The Ashes 2023 head to head: Assessing the key stats as the nail-biting series comes to a head
We take a look at how England and Australia compare in the stats department after a nail-biting first three Tests of the Ashes; watch the fourth Test at Old Trafford live on Sky Sports Cricket from July 19 (10am)
Tuesday 18 July 2023 10:00, UK
When this men's Ashes series was billed as one to be remembered, not many would have predicted just how dramatic it would be.
The contest is on a knife edge at 2-1 heading into the fourth Test at Old Trafford, with the teams separated by just 41 runs and three wickets when you compare team totals from the series so far.
Australia hold the slight advantage in total runs, 1,850 compared to 1,809, while England have the edge in the wickets tally having claimed 58 to their rivals' 55.
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Each Test, each day, each session, has been filled with twists and turns that have shifted the momentum in both teams' favour and left fans, on both sides of the world, bemused as to who is truly in the driving seat.
But, in the case of this Ashes, it seems that the answer is that neither team is.
Both teams have cause for optimism, with areas to improve, and reasons to believe they can secure a history-making Ashes victory. Let's take a look at why….
Opening batting partnerships: Who is staying longer at the crease?
Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett: 433 runs total (99; 232;102)
David Warner and Usman Khawaja: 497 runs total (251;185; 61)
Longest partnership: Crawley and Duckett, 91 runs, second innings, Lord's
Just 64 runs separate the opening Australian batters from England's when looking at these players purely on scoring alone. For each of the four openers, there is a flurry of high scoring innings combined with occasional dismissals for much less impressive scores.
Khawaja averages the highest out of the openers so far at 59.3, buoyed by his stunning display at Edgbaston, with Crawley averaging higher than both Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne in the series so far on 32.6.
However, the key for both these sides is not in these players as individuals, but how much more lethal they are when they lay a platform as a partnership.
Indeed, in England's Test-winning second innings at Headingley, it was Crawley and Duckett's 42 that formed the groundwork and with neither team having yet had an opening partnership that has been of major significance, it could be a winning attribute for either side if they can make it happen at Old Trafford.
Top order: Who is putting in the big numbers?
England's No 3: Ollie Pope: 90 runs total (Two Tests), Moeen Ali: Five runs total (One innings), Harry Brook: Three runs total (One innings)
England's No 4: Joe Root: 232 runs total
Australia's No 3: Marnus Labuschagne: 144 runs total
Australia's No 4: Steve Smith: 190 runs total
Despite a drop off over the second and third Tests, Joe Root is still the pick of the top order when looking at just the numbers. However, as the series has gone on, Labuschagne and Smith have grown into the contest.
Root's 118no out in the first innings at Edgbaston and Smith's 110 in the first innings at Lord's are the biggest scores registered by the big hitters but with Ollie Pope ruled out, Labuschagne has a chance to play a starring role as England mull over their choices for a No 3 batter at Old Trafford.
If the man who came into the series as the world's No 1 Test batter can find something approaching top gear, with Moeen looking most likely to continue in the role he volunteered himself for at Headingley, Australia could have a significant advantage on the scoresheet.
Spin bowling: The spinner takes it all!
Moeen Ali: Five wickets in two Tests (2-147; 1-57; 0-40; 2-34)
Joe Root: Three wickets in three Tests (0-15; 1-43; 2-19; 0-4)
Nathan Lyon: Nine wickets in two Tests (4-149; 4-80; 1-35)
Todd Murphy: One wicket in one Test (1-36; 0-13)
When looking in this category, it is clear there was one outright star before he got injured: Nathan Lyon. Australia didn't mind that he had a high economy as, in return, he took key wickets of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, and Harry Brook in quick succession.
With Todd Murphy now tasked with the job for Australia, it feels England really have a chance to dominate this area if Moeen can produce spells like he did during Australia's second innings at Headingley, securing the wickets of Labuschagne and Smith in consecutive overs.
