At home in England

In the last two Ashes series in England, the Australian batsmen have had problems adjusting to conditions, with the swinging ball causing plenty of bother. In Australia, the pitches and the overhead conditions aren't as conducive to swing, which forces bowlers to rely on bounce and seam movement for their wickets.

Over the years, Australian batsmen have adapted to the English conditions with varying degrees of success. Some, like Allan Border, Steve Waugh, David Boon and Mark Taylor, have had outstanding performances in England; for others, like Matthew Hayden, Michael Slater and Damien Martyn, the transition hasn't been quite as smooth. The tables below analyse the stats of Australian batsmen, batting-position wise, and look at the stars and the laggards in England.

The overall numbers aren't too different for the period since 1970. Australia have played 58 Tests against England home and away, and the stats are pretty similar - the average for the openers are almost the same, while the number of hundreds scored is exactly same. The numbers are pretty similar for the No.3 and 4 batsmen too. The only position where the difference in average is more than five runs is for the No.7 slot, thanks largely to Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist, both of whom had significantly better numbers in Australia than in England.

Within the batting slots themselves, the numbers for each batsman vary quite a bit. Taylor, for instance, was prolific in the 18 Tests he played in England, scoring five hundreds and averaging almost 53. At home against England, though, he struggled, averaging 31.44 and scoring one century in 15 matches. Justin Langer coped with England quite well too, averaging more than 55 in his six Tests there.

For his opening partner of several years, though, conditions in England proved harder to decipher: in ten Tests Hayden averaged less than 35; in contrast he was outstanding in home Tests against England, averaging more than 56 and notching up four hundreds. The numbers are similar for Slater, who had excellent stats at home - 1083 runs in ten matches - but ordinary ones in England - 586 runs in as many games.

Among the No.3 batsmen, the difference in averages for Boon and Ricky Ponting stand out. In 13 Tests in England, Boon had eight 50-plus scores; in ten games in Australia, he only had four such scores.

For Ponting, the results are in reverse - outstanding stats at home but not quite as impressive in England, though the average of 42.27 is still a respectable one.

The contrast is similar for some of the batsmen in the No.4 position - Border was exceptional in England, with nine fifty-plus scores in 17 innings, but not as prolific at home, with four such scores in 15 innings. For Greg Chappell and Kim Hughes, the reverse was true - both of them shone in Australia but didn't always impress in England.

Border's expertise at handling conditions in England was consistent across the positions in which he batted: he came in at No.5 15 times, and scored three centuries and two fifties in those innings, averaging almost 80. In seven innings when he batted at the same position at home, his average fell to a mere 32.71. Michael Clarke's outstanding performances in Ashes 2009 have lifted his average in England to more than 58.