The battles within the war

Going into the series, there had been little to choose between the fast bowlers of the two sides - Australia had an in-form Mitchell Johnson, ably supported by Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus; England had the swing of James Anderson and the pace and seam of Andrew Flintoff, with support from Graham Onions and Stuart Broad.

As it turned out, the leaders of the pack from both teams didn't do too well - Anderson's 12 wickets cost him more than 45 each and Flintoff conceded more than 52 for his eight; Johnson conceded the initiative at crucial moments despite finishing with respectable stats - 20 wickets at 32.55, and a strike rate just 0.1 off the leader in the series, Siddle. Overall, the lesser fast bowlers - Hilfenhaus and Siddle for Australia, Broad and Onions for England - were far more successful.

Comparing the two pace attacks against the opposition top orders, it's clear that Australia's had the clear upper hand, as they did in most other statistical aspects through the series. Australia's top seven averaged more than 44 against England's five fast bowlers (the four mentioned above plus Harmison); England's top seven averaged less than 32 against Australia's four main fast bowlers (including Stuart Clark).

If the numbers from the first Test stats, which Australia dominated but failed to win, are excluded, Australia's top order still had the edge, averaging 39 to England's 33.59.

Where England trumped Australia, though, was in the lower-order batting. With no Glenn McGrath or Brett Lee to scythe through the tail, Australia struggled to get rid of the likes of Graeme Swann, Broad and Anderson. Broad and Swann each scored two half-centuries, while the only Australian lower-order batsman to return the favour was Johnson. His half-century, though, came in a lost cause in the second innings at Lord's, after the battle had already been lost.

Here's a closer look at the head-to-head stats for each Australian bowler against some of the England batsmen. The table below lists some of the more interesting results. The best Australian bowler on view won his contests against the best England batsman - Hilfenhaus dismissed Andrew Strauss four times at an average of 29 - but was far less successful against Alastair Cook, a batsman who averaged 79 against Hilfenhaus but otherwise had a largely forgettable series.

Hilfenhaus' bunny, though, was Ravi Bopara, who fell to him five times in 56 deliveries, scoring only 16 runs, for a grand average of 3.20. It was almost as bad for Ian Bell against Johnson - 37 runs, four dismissals, and an average of 9.25. Bell, though, was pretty safe against Hilfenhaus, surviving 96 deliveries without losing his wicket.

Strauss came off second-best against Hilfenhaus, but he didn't struggle much at all against the two other fast bowlers, averaging more than 100 versus both Johnson and Siddle. Siddle was also the one bowler Bopara was reasonably comfortable against - in 75 deliveries, Bopara scored 42 runs off him without being dismissed.

Among the England bowlers, Broad was outstanding, not only because he took the most number of wickets at the best average, but also because he was mainly successful against the Australian top order. Of his 18 wickets, 14 were of the top seven batsmen. He dismissed Ponting and Michael Hussey three times each - at a sub-30 average - while Michael Clarke and Marcus North fell to him twice, at an average of 33. The only top-order batsman who played him well was Simon Katich, who scored 78 runs off 88 balls without falling to him once.

Onions, on the other hand, had some success against Katich, but he wasn't so good against Ponting, North and Clarke. Anderson only had limited success against the Australian top order: the only ones he dismissed more than once were Clarke and North, while Ponting, Katich and Watson all averaged more than 65 against him. Flintoff couldn't get Clarke or Ponting even once through the series, but he did his job with that inspirational spell at Lord's, and by making Phillip Hughes look so uncomfortable that he was dropped from Australia's Ashes plans after two Tests.

Swann finished with a bowling average of 40 for the series, but he was much better than that, especially against left-handers. He dismissed Katich and North three times each, and averaged 28.80 against left-handers, whom he dismissed ten times. Against right-handers, he averaged more than twice that number - 69.75 - and dismissed them only four times.