Ashes heroes

The sequel of the 'greatest series ever' kicks off in nine days at Brisbane and the stars of the show will face intense scrutiny. While some succumb under the pressure of the Ashes, others thrive on it. This week the List focuses on players who have the largest differences between their Ashes averages and career averages.

Mark Ramprakash had enormous potential but it remained just that on the international stage while he continued to plunder runs on the county circuit. However, against Australia, Ramprakash averaged 42.40 with six fifties and one century. He played just one test in each of his first three Ashes series and scored two fifties and a 42. But his performances against other opposition were dire - an average of 22.14, six half-centuries and a hundred in 68 innings. None of his 12 ducks came against Australia against whom he had only two single digit scores in 24 innings.

Biggest difference between career batting average and average in Ashes Tests (qualification: 10 Ashes innings)

Player	Span		Mat	Runs	Ave	100		Ashes	Runs	Ave	100		Diff
E Paynter (Eng)	1933-1938		20	1540	59.23	4		7	591	84.42	1		25.198
MTG Elliott (Aust)	1997-1997		21	1172	33.48	3		6	556	55.60	2		22.109
MR Ramprakash (Eng)	1993-2001		52	2350	27.32	2		12	933	42.40	1		15.079
GS Blewett (Aust)	1995-1997		46	2552	34.02	4		8	630	48.46	3		14.431
RT Robinson (Eng)	1985-1989		29	1601	36.38	4		7	502	50.20	2		13.810
KR Stackpole (Aust)	1966-1972		43	2807	37.42	7		13	1164	50.60	3		13.178
GRJ Matthews (Aust)	1985-1991		33	1849	41.08	4		10	589	53.54	1		12.455
BC Broad (Eng)	1986-1989		25	1661	39.54	6		7	569	51.72	3		12.177
GR Dilley (Eng)	1981-1989		41	521	13.35	0		9	198	24.75	0		11.390
M Leyland (Eng)	1929-1938		41	2764	46.06	9		20	1705	56.83	7		10.763

Andrew Flintoff played 47 Tests - an English record - before playing his first Ashes Test in 2005. He would have played on the 2002-03 tour of Australia had he not pulled out because of a hernia. The 2005 series brought out the best in Flintoff, 402 runs at 40.20 and 24 wickets at 27.29 apiece.

Ian Bell had a torrid time in the 2005 edition. He managed only 171 runs in ten innings and was dismissed for a pair in the fifth Test at The Oval. Australia apart, Bell has been prolific - five centuries and five fifties at 65.64 in 22 innings - against other opposition. A challenging tour of Australia is the ideal platform for Bell to right his record but he made a poor start with a duck against New South Wales.

Biggest difference between career batting average and average in Ashes Tests (qualification: 10 Ashes innings)

Player	Span		Mat	Runs	Ave	100		Ashes	Runs	Ave	100		Diff
DL Amiss (Eng)	1968-1977		50	3612	46.30	11		10	237	13.16	0		-33.143
IR Bell (Eng)	2005-2005		18	1287	47.66	5		5	171	17.10	0		-30.570
PH Parfitt (Eng)	1962-1972		37	1882	40.91	7		9	302	21.57	0		-19.338
MG Bevan (Aust)	1994-1997		18	785	29.07	0		6	124	11.27	0		-17.797
RT Ponting (Aust)	1997-2005		105	8792	58.22	31		21	1402	41.23	5		-16.994
G Pullar (Eng)	1961-1963		28	1974	43.86	4		9	457	26.88	0		-16.987
DR Jardine (Eng)	1928-1933		22	1296	48.00	1		10	540	31.76	0		-16.235
PM Toohey (Aust)	1978-1979		15	893	31.89	1		5	149	16.55	0		-15.334
LEG Ames (Eng)	1932-1938		47	2434	40.56	8		17	675	27.00	1		-13.570
KD Walters (Aust)	1965-1977		74	5357	48.26	15		35	1911	35.38	4		-12.871

It may be rather tongue-in-cheek to say that Ricky Ponting hasn't performed in the Ashes for he averages 41.23 against England. But he certainly hasn't done as well against them compared to his record against other countries. Ponting has an overall average of 58.22 and if you exclude matches against England, that rises to a whopping 63.16. His average drops further to 38.66 with one century and two fifties in Tests against England in Australia.

Terry Alderman had a field day when playing England and he took 11 of his 14 five-fors coming in the Ashes. The split between his performances in England and Australia was starker - Alderman had ten five-wicket hauls and an average of 19.33 in just 12 Tests in England while in Australia he took wickets at 30.11 apiece.

Biggest difference between career bowling average and average in Ashes Tests (qualification: 1250 Ashes balls)

Player	Span		Mat	Wkts	Ave	5		Ashes	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
RM Hogg (Aust)	1978-1983		38	123	28.47	6		11	56	17.00	5		-11.480
G Miller (Eng)	1977-1983		34	60	30.98	1		13	39	20.25	1		-10.723
RJ Bright (Aust)	1977-1981		25	53	41.13	4		8	17	31.58	1		-9.541
JE Emburey (Eng)	1978-1993		64	147	38.40	6		23	76	31.63	3		-6.778
JD Higgs (Aust)	1978-1979		22	66	31.16	2		5	19	24.63	1		-6.538
TM Alderman (Aust)	1981-1991		41	170	27.15	14		17	100	21.17	11		-5.979
RG Archer (Aust)	1953-1956		19	48	27.45	1		12	35	21.74	1		-5.717
AG Hurst (Aust)	1978-1979		12	43	27.90	2		6	25	23.07	1		-4.830
JN Crawford (Eng)	1907-1908		12	39	29.48	3		5	30	24.73	3		-4.756
BA Reid (Aust)	1986-1991		27	113	24.63	5		9	47	20.40	2		-4.235

Brett Lee had a poor beginning to the Ashes taking nine wickets in five Tests at an average of 55.11 and a strike-rate of 80.5. His stats in the 2005 series, his third, weren't that impressive either - 20 wickets in five Tests, an economy of 4.29 and an average of 41.10 but his impact on the series was more than the stats reveal.

Biggest difference between career bowling average and average in Ashes Tests (qualification: 1250 Ashes balls, min 90 per Test)

Player	Span		Mat	Wkts	Ave	5		Ashes	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
GRJ Matthews (Aust)	1985-1991		33	61	48.22	2		10	9	82.00	0		33.770
KJ O'Keeffe (Aust)	1971-1977		24	53	38.07	1		5	9	62.77	0		24.697
H Ironmonger (Aust)	1928-1933		14	74	17.97	4		6	21	33.85	0		15.887
JW Hearne (Eng)	1911-1926		24	30	48.73	1		13	16	62.18	0		13.457
NA Foster (Eng)	1985-1993		29	88	32.85	5		5	13	46.00	0		13.149
B Lee (Aust)	2001-2005		54	211	31.45	7		13	42	44.14	0		12.692
AF Giles (Eng)	2001-2005		52	140	39.60	5		7	17	51.58	0		11.988
FE Woolley (Eng)	1909-1934		64	83	33.91	4		29	33	45.45	0		11.534
PAJ DeFreitas (Eng)	1986-1995		44	140	33.57	4		13	37	44.97	0		11.402
GAR Lock (Eng)	1953-1961		49	174	25.58	9		13	31	36.38	1		10.807