Playthrough - England in the 1990s... and beyond

[Aislabie]

Sri Lanka vs England - Only Test at Colombo

Sri Lanka XI
Roshan Mahanama
Chandika Hathurusingha
Asanka Gurusinha
Aravinda de Silva
Arjuna Ranatunga
Hashan Tillakaratne
Sanath Jayasuriya
Ashley de Silva
Champaka Ramanayake
Muttiah Muralitharan
Jayananda Warnaweera

England XI
Graham Gooch
Alec Stewart
Michael Atherton
Robin Smith
Graeme Hick
Mark Ramprakash
Jack Russell
Angus Fraser
Phil Tufnell
Peter Such
Devon Malcolm

- - -

England win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

The "Gooch at three" experiment was a failure, so he shall return to the top of the order with Atherton moving to three. Ramprakash keeps his place in the side to prove himself ahead of a home Ashes series; his extra opportunity comes at the expense of Chris Lewis, who has been rested after playing a lot of consecutive Test matches. As for Sri Lanka, pretty much what you'd expect - bats fairly deep, lots of spinners. The pitch looked flat but dry, so Gooch will have been mightily relieved to win the toss.

If there's one thing that this Test proved for sure, it's that Alec Stewart really likes batting against Sri Lanka. In his second Test against this opposition, he recorded another century, this one a part of a 192-run partnership with Atherton. Atherton made 72 of them, his second-best Test score. After that huge stand, everything else rather paled by comparison, although Hick did muster a sparkling 56. Ramprakash missed out though, and Russell was left with an even tougher tail to bat with than usual; ultimately, Sri Lanka will be very relieved to have only been up against 340 English runs.

Chandika Hathurusingha probably isn't the toughest wicket that Angus Fraser has ever had to take, but one imagines that he will still be relieved to take it on his return to the team. It was the only wicket to fall to a seamer as Tufnell and Such again combined to great effect: this time, Tufnell took six impressive wickets, making this his ninth five-wicket haul out of the last ten by England bowlers. For ten consecutive five-fors for England to be by spinners must surely also be a record, and speaks highly of Tufnell's quality as a Test bowler. Only one Sri Lankan made a 50, the excellent Aravinda de Silva whose dashing 53 was brought to a premature end by Tufnell.

A second innings meant a second chance for some of England's batsmen to seal their spots for the upcoming Ashes. Five batsmen would make good contributions; four - Stewart (33), Atherton (45), Hick (43) and Ramprakash (42) would fall before converting them into big scores, but Robin Smith made good of the opportunity to register his tenth Test century. It set up an aggressive English declaration, setting Sri Lanka a target of 391 and plenty of time to get those runs.

Plenty of time, but perhaps a slight lack of quality: this time, nobody would even threaten 50 as Tufnell added six more wickets to a stellar winter. In seven innings' bowling, he has taken six five-wicket hauls; his excellence has put Peter Such decidedly in the shade, but he added another two wickets for only 39 in the second innings - figures that any English spinner could be reasonably happy with.

Spoiler: Barrington Medal Points

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Spoiler: Points system

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Phil Tufnell - 15 points (+5)
=2. Robin Smith - 7 points (+2)
=2. Peter Such - 7 points (+1)
4. Alec Stewart - 4 points (+3)
5. Michael Atherton - 3 points
6. Graham Gooch - 2 points
7. Mark Ramprakash - 1 point

A second career Barrington Medal for the excellent Phil Tufnell is just reward for a winter that propels him into the conversation as one of England's truly great Test spinners.

 

[Aislabie]

Records

Highest Innings Score
for 571 for 5 dec. vs West Indies, The Oval 1991
vs 571 all out, Australia, Adelaide Oval 1991

Lowest Innings Score
for 122 all out vs New Zealand, Edgbaston 1990
vs 93 all out, Pakistan, Old Trafford 1992

Highest Innings
for 294, Graham Gooch vs West Indies, The Oval 1991
vs 185, Vinod Kambli, India, Calcutta 1993

Best Innings Bowling
for 8 for 47, Peter Such vs India, Calcutta 1993
vs 7 for 66, Wasim Akram, Pakistan, Headingley 1992

