354-run rout of Pakistan at Trent Bridge.

The top scorers in each of the four innings were Eoin Morgan, Umar Gul, Matt Prior and Danish Kaneria. Morgan scored 130 from No. 6 in the first innings, Umar Gul biffed 65 from No. 9 in the second, Prior revived England with an unbeaten 102 at No. 7 in the third, and Danish Kaneria, Pakistan's No. 10, top-scored (if you could call it that) with 16 not out in the fourth. Spot the oddity yet? All four top scorers in the Test were batsmen at No. 6 or lower in the order. It was only the third such occurrence in 1967 Tests.

By coincidence, the two other Tests in which batsmen in positions 6 to 11 top-scored in all four innings were also in the 21st century, and both matches involved Bangladesh. It's mildly surprising that none of the Tests from the 19th and early 20th centuries, with their sticky wickets and reversed batting orders, had top-scorers at No. 6 or lower.

The first such Test was at the Harare Sports Club in 2004, before Zimbabwe suspended themselves from the Test circuit. The hosts made 441 in the first innings, with Sean Ervine scoring 86 from No. 6, after which Mohammad Ashraful scored 98 at the same position in Bangladesh's first innings. Ervine top-scored again in Zimbabwe's second innings, while Khaled Mashud made 61 at No. 8 in the final innings. In January 2005, Tillakaratne Dilshan scored brisk hundreds at No. 6 in each innings of the Chittagong Test, while Mashrafe Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan made high scores in Bangladesh's innings from Nos. 9 and 7.

Top-scoring from positions 6-11 in all four innings in a Test

Player	Team	Team	Start Date	Scorecard
SM Ervine (6) 86, Mohammad Ashraful (6) 98, SM Ervine (6) 74, Khaled Mashud (8) 61	Zim	Ban	Feb 19, 2004	Test 1683
TM Dilshan (6) 162, Mashrafe Mortaza (9) 63, TM Dilshan (6) 143, Shakib Al Hasan (7) 46	Ban	SL	Jan 3, 2009	Test 1905
EJG Morgan (6) 130, Umar Gul (9) 65*, MJ Prior (7) 102*, Danish Kaneria (10) 16*	Eng	Pak	Jul 29, 2010	Test 1967

The Nottingham Test was also only the seventh time a team's top scorers in both innings were at No. 8 or lower in the batting line-up: Gul and Kaneria at No. 8 and 10 for Pakistan.

The only time a team won a Test despite their top scorers in either innings being at No. 8 or lower was also the first time batsmen between Nos. 8 and 11 top-scored for a team. England were floundering against Australia at 29 for 8 at the SCG when George Lohmann made 17 at No. 9, before they were shot out for 45 in the first innings. After wiping out a deficit of 74 in their second innings, England collapsed to 103 for 7 before their No. 8, Johnny Briggs, made 33 to help them to 184. Australia then collapsed for 97 in their pursuit of 111.

Top-scoring from positions 8-11 in both innings for a team in a Test

Player	Team	Opposition	Ground	Start Date	Scorecard
GA Lohmann (9) 17, J Briggs (8) 33	England	v Australia	Sydney	Jan 28, 1887	Test 25
TW Garrett (9) 10, JM Blackham (8) 25*	Australia	v England	Sydney	Feb 10, 1888	Test 27
JM Gregory (8) 73, WAS Oldfield (9) 23	Australia	v England	The Oval	Aug 14, 1926	Test 167
HJ Tayfield (9) 66, CGD Burger (8) 37*	South Africa	v Australia	Port Elizabeth	Feb 28, 1958	Test 451
GJ Whittall (8) 85, GJ Whittall (8) 51	Zimbabwe	v South Africa	Bloemfontein	Oct 29, 1999	Test 1466
DL Vettori (8) 118, BB McCullum (8) 84	New Zealand	v India	Hamilton	Mar 18, 2009	Test 1915
Umar Gul (9) 65*, Danish Kaneria (10) 16*	Pakistan	v England	Nottingham	Jul 29, 2010	Test 1967

Prior's century at Trent Bridge, in proportion to the next highest score in the innings, was among the largest for a batsman at No. 7 or lower in the order. Prior made 102, which was 3.64 times Graeme Swann's score of 28, the second highest in England's second innings.

The largest ratio between a lower-order batsman's score and the next best score in an innings is 7.58: Kapil Dev made 129 against South Africa in Port Elizabeth in 1992 and India's Nos. 8, 9 and 10 scored 17 each, the second-highest score in the second innings.

