Australia's best batting pairs in Ashes

The performances of Michael Clarke and Marcus North have been one of the major pluses for Australia in their Ashes campaign so far. Batting at Nos. 5 and 6, they've been huge stumbling blocks for England's bowlers. Not only have they been the only ones to score more than one century in the series, they're also the only pair to put together more than one century partnership over the first four Tests. In six innings, they've managed partnerships of 143, 0, 8, 30, 185 and 152 - three century partnerships, and 518 runs at an average of 86.33. In fact they're just 21 runs away from Australia's record for the most runs by a fifth-wicket pair in Tests against England.

The pair is just two hundred-run stands away from equalling Australia's record for most century partnerships against England. Three pairs currently hold that record - David Boon and Mark Waugh, the Waugh brothers, and Michael Slater and Mark Taylor, who all have five hundred stands.

The most prolific Australian batting pair against England (with a cut-off of 750 partnership runs), though, is Don Bradman and Bill Ponsford. In a mere six innings, they amassed 1012 runs, with two partnerships exceeding 380 runs. Bradman features in second place too, with Sid Barnes - in seven innings they added 756, at an average of 108. Bradman features twice more among the top ten, with Stan McCabe and with Bill Woodfull.

Among the more current players, Allan Border and Dean Jones shared some excellent stands against England, averaging more than 80 in 14 innings, with eight partnerships of more than 50. Mark Taylor enjoyed a couple of profitable associations for the opening wicket, with Michael Slater and Geoff Marsh.

The table changes only slightly when the focus shifts to best Australian pairs in England: Bradman and Ponsford still lead the pack, with Boon and Mark Waugh third. Bradman has a new partner in this list though - with Alan Kippax, he made a formidable combination for the third wicket during the 1930 tour, putting together partnerships of 59, 192, 229 and 73 in four innings, for an average of 138.25. Ian Chappell was prolific with Keith Stackpole in all Tests against England; but in England, he had a partnership average of 111.20 with Ric McCosker, and three century stands in five innings. Clarke and North make it to the top ten too - their average of 86.33 puts them in eighth place, among those who scored at least 500 partnership runs.

Over the last 40 years, the stats for Australian openers against England is mixed. Taylor's combinations with Marsh and Slater were extremely successful, but his partnerships with Matthew Elliott in 1997 weren't as prolific, thanks largely to Taylor's own poor form during that series. Some of the others struggled much more - in ten innings that Graeme Wood batted with John Dyson, they managed 186 runs at an average of 18.60. With Andrew Hilditch, Wood was only slightly more successful, averaging 25.33.

Among the non-opening pairs, the numbers are much better. Greg Chappell and Kim Hughes played together in only five innings, but put together century stands in four of those. The Waugh brothers excelled too, with 1249 runs in 22 innings, the most by any non-opening pair for Australia against England.