Best Match Bowling
for 12 for 173, Phil Tufnell vs Sri Lanka, Colombo, 1993
vs 11 for 137, Wasim Akram, Pakistan, Headingley 1992

All-Time Record Most Runs in a Series
1016 - Graham Gooch vs West Indies, 1991

Partnerships
1. 190 - Graham Gooch & Tim Robinson vs Australia 1991
2. 192 - Alec Stewart & Mike Atherton vs Sri Lanka 1993
3. 325 - Graham Gooch & Robin Smith vs West Indies 1991
4. 247 - Robin Smith & Graeme Hick vs Pakistan 1992
5. 176 - Graeme Hick & Jack Russell vs West Indies 1991
6. 106 - Graham Gooch & Chris Lewis vs West Indies 1991
7. 92 - Jack Russell & Martin Bicknell vs New Zealand 1992
8. 47 - Jack Russell & Phil Tufnell vs India 1990
9. 69 - Gladstone Small & Angus Fraser vs Australia 1990
10. 29 - Gladstone Small & Devon Malcolm vs New Zealand 1990

Honours Board

vs , 1989-90
Graham Gooch - 112
Robin Smith - 101
Robin Smith - 112
Graham Gooch - 100

vs , 1990
Graham Gooch - 127
Rob Bailey - 196

vs , 1990
none

vs , 1990-91
Robin Smith - 110
Graham Gooch - 170

vs , 1991
Robin Smith - 127
Graham Gooch - 175*
Graeme Hick - 108*
Graham Gooch - 165
Graham Gooch - 294
Robin Smith - 145

vs , 1991
Alec Stewart - 166
Graeme Hick - 100

vs , 1991-92
Alec Stewart - 126*
Graham Gooch - 124
Graeme Hick - 107

vs , 1992
Graham Gooch - 103
Robin Smith - 132
Graeme Hick - 147
Graham Gooch - 150*

vs , 1992-93
Graham Gooch - 132
Alec Stewart - 151*
Mike Atherton - 147
Robin Smith - 137

vs , 1992-93
Alec Stewart - 137
Robin Smith - 102*


vs , 1989-90
Angus Fraser - 5 for 47
Gladstone Small - 5 for 72
Chris Lewis - 6 for 70

vs , 1990
none

vs , 1990
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 116
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 72

vs , 1990-91
Angus Fraser - 5 for 116
Devon Malcolm - 6 for 75

vs , 1991
Steve Watkin - 5 for 56
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 138
Devon Malcolm - 5 for 47
Angus Fraser - 5 for 86

vs , 1991
none

vs , 1991-92
Angus Fraser - 5 for 51
Phil Tufnell - 7 for 57

vs , 1992
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 100
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 31
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 45

vs , 1992-93
Phil Tufnell - 8 for 114
Peter Such - 8 for 47
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 72
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 167
Phil Tufnell - 7 for 171

vs , 1992-93
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 102
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 71

Career Statistics
Includes all players who debuted before 1990 and played from that date onwards either in real life or in this universe.