Top-scoring from positions 7-11, ordered by largest ratio

Top-scorer	Pos	Runs	Next best	Pos	Runs	Team	Opposition	Start Date	Scorecard		Ratio
N Kapil Dev	7	129	M Prabhakar	8	17	India	v South Africa	Dec 26, 1992	Test 1206		7.58
HGO Owen-Smith	7	129	NA Quinn	9	28	South Africa	v England	Jul 13, 1929	Test 183		4.60
Sarfraz Nawaz	8	26	Mansoor Akhtar	3	6	Pakistan	v Australia	Nov 13, 1981	Test 909		4.33
Moin Khan	7	117*	Basit Ali	5	27	Pakistan	v Sri Lanka	Sep 22, 1995	Test 1306		4.33
L Hutton	8	62*	FR Brown	10	17	England	v Australia	Dec 1, 1950	Test 327		3.64
MJ Prior	7	102*	GP Swann	8	28	England	v Pakistan	Jul 29, 2010	Test 1967		3.64
A Flintoff	7	73	ME Trescothick	1	21	England	v Australia	Aug 4, 2005	Test 1758		3.47
Q McMillan	8	45*	IJ Siedle	1	13	South Africa	v England	Dec 24, 1930	Test 200		3.46
BR Taylor	7	76	BW Sinclair	3	22	New Zealand	v Pakistan	Mar 27, 1965	Test 585		3.45
Wasim Akram	8	257*	Saqlain Mushtaq	9	79	Pakistan	v Zimbabwe	Oct 17, 1996	Test 1336		3.25
GJ Whittall	8	85	ADR Campbell	4	27	Zimbabwe	v South Africa	Oct 29, 1999	Test 1466		3.14
R Benaud	8	97	KD Mackay	5	31	Australia	v England	Jun 21, 1956	Test 426		3.12
N Kapil Dev	8	78	K Srikkanth	2	25	India	v Sri Lanka	Sep 6, 1985	Test 1024		3.12
CL Cairns	8	80	CD McMillan	6	26	New Zealand	v England	Aug 19, 1999	Test 1458		3.07
Azhar Mahmood	7	132	Saeed Anwar	1	43	Pakistan	v South Africa	Feb 26, 1998	Test 1403		3.06
L Klusener	7	174	DJ Cullinan	4	58	South Africa	v England	Dec 9, 1999	Test 1475		3.00
BB McCullum	7	84*	JM How	2	28	New Zealand	v Australia	Nov 28, 2008	Test 1896		3.00
Azhar Mahmood	7	136	Moin Khan	6	46	Pakistan	v South Africa	Feb 14, 1998	Test 1400		2.95
WB Phillips	7	59	GM Ritchie	6	20	Australia	v England	Aug 15, 1985	Test 1021		2.95
A Symonds	7	79	BJ Hodge	6	27	Australia	v West Indies	May 22, 2008	Test 1875		2.92

The ratio between Prior's 102 and Swann's 28 is also among the highest for a wicketkeeper top-scoring in an innings, behind those of Adam Gilchrist and Moin Khan. In 2006, Gilchrist scored 144 in the first innings in Fatullah, a match Australia nearly lost to Bangladesh, 5.53 times the next highest score, which was Jason Gillespie's 26.

While most of the entries in the table below are substantial contributions from wicketkeepers, Ridley Jacobs makes an appearance with a score of 19. Chasing a target of 364 against Australia in Port-of-Spain in 1999, West Indies were routed for 51. Jacobs, batting at No. 6, made 19, while the next best score was Curtly Ambrose's 6.

Wicketkeeper top-scoring in an innings, ordered by largest ratio (qual: at least five wickets lost)

Top-scorer	Runs	Next best	Runs	Team	Opposition	Start Date	Scorecard		Ratio
AC Gilchrist	144	JN Gillespie	26	Australia	v Bangladesh	Apr 9, 2006	Test 1797		5.53
Moin Khan	117*	Basit Ali	27	Pakistan	v Sri Lanka	Sep 22, 1995	Test 1306		4.33
MJ Prior	102*	GP Swann	28	England	v Pakistan	Jul 29, 2010	Test 1967		3.64
DSBP Kuruppu	201*	RS Madugalle	60	Sri Lanka	v New Zealand	Apr 16, 1987	Test 1074		3.35
A Flower	61	MH Dekker	19	Zimbabwe	v Pakistan	Oct 24, 1996	Test 1337		3.21
KC Sangakkara	157*	TM Dilshan	49	Sri Lanka	v West Indies	Jul 22, 2005	Test 1757		3.20
RD Jacobs	19	CEL Ambrose	6	West Indies	v Australia	Mar 5, 1999	Test 1448		3.16
JHB Waite	60	TL Goddard	20	South Africa	v England	Aug 13, 1955	Test 412		3.00
BB McCullum	84*	JM How	28	New Zealand	v Australia	Nov 28, 2008	Test 1896		3.00
WB Phillips	59	GM Ritchie	20	Australia	v England	Aug 15, 1985	Test 1021		2.95
DT Lindsay	137	A Bacher	47	South Africa	v Australia	Jan 20, 1967	Test 615		2.91
LK Germon	48	SA Thomson	17	New Zealand	v India	Oct 18, 1995	Test 1308		2.82
H Wood	134*	W Chatterton	48	England	v South Africa	Mar 19, 1892	Test 37		2.79
DT Lindsay	131	TL Goddard	47	South Africa	v Australia	Feb 3, 1967	Test 616		2.78
A Flower	113*	TR Gripper	41	Zimbabwe	v West Indies	Mar 16, 2000	Test 1490		2.75
AC Parore	63	BA Young	23	New Zealand	v Australia	Nov 20, 1997	Test 1386		2.73
AC Parore	73	SP Fleming	27	New Zealand	v England	Jul 1, 1999	Test 1455		2.70
A Flower	183*	ADR Campbell	70	Zimbabwe	v India	Nov 18, 2000	Test 1515		2.61
KC Sangakkara	230	ST Jayasuriya	88	Sri Lanka	v Pakistan	Mar 6, 2002	Test 1592		2.61
APE Knott	81*	AW Greig	31	England	v India	Jan 28, 1977	Test 794		2.61