England also have the edge here as they can turn to the ever-reliable Root if needed. If the pitch favours it at Old Trafford, England could take the pace off and pounce. Could this be the chink in Australia's armour?
Seam bowling: Broad's theatrics, the speed of Starc, or the whizz of Wood's thunderbolts?
Stuart Broad: 16 wickets in three Tests (3-68; 3-64; 1-99; 4-65; 2-58; 3-45)
Mark Wood: Seven wickets in one Test (5-34; 2-66)
Pat Cummins: 15 wickets in three Tests (0-59; 4-63; 1-46; 3-69; 6-91; 1-77)
Mitchell Starc: 13 wickets in two Tests (3-88; 3-79; 2-59; 5-78)
Not only is Stuart Broad the lead actor in the Ashes theatrics, but he is also the leading wicket-taker so far. His experience has been one of England's biggest assets and it cannot be underestimated how much his continued dominance of Warner unsettles the Australian batting order.
Pat Cummins has also put in some real hard yards for Australia and leads the way for his side in terms of wickets taken.
Although the third Test at Headingley was one to remember for Mark Wood, there is no separating him and Australia's fastest, Mitchell Starc, in the stats. Starc has been a standout for Australia since returning in the second Test, his removal of Duckett, Moeen, Ben Stokes, Bairstow, and Brook in the second innings at Headingley keeping his side firmly in the clash.
However, England have now seen what Wood can do and how much he destabilises the likes of Khawaja and Smith with his 95mph deliveries.
It feels like the destructiveness of England's bowling attack at Old Trafford will come down to who they pick for the crucial fourth Test. The margins are really that small and with all indications pointing to one of the three getting the nod, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue or Jimmy Anderson will have a big task if they are in the side.
Fielding and wicketkeeping: Who is dropping the Ashes?
Alex Carey: 15 catches and five stumpings (Six catches three stumpings, four catches and two stumpings, Five catches)
Jonny Bairstow: 11 catches and one stumping (Five catches, two catches and one stumping, four catches)
You know what they say, catches win matches, and Alex Carey has had a brilliant Ashes so far with the gloves, providing a solid base behind the stumps that his side have relied upon.
However, it has been a less impressive showing from Bairstow. Just looking at the first day of the Headingley Test alone, Bairstow dropped both Steve Smith and Travis Head, gifting two of Australia's most lethal batters a second chance.
The problems with catching are not limited to Bairstow alone for England as, at the conclusion of day two at Headingley, there had been 14 missed catches and one missed stumping - a potentially Ashes-defining statistic.
Meanwhile, Australia have had the safe hands of Steve Smith in the outfield and David Warner solid at slip to make sure that the majority of their chances have been taken.
In the field Australia are on top and England will need to do something about it.
Game-changers: Can one man change it all?
While statistics are key for assessing the tangible, there is an intangible element to every team which cannot be defined purely in numbers.
For England, that element comes into play when the result is placed on the shoulders of a man with a bandaged knee, a never say die attitude, and a knack for producing historic moments.
Stokes has been the game-changer for England so far and his 155 runs in the second innings at Lord's followed by 80 runs from 108 balls in the first innings at Headingley have dragged his side back into the series by the scruff of their neck, writing his name into Ashes folklore once again.
There was a glimpse of how Wood could have some unexpected impact too at Headingley, his 24 runs from eight balls and 16 from eight balls breathing life into England once again.
For Australia, Cummins has been the player who has picked up the mantle, his 44 runs from 73 balls sealing an incredible win in the first Test at Edgbaston, but none have since had to take the game into their own hands in the same way; Mitchell Marsh's 118 runs in 118 balls at Headingley coming closest.
You never know, the Ashes could come down to the will, grit, and determination of one player and one player alone. But who will that player be?
Watch day one of the fourth Ashes Test live on Sky Sports Cricket on Wednesday July 19. Build-up from 10am, first ball at 11am. You can stream the men's and women's Ashes series on NOW.