Cap Numbers

Player	#	Debut	Last Test
Graham Gooch	461	v (1), 1975	v , 1992-93
Ian Botham	474	v (3), 1977	v (3), 1990
Mike Gatting	477	v (3), 1977-78	v (2), 1992-93
David Gower	479	v (1), 1978	v (2), 1991
John Emburey	480	v (3), 1978	v (4), 1989
Wayne Larkins	484	v (3), 1979-80	v (1), 1990
Allan Lamb	494	v (1), 1982	v (4), 1989-90
Derek Pringle	495	v (1), 1982	v (6), 1989
Eddie Hemmings	497	v (1), 1982	v (5), 1989-90
Neil Foster	502	v (3), 1983	v (1), 1992
Tim Robinson	511	v (1), 1984	v (5), 1991
Gladstone Small	521	v (2), 1986	v , 1991
Phillip DeFreitas	522	v (1), 1986-87	v (3), 1990
Neil Fairbrother	525	v (1), 1987	v (3), 1987-88
David Capel	526	v (3), 1987	v (6), 1989
Paul Jarvis	527	v (1), 1987-88	v (5), 1992
Robin Smith	530	v (4), 1988	v , 1992-93
Rob Bailey	531	v (5), 1988	v (4), 1991
Matt Maynard	532	v (5), 1988	only Test
Syd Lawrence	534	v , 1988	v , 1991
Phil Newport	535	v , 1988	v (1), 1989
Jack Russell	536	v , 1988	v , 1992-93
Angus Fraser	537	v (3), 1989	v , 1992-93
Mike Atherton	538	v (5), 1989	v , 1992-93
Devon Malcolm	539	v (5), 1989	v , 1992-93
Alan Igglesden	540	v (6), 1989	only Test
- - - - - - - - - -	- - -	- - - - - - - - - -	- - - - - - - - - -
Alec Stewart	542	v (1), 1989-90	v , 1992-93
Phil Tufnell	543	v (1), 1989-90	v , 1992-93
Chris Lewis	544	v (4), 1989-90	v (3), 1992-93
Graeme Hick	545	v (5), 1989-90	v , 1992-93
Martin Bicknell	546	v (3), 1990	v (4), 1991-92
Steve Watkin	547	v (1), 1991	v (2), 1991
Peter Such	548	v (3), 1991	v , 1992-93
Ian Salisbury	549	v (1), 1992-93	only Test
Mark Ramprakash	550	v (2), 1992-93	v , 1992-93
Dermot Reeve	551	v (3), 1992-93	only Test

Captains

Player	Mat	W	D	L	First	Last
Graham Gooch	35	14	8	13	v (5), 1988	v , 1992-93
Graeme Hick	1	1	0	0	v (2), 1992-93	only Test

Batting & Fielding

Player	Mat	Inn	NO	Runs	Avg	100s	50s	Best	Ct	St
Mike Atherton	21	39	3	1391	38.64	1	9	147	7	-
Rob Bailey	15	28	1	815	30.19	1	2	196	15	-
Martin Bicknell	4	4	0	65	16.25	-	-	48	2	-
Ian Botham (RET)	108	176	7	5656	33.47	14	25	208	135	-
David Capel (RET)	11	18	0	293	16.27	-	2	98	4	-
Phillip DeFreitas	16	24	2	309	14.05	-	-	43*	4	-
John Emburey (RET)	60	89	18	1540	21.49	-	8	75	33	-
Neil Fairbrother	4	4	0	5	1.25	-	-	3	3	-
Neil Foster (RET)	39	60	12	600	12.50	-	-	42*	13	-
Angus Fraser	32	43	4	387	9.92	-	-	34	2	-
Mike Gatting	70	121	14	4037	37.73	9	19	207	53	-
Graham Gooch	106	195	7	8349	44.41	19	48	294	118	-
David Gower (RET)	124	215	17	8506	42.96	15	47	215	75	-
Eddie Hemmings (RET)	13	19	3	332	20.75	-	1	95	4	-
Graeme Hick	18	32	2	1266	42.20	4	5	147	32	-
Alan Igglesden	1	1	1	2	-	-	-	2*	1	-
Paul Jarvis	10	15	4	189	17.18	-	-	35*	1	-
Allan Lamb (RET)	60	105	9	3224	33.58	9	12	137*	53	-
Wayne Larkins (RET)	10	19	0	348	18.31	-	-	43	5	-
Syd Lawrence	2	2	0	6	3.00	-	-	4	-	-
Chris Lewis	27	42	6	840	23.33	-	3	56	25	-
Devon Malcolm	22	31	8	141	6.13	-	-	14*	6	-
Matt Maynard	1	2	0	13	6.50	-	-	10	-	-
Phil Newport	2	3	0	70	23.33	-	-	36	1	-
Derek Pringle	21	36	3	512	15.51	-	2	66	7	-
Mark Ramprakash	3	6	1	195	39.00	-	2	76*	-	-
Dermot Reeve	1	2	0	12	6.00	-	-	6	-	-
Tim Robinson	41	71	6	2362	36.33	4	12	175	14	-
Jack Russell	41	69	17	1883	36.21	1	11	128*	113	10
Ian Salisbury	1	1	0	21	21.00	-	-	21	-	-
Gladstone Small	20	26	7	382	20.10	-	2	59	2	-
Robin Smith	42	78	7	3518	49.55	10	19	145	12	-
Alec Stewart	14	27	2	1165	46.60	4	2	166	3	-
Peter Such	7	7	1	16	2.67	-	-	6	2	-
Phil Tufnell	26	36	8	125	4.46	-	-	36	5	-
Steve Watkin	2	4	0	55	13.75	-	-	27	-	-

