McGrath, Lillee, Warne, and other Ashes bowling stars

"Australia can only win the Ashes if they recall Shane Warne." Thus said Abdul Qadir, the former Pakistan legspinner, when asked about Australia's chances of fighting back in the series after losing at Lord's. That might be a touch too dramatic, but the fact is Australia's bowling attack wears a far more friendly look that it did in days gone by, when Warne's spin offered a cutting edge to an attack which also had excellent fast-bowling options.

Warne was especially effective in England - the country and the opposition brought out the best in him. In 22 Tests there, he took 129 wickets - that's almost six per Test - at an average of 21.94, which is well below his career average of 25.41. Pace, however, has always been the cornerstone of Australian bowling line-ups in England, with Warne the only Australian spinner who has made a significant mark in England in the last 40 years.

The table below illustrates the dominance of pace for Australian bowling attacks in England: fast bowlers have taken 723 English wickets in the last 12 series in England (including the first two Tests of the ongoing series), at an average of 28.39, with 43 five-wicket hauls; spinners have taken 232, though the average is only marginally higher than that of the fast bowlers.

Warne has taken almost 56% of spin wickets taken by Australia in England during this period. Only two other spinners have more than 20 wickets there: Ashley Mallett had 21 from seven Tests over three series at an average of 35.28, while Tim May's 21 came at a much better rate during a dominant series in 1993 - he averaged 28.19, with one five-for and two four-wicket hauls. Nathan Hauritz hasn't done badly at all in the 2009 series so far, with nine wickets in two Tests at an average of 29.33, and has a good chance of getting to 20 if he plays all five Tests.

On the other hand, Australia's fast-bowling cup overflows, with five bowlers taking 50 or more wickets in England during this period. Dennis Lillee leads the way with 96 wickets at 20.56, but the two in the list have done even better in terms of averages: Glenn McGrath has conceded 19.34 runs for each of his 87 wickets, while Terry Alderman, who has a terrific haul of 83 in 12 games, averages 19.33.

Most of the other bowlers have had to work harder for their successes in England. Geoff Lawson, Merv Hughes, Jeff Thomson and Jason Gillespie all conceded around 30 runs per wicket. The stats would have been much better for the last two had it not been for miserable farewells in England. Thomson took 39 wickets in his first two series there, but then finished with three wickets at 91.67 on the 1985 tour. Similarly, Gillespie had 35 wickets in his first two series, but managed only three at 100 each on his last tour, in 2005, which spoilt his overall figures considerably. The worst average among the lot is easily Brett Lee's, whose 29 wickets from ten Tests has come at a cost of more than 45 runs each.

And here's how the numbers look for England bowlers in home contests against Australia during this period - pace has been a bigger weapon for them too, with fast bowlers taking 609 wickets, to 177 for the spinners. There have been several fast-bowling stars for them: Ian Botham leads the wicket-takers' list with 79, at 26.96, while Bob Willis took his 56 wickets at a much better average, of 21.42. Among the spinners, John Emburey (43 wickets at 36.60), Derek Underwood (35 at 25.55) and Phil Edmonds (21 at 36.80) were the leading wicket-takers.