A bounty of runs

All stats updated till the end of the third day of the Sydney Test.

The 2013-14 Ashes series was a tough one for batsmen. Mitchell Johnson was on top of his game, and even though England's batsmen couldn't generally cope with him, Australia's batsmen didn't have a free run either, with Stuart Broad and Co striking often enough to necessitate lower-order recoveries. In the entire series, England didn't touch 400 even once, while Australia managed it twice. Only 30.20 runs were scored per wicket, and 11 centuries were made in five Tests.

A season later, and the tables have turned completely on the bowlers. Partly, the pitches in Australia this season have been far more docile; partly, the quality of bowlers hasn't been top notch. Together, it's added up to a potent concoction of batting records, as batsmen from both teams have piled on the runs. With two days to go for the series to end, the average runs per wicket so far has been 45.51, a 50% increase over last season's Ashes average. Compared to the batting averages in Australia between 2010 and before the start of this series, the increase is 37%.

Fifteen centuries have been scored in these four Tests so far, with the potential for more over the next couple of days, and both teams have passed 400 each time in their first innings (India are 342 for 5 in their first innings after day three): Australia's first innings totals have been 517 for 7 declared, 505, 530 and 572 for 7 declared; India have managed 444, 408, and 465 in the first three Tests. In their first innings, Australia have averaged 62.47 runs per wicket, which is their second-best ever, in series of four or more Tests. Their best was on India's previous tour there, in 2011-12, when they averaged 63.38 runs per wicket. Those are two of only three instances when Australia have averaged more than 60 in their first innings in a series of four or more Tests.

In that 2011-12 series, though, India batted so poorly that the overall runs per wicket for the series was only 33.48. This time, with Indian batsmen making runs too - they've contributed seven out of 15 hundreds in the series - the overall series average is the second-best ever for a series of four or more Tests in Australia. The only time batsmen were even more prolific was in a series that involved, yet again, India. In the 2003-04 four-Test series, the average runs per wicket was 48.29, the highest in a series of four or more Tests anywhere.

Four of Australia's bowlers - Nathan Lyon, Ryan Harris, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson - average between 32 and 36 in the series so far, but for India's bowlers this series has been a nightmare. The only bowler averaging less than 45 is Mohammad Shami, thanks to his five-wicket haul in Sydney. Umesh Yadav averages 46, Ishant Sharma 48, Karn Sharma and R Ashwin 60, and Varun Aaron 72. Some of it is also a function of poor catching, but this is among the poorest series for India's pace and spin bowlers. In series of four or more Tests since 1980, this one ranks among the five poorest for India's fast bowlers and spinners. The only other series that is in the top five in both lists is the tour to Pakistan in 1982-83, when Javed Miandad, Mudassar Nazar and Zaheer Abbas pummeled India's bowling to all parts.

India's pace attack has leaked runs at an unprecendented rate, going at 4.19 runs per over. In all series of four or more Tests that India have ever played - there are 54 of them - this is the first time their pace attack has gone at more than four runs per over.

While the bowlers have struggled, the captains from both teams have collectively had unprecedented success. Four captains have played in the series, and despite MS Dhoni's poor returns - 68 runs in four innings - the overall average for captains in the series is 90.25 so far, the highest ever in a series of four or more Tests. Steven Smith and Virat Kohli have both made four centuries each in the series, but three of them have been as captains. Smith has scored 484 runs in five innings as captain, and Kohli 396 in three. With Michael Clarke scoring a century as well in Adelaide, the overall tally of hundreds for the series is seven, the highest for captains ever in any series in Test history; the next best is five.

In terms of averages, the next best is a series of four or more Tests is 86.81 in the series between West Indies and South Africa in 2005, when Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Graeme Smith combined to score 955 runs in 13 innings. In the 1938 Ashes, Don Bradman and Wally Hammond scored 837 runs at 83.70, while Garry Sobers and Colin Cowdrey had a combined average of 77.07 in the 1967-68 series in the West Indies. In terms of aggregate, the highest for captains in a series is 1329, in the six-Test Ashes in 1985, when David Gower and Allan Border were both in top form. That aggregate of 1329 runs came in 20 innings, and is 246 more than the aggregate in this ongoing series. Even in the form they're in, that might be a bridge too far for Smith and Kohli in this four-Test series.