Bowling

Player	Mat	Ovr	Runs	Wkts	Avg	Econ	5WI	10WM	Best
Mike Atherton	21	73	305	9	33.89	4.2	-	-	3/32
Rob Bailey	15	43	175	2	87.50	4.1	-	-	1/0
Martin Bicknell	4	191	469	11	42.63	2.5	-	-	3/72
Ian Botham (RET)	108	3779	11223	400	28.13	3.0	27	4	8/34
David Capel	11	209	628	12	52.33	3.0	-	-	2/13
Phillip DeFreitas	16	548	1588	31	48.12	2.9	1	-	5/86
John Emburey	60	2371	5105	138	36.99	2.1	6	-	7/78
Neil Fairbrother	4	2	9	0	-	4.5	-	-	-
Neil Foster	39	1451	3902	115	33.93	2.7	5	1	8/107
Angus Fraser	32	1280	3156	96	32.87	2.5	3	-	5/47
Mike Gatting	70	125	317	4	79.25	2.5	-	-	1/14
Graham Gooch	106	306	740	17	43.53	2.4	-	-	2/12
David Gower (RET)	124	6	20	1	20.00	3.3	-	-	1/1
Eddie Hemmings	13	513	1454	31	46.90	2.8	-	-	4/90
Graeme Hick	18	46	170	5	34.00	3.7	-	-	3/38
Alan Igglesden	1	37	146	3	48.67	3.9	-	-	2/91
Paul Jarvis	10	359	1069	26	41.12	3.0	-	-	4/50
Allan Lamb (RET)	60	5	23	1	23.00	4.6	-	-	1/6
Wayne Larkins (RET)	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Syd Lawrence	2	68	223	4	55.75	3.3	-	-	2/74
Chris Lewis	27	754	2087	52	40.13	2.8	1	-	6/70
Devon Malcolm	22	784	2512	83	30.27	3.2	2	-	6/75
Matt Maynard	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Phil Newport	2	92	339	9	37.66	3.7	-	-	4/87
Derek Pringle	21	625	1807	48	37.64	2.9	2	-	5/95
Mark Ramprakash	3	1	2	0	-	2.0	-	-	-
Dermot Reeve	1	14	39	0	-	2.8	-	-	-
Tim Robinson	41	1	0	0	-	0.0	-	-	-
Jack Russell	41	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ian Salisbury	1	13	76	0	-	5.9	-	-	-
Gladstone Small	20	784	1980	60	33.00	2.5	3	-	5/48
Robin Smith	42	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Alec Stewart	14	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Peter Such	7	327	919	36	25.53	2.8	1	-	8/47
Phil Tufnell	26	1150	3396	133	25.53	3.0	13	4	8/114
Steve Watkin	2	64	223	5	44.60	3.5	1	-	5/56

​

Stats and records updated again. The outstanding statistic here for me is that England's two spinners, Phil Tufnell and Peter Such, both average 25.53 with the ball in Test cricket. Those are some elite numbers

 

[Aislabie]

Australia Tour of England, 1993

Itinerary
17 Jun 93 - England vs Australia - First Test at Lord's - Australia won by 5 wickets
01 Jul 93 - England vs Australia - Second Test at Trent Bridge - England won by 2 wickets
22 Jul 93 - England vs Australia - Third Test at Headingley - England won by 10 wickets
05 Aug 93 - England vs Australia - Fourth Test at Edgbaston - Australia won by 154 runs
19 Aug 93 - England vs Australia - Fifth Test at The Oval - England won by 170 runs

In real life this was a six-Test series, but we're going with not-that because Cricket Captain only offers one-, three- and five-Test series.

