Bob Willis once bowled 28 no-balls in an innings - but Australia's Clarrie Grimmett did not send down a no-ball or wide during his Ashes career; Nathan Lyon was not dismissed at all during the 2013/14 Ashes series
Monday 6 December 2021 14:09, UK
Ahead of the Ashes series, Benedict Bermange has picked out some top stats from contests past. In part two, he looks at when Jason Gillespie take five wickets in seven balls, an unusual over from Graeme Swann and more...
Bob Willis bowled 28 no-balls in Australia's first innings in the 1981 Lord's Ashes Test and Steve Harmison bowled six wides in Australia's first innings at Brisbane in 2006.
He may have been a leg-spinner, but in contrast, Clarrie Grimmett did not bowl a single no-ball or wide in his 22 Ashes Tests over the course of which he bowled 9,164 deliveries
The longest bowling spell in an Ashes Test was by Aussie off-spinner Tom Veivers who bowled the last 51.1 of his 95.1 overs unchanged at Old Trafford in 1964.
Geoff Marsh and Mark Taylor batted throughout the first day of Mike Atherton's Test career at Nottingham in 1989 to reach 301-0. However, the longest Ashes partnership took place at Adelaide in 1929. Wally Hammond and Douglas Jardine added 262 together for England's third wicket which took up 146.1 overs or 877 deliveries.
Jason Gillespie once managed to take five wickets in seven Ashes deliveries. At Perth in 1998, he took three wickets with the last four balls of his 15th over and then added another with the second ball of his next over, finishing off England's second innings. On his next Ashes appearance at Edgbaston in 2001, he dismissed Marcus Trescothick with his first ball.
The longest (as opposed to highest) single innings with no extras whatsoever is 191.5 overs by Australia (236) at Melbourne in the 1891/92 series. This applies to all first-class cricket.
On day three of the Sydney Test in the 1891/92 series, Alick Bannerman faced 423 deliveries scoring 67 runs. This is the most number of deliveries faced by a single batsman in a single day's Test cricket.
At The Oval in 1912, Gerry Hazlitt ended England's second innings with a spell of five wickets for one run with the final 17 deliveries of his Test career.
Between lunch and tea on day four of the Melbourne Test in February 1925, Jack Gregory suffered the misfortune of being dismissed twice in the same session - the only batsman to suffer such a fate in Ashes cricket.
In the 2013/14 series, Nathan Lyon became only the second player to go an entire five-Test series without being dismissed. Bill Johnston managed it for Australia against South Africa in 1949/50, but he was only called upon to bat twice.
England's team at Sydney in 2014 featured eight left-handed batsmen, which set a new record for them. Coincidentally, all eight bowled with their right arms.
The batsmen did not change ends in the first 38.5 overs of Australia's second innings at Old Trafford in 1948. Arthur Morris batted throughout, but there was a wicket at the other end in the 12th over. There were numerous bowling changes and 56 runs were scored.
Gilbert Jessop's famous century at The Oval in 1902 came from just 76 balls. However, what made it even more notable was the fact that - having struck his first delivery for two runs - he maintained a strike rate of greater than a run per ball for his entire innings. Even Adam Gilchrist - who struck a 57-ball century at Perth in 2010 - didn't stay above a run a ball until his 18th delivery.
Graeme Swann bowled the 54th over of Australia's second innings at Brisbane in 2013 to Michael Clarke and David Warner. He conceded 16 runs, with a dot, a single, a two, a three, a four and a six - the only such known occurrence in Ashes history.
George McShane stood as an umpire in the fourth Test of the 1884/85 Ashes series at Sydney, before making his Test debut as a player the following week in the fifth Test at Melbourne.
In the second Ashes Test in 1925 at Melbourne, the wrong balls were delivered (Grade 3 rather than Grade 1). They were such poor quality that they had to be changed constantly.
Both sides agreed to play the first innings of the match with the lower-quality balls before switching to the correct balls for the second innings. In those first innings, the ball was changed at least 15 times.
