A pocketful of Ashes trivia

Today is the eve of England's defence of - or Australia's attempt to recapture - the Ashes depending on which side of the fence you're sitting on.

The List felt that it was a fitting time to plunge into 124 years of history and pull out some trivia ahead of the biggest-billed series in recent decades.

The epic 2005 series, which features prominently in most of our tables, is fondly remembered as Flintoff's Ashes. His matchwinning effort at Edgbaston - 141 runs and seven wickets - is ranked third in our list of allround performances. We've calculated the index by taking each wicket to be worth 25 runs and added that product to the runs scored by the player.

Allround performances (a wicket is worth 25 runs) (qualification: 100 runs and 5 wickets in the match)

Player	Runs	Wkts	Total	Match	Ground	Season	Scorecard
G Giffen (Aus)	202	8	402	1st Test	Sydney	1894/95	42
IT Botham (Eng)	199	7	374	3rd Test	Leeds	1981	905
A Flintoff (Eng)	141	7	316	2nd Test	Birmingham	2005	1758
AE Trott (Aus)	110	8	310	3rd Test	Adelaide	1894/95	44
H Larwood (Eng)	107	8	307	1st Test	Brisbane	1928/29	176
GOB Allen (Eng)	103	8	303	1st Test	Brisbane	1936/37	255
JM Gregory (Aus)	100	8	300	2nd Test	Melbourne	1920/21	136
EE Hemmings (Eng)	124	6	274	5th Test	Sydney	1982/83	944
GH Hirst (Eng)	101	6	251	5th Test	The Oval	1902	74
RB Simpson (Aus)	125	5	250	3rd Test	Sydney	1962/63	537

George Giffen's feats at Sydney in 1894 contributed to an epic contest, the first instance of a team winning after being asked to follow-on. Giffen scored 161 in Australia's first innings score of 586 and then took 4 for 75 to help dismiss England for 325. He took four more during England's follow-on but they managed to set Australia a target of 177. Giffen scored 41 in the final innings - one of three batsmen to pass 20 - but Bobby Peel took six to bowl England to a famous victory by 10 runs, the fifth narrowest run-margin in Ashes history.

The narrowest victory was Edgbaston's two-run thriller in 2005 but enough has been said about that. Before Edgbaston happened, the smallest margin was three runs - at Manchester in 1902 and Melbourne in 1982. Bill Lockwood's 11 for 76 in England's three-run defeat at Manchester is the sixth best bowling performance in a lost Ashes Test.

Best match bowling when losing the match

Player	Figures	Match	Ground	Season	Scorecard
SF Barnes (Eng)	13/163	2nd Test	Melbourne	1901/02	66
T Richardson (Eng)	13/244	2nd Test	Manchester	1896	51
CTB Turner (Aus)	12/87	Only Test	Sydney	1887/88	27
H Trumble (Aus)	12/89	3rd Test	The Oval	1896	52
H Trumble (Aus)	12/173	5th Test	The Oval	1902	74
WH Lockwood (Eng)	11/76	4th Test	Manchester	1902	73
FR Spofforth (Aus)	11/117	3rd Test	Sydney	1882/83	12
DL Underwood (Eng)	11/215	5th Test	Adelaide	1974/75	754
MW Tate (Eng)	11/228	1st Test	Sydney	1924/25	158
RM Hogg (Aus)	10/122	2nd Test	Perth	1978/79	836

The 1902 Ashes also had another thriller apart from the Old Trafford Test. Australia had already won the series ahead of the final Test at The Oval. They looked good to make the scoreline 3-0 when they took a first-innings lead of 141. Lockwood took another five-for to keep Australia down to121 in the second innings but England's victory target was nevertheless a daunting 263. Defeat seemed inevitable when England slipped to 48 for 5 but Gilbert 'The Croucher' Jessop blitzed 104 in 77 minutes. He fell when 76 runs were still needed but George Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes took England to victory with one wicket in hand.

Closest wins - by wickets

Winner	Margin	Match	Ground	Season	Scorecard
England	1	5th Test	The Oval	1902	74
England	1	2nd Test	Melbourne	1907/08	97
England	2	2nd Test	The Oval	1890	34
Australia	2	1st Test	Sydney	1907/08	96
Australia	3	2nd Test	Manchester	1896	51
England	3	3rd Test	Melbourne	1928/29	178
England	3	4th Test	Nottingham	2005	1762
England	4	1st Test	Manchester	1886	22
Australia	4	3rd Test	Adelaide	1901/02	67
Australia	4	1st Test	Nottingham	1981	903
Australia	4	2nd Test	Lord's	1985	1018

There are those who've been unfortunate enough to never play a part in an Ashes Test win. Robin Smith leads that table having won none of his 15 Tests and losing 11 though he scored 1074 runs at an average of 39.77. In his last Ashes in 1993, Smith struggled against the spinners to whom he fell seven times out of ten with Shane Warne accounting for four of those. He was dropped for the final Test and England promptly won the dead match to lose the series 1-4. Perhaps the biggest surprise in the table is Michael Kasprowicz. He played six Ashes Tests during the height of Australia's dominance and lost four while two were drawn.

Never winning an Ashes Test

Player	Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Draw	Runs	Ave	Wkts	Ave
RA Smith (Eng)	1989-1993	15	0	11	4	1074	39.77	0	-
NWD Yardley (Eng)	1946-1948	10	0	7	3	402	23.64	19	30.31
CH Parkin (Eng)	1920-1921	9	0	7	2	152	11.69	32	34.06
RC Russell (Eng)	1989-1991	9	0	6	3	391	32.58	0	-
RJ Bright (Aus)	1977-1981	8	0	5	3	169	13.00	17	31.58
W Watson (Eng)	1953-1959	7	0	3	4	272	20.92	0	-
C White (Eng)	2001-2002	7	0	7	0	192	16.00	15	48.06
CAG Russell (Eng)	1920-1921	6	0	4	2	474	52.66	0	-
MS Kasprowicz (Aus)	1997-2005	6	0	4	2	65	7.22	20	33.50
WE Midwinter (Aus)	1884-1887	5	0	3	2	91	11.37	2	53.00

Trivia

• Syd Gregory's 201 at Sydney is the highest score in a lost Ashes Test. Incidentally, it was the same Test that England won despite Giffen's allround magic.