England Squad

Graham Gooch

Mike Atherton
Graeme Hick
Nasser Hussain
Mark Ramprakash
Robin Smith
Alec Stewart

Richard Blakey
Jack Russell

Chris Lewis

Andy Caddick
Dominic Cork
Phillip DeFreitas
Angus Fraser
Paul Jarvis
Devon Malcolm

Peter Such
Phil Tufnell

After an excellent winter in Asia, the England side will be going into this Ashes series full of confidence - in particular, full of confidence in their spin attack of Tufnell and Such, who both have outstanding sub-26 averages in Test cricket so far. Mike Gatting is left out of the squad despite an impressive 98 at Calcutta with Nasser Hussain preferred; a difficult decision, but one that reflects this England team's commitment to building towards the future. Speaking of the future, Andy Caddick and Dominic Cork are considered very promising seam bowlers, while Phillip DeFreitas has earned a second chance at Test cricket on the back of some excellent county performances.

 

[Aislabie]

England vs Australia - First Test at Lord's

England XI
Graham Gooch
Alec Stewart
Michael Atherton
Robin Smith
Graeme Hick
Jack Russell
Chris Lewis
Angus Fraser
Phil Tufnell
Peter Such
Devon Malcolm

Australia XI
Mark Taylor
Michael Slater
David Boon
Mark Waugh
Allan Border
Steve Waugh
Ian Healy
Brendon Julian
Merv Hughes
Shane Warne
Craig McDermott

- - -

England win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

Presented with a dry-looking pitch, England opted not to choose between their spinners and instead stuck with both, meaning that the highly-touted Andy Caddick will have to wait at least a couple of weeks for his Test debut. Australia also handed out a couple of debuts - one each to Julian and Taylor - and picked only one front-line spinner, the blonde bellend Shane Warne. Regardless, Gooch will be glad to have won another toss to avoid facing Warne in the fourth innings.

It was Warne who took Australia's only wicket of the morning session, the young leg-spinner turning one away from Gooch to get him caught behind. Indeed, caught Healy bowled Warne became a productive combination, but no more productive than the increasingly excellent Alec Stewart. The Surrey man made his fifth Test century on the first day of his first Ashes Test, an important part of England reaching 255 for three. The second day was a tale of what might have been though - although Robin Smith was the only other batsman to reach 50, Hick (46), Russell (48) and Lewis (47) will all have mixed emotions, having each played an important part in England reaching 436, but also all feeling like they could have gone on to more.

Taylor and the debutant Slater made the English seamers look almost completely toothless, which must have knocked the wind out of English sails somewhat. The solution, as it has been in almost every game recently, was to throw the ball to Tufnell and Such and ask them to fix it. Tufnell did his best - an outstanding long spell brought him figures of three for 50 - but Such was loose - a real wake-up call after a dreamy winter. The Australian batsmen were excellent, and by the end of the third day Australia were 355 for four and definitely back ahead in the game. In response, Tufnell took the game and carried it on his shoulders with another excellent seven-wicket haul. Chris Lewis supported him well, and was rewarded for being the pick of the seamers with the three remaining Australian wickets.

There was a chance that the Australians might have already put themselves out of reach of an England win, but there is now an expectation that Tufnell will be able to bowl out even the best sides on day five. So the English batsmen set about giving him some runs to work with: Stewart was again the star, missing out by just two runs on a second century of the game. Remarkably, he has now converted six of his seven Test fifties into scores of 97 or more - a desirable trait in an opening batsman. However, England's always-fragile tail again splintered, causing the home side to fall from 172 for three to 207 all out. All four results well and truly possible.

On day five, especially with only 195 runs to play with, England's chances of victory were always going to come down to the spin of Tufnell. After a brief dalliance with the faster men, Gooch threw the ball to the man who has become arguably the world's finest Test bowler, and the left-arm spinner again produced a spell of true excellence. In his first eleven overs, he claimed three wickets for twelve runs, though this brought the Australian captain to the crease. He stabilised things before tea, taking Australia to the last interval of the game at 88 for three. The game was truly in the balance when Such got one to drift and turn and trap Border LBW. The problem, however, was at the other end: even as Such also ended the innings of Boon, Steve Waugh was taking the attack to a tired Tufnell. Ultimately, Australia were just the better team - but not by much.

Spoiler: Barrington Medal Points

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Spoiler: Points system

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Alec Stewart - 3 points (+3)
2. Phil Tufnell - 2 points (+2)
3. Chris Lewis - 1 point (+1)

 

[Aislabie]

England (0) vs (1) Australia - Second Test at Trent Bridge

England XI
Graham Gooch
Alec Stewart
Michael Atherton
Robin Smith
Graeme Hick
Jack Russell
Chris Lewis
Andy Caddick (debut)
Angus Fraser
Phil Tufnell
Devon Malcolm

Australia XI
Mark Taylor
Michael Slater
David Boon
Mark Waugh
Allan Border
Steve Waugh
Ian Healy
Brendon Julian
Merv Hughes
Shane Warne
Tim May

- - -

Australia win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

After a hard-fought first Test, the two teams made changes in opposite directions: for England, Peter Such made way for the debutant Andy Caddick as they sought to strengthen the seam attack that struggled in the first Test; for Australia, Tim May came into the side for Craig McDermott as they chose to double down on their spin threat. Both sides did choose to make a vote of confidence in their batting, though the Australians have slightly more batting to call upon than England do.

With that added emphasis on spin, it was no surprise that Allan Border opted to bat first; it was, however, a surprise to see Australia lose four wickets before lunch. Malcolm and Fraser were both excellent with the new ball, but the real impact came in Chris Lewis' second over, in which he dismissed both Marks: Taylor and Waugh. The only seamer not to get his reward was the debutant Caddick, who righted that wrong mere minutes into the second session by claiming the wicket of Border. That left England just one wicket away from the tail - a wicket that was claimed by Devon Malcolm in his second spell of the day. Once again, a lot of responsibility fell on Steve Waugh's shoulders, and for a batsman who once went 26 Tests without a hundred, he wore it well. With Shane Warne for company, he ground out a ninth-wicket stand of 101 that changed the entire tone of the Test.

Fast forward a day, and it became clear that England's Steve Waugh was Graeme Hick: the tall Zimbabwean-born batsman made a magisterial unbeaten 97 in an innings in which no other batsman made more than Alec Stewart's 31. Gooch and England must be starting to question the composition of their team: the emphasis on a top five batsmen has served them well, but if a couple of them fail then it is a lot of pressure on the rest. The counter-argument is of course that if Russell and Lewis had managed to match their Test batting averages then there wouldn't have been a problem. But it is what it is, and England are all out, 45 runs behind.

It was the sort of match situation that demanded a big response from the English bowlers, and again they delivered. Fraser was exceptional, taking two wickets with an economy of under 1.5; Lewis was always threatening, adding two more wickets of his own. And then, as always, there was Tufnell: the clever left-armer added four more wickets to dismantle the Australian middle order. All, that is, apart from Steve Waugh: the excellent older twin added 99 to his first-innings 131; when he was caught-behind trying to nudge a single, Fraser can be forgiven for letting loose an animalistic roar. The Australians - Waugh mostly - had set a target of 278 to win; tough, but upon such moment Ashes series are balanced.

With play taking place under thick cloud, it was an unappealing time to be an opening batsman. Gooch couldn't cope, and was clean bowled by Merv Hughes, but Stewart and Atherton both dug in. As a result, they reached the close of the fourth day with nine English wickets in hand and only another 169 runs to get. Two early wickets from Hughes - Atherton and Smith - swung the pendulum back towards Australia, only for a Hick fifty and Stewart hundred to drag it right back again. Stewart is fast becoming a fourth-innings specialist, but this time he couldn't quite see England home. His dismissal for 111 prompted a collapse of sorts as Hick, Russell, Caddick and Lewis all followed him back to the pavilion.

Fraser and Tufnell, sixteen to win. Only Devon Malcolm to come. The match could have gone either way.

(Warne) 1 • • • • / (Hughes, 15 to win) • • • • • 1 / (Warne, 14 to win) • • 1 (o) • • 1 / (Hughes, 11 to win) 4 • • • • • / (Warne, 7 to win) • • • • • • / (Hughes, 7 to win) 1 • 1 1 4

England had done it! Who could have foreseen Tufnell managing to keep out an over of Shane Warne? And who could have foreseen his four back past Merv Hughes to strike the winning runs? What a Test match, and what an Ashes series this is already shaping up to be.

Spoiler: Barrington Medal Points

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Spoiler: Points system

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Phil Tufnell - 7 points (+5)
2. Alec Stewart - 6 points (+3)
=3. Graeme Hick - 2 points (+2)
=3. Chris Lewis - 2 points (+1)

 

[Aislabie]

England (1) vs (1) Australia - Third Test at Headingley

England XI
Graham Gooch
Alec Stewart
Nasser Hussain (debut)
Robin Smith
Graeme Hick
Jack Russell
Chris Lewis
Phillip DeFreitas
Andy Caddick
Angus Fraser
Phil Tufnell

Australia XI
Mark Taylor
Michael Slater
David Boon
Mark Waugh
Allan Border
Steve Waugh
Ian Healy
Paul Reiffel
Merv Hughes
Shane Warne
Tim May

- - -

England win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

With the Ashes poised at 1-1, both sides made changes ahead of the third Test at a rainy Headingley. For England, there were two changes: the first was to rest/drop Devon Malcolm in favour of a recall for Phillip DeFreitas in the kind of conditions that suit him most; the second was to leave out Michael Atherton in favour of Nasser Hussain, who will make his Test debut. For Australia, it was a simple like-for-like swap between Julian and Reiffel. The debut for Hussain came as a surprise, despite having been on the cards for years - Atherton is only two Tests removed from his excellent winter in the Subcontinent after all.

Despite typical Headingley overhead conditions, the rain held off for the entirety of a first session in which England and Gooch made an excellent start - out of England's 112 for one, Gooch had already made an unbeaten 62. The England captain carried on to make an excellent 139 on a first day where the next-highest score was Hussain's 33, though Russell was on 31 and would progress almost all the way to fifty of his own on the second morning. England will again feel like they should have done better though, as seven of their batsmen got out between 20 and 50. Oh, and this Warne bloke looks like a really good spinner.

The game absolutely flipped on its head, however, on the rain-hit day three. In between frequent rain delays, the thick cloud and questionable visibility made it almost impossible for batsmen to settle. In only his second Test, Andy Caddick claimed four excellent wickets: Taylor, Boon, Steve Waugh and Healy. His efforts were one-upped, however, by the recently recalled DeFreitas: in the space of 70 balls of bowling, he took five wickets for only nineteen runs: his best Test figures, and the best figures by an England seamer since Devon Malcolm's six for 75 in the last Ashes series. With England so far ahead in the game, by no fewer than 262 runs, and their bowlers able to benefit from regular breaks, the follow-on was a no-brainer.

The second Australian innings took place in much more favourable conditions and with far fewer interruptions. This allowed their batsmen to get settled with considerably greater ease: Boon (58), Mark Waugh (69) and Border (40) all got themselves settled which made the efforts of DeFreitas, Tufnell and DeFreitas (again) to dismiss them all the more admirable. As well as those two important scalps, he added Steve Waugh, Shane Warne and Tim May to his match haul to complete a second five-wicket haul and a career-best match haul of 10 for 81. What a return to the England side for the Dominican-born fast man.

England's target of only 51 runs to win posed no challenge for Gooch and Stewart, who knocked those runs off with absolutely no dramas whatsoever, although it must have been annoying for everyone to have to come back to the ground on the fifth morning with the result as such a foregone conclusion.

Spoiler: Barrington Medal Points

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Spoiler: Points system

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Phil Tufnell - 7 points
2. Alec Stewart - 6 points
3. Phillip DeFreitas - 5 points (+5)
4. Graham Gooch - 3 points (+3)
=5. Andy Caddick - 2 points (+2)
=5. Graeme Hick - 2 points
=5. Chris Lewis - 2 points
8. Jack Russell - 1 point (+1)

 

[Aislabie]

England (2) vs (1) Australia - Fourth Test at Edgbaston

England XI
Graham Gooch
Alec Stewart
Michael Atherton
Robin Smith
Graeme Hick
Jack Russell
Chris Lewis
Phillip DeFreitas
Andy Caddick
Angus Fraser
Phil Tufnell

Australia XI
Mark Taylor
Michael Slater
David Boon
Mark Waugh
Allan Border
Steve Waugh
Ian Healy
Paul Reiffel
Merv Hughes
Shane Warne
Tim May

- - -

Australia win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

Despite an extremely one-sided Third Test, Australia went into the fourth Test unchanged, sticking with the two-spin strategy that has yet to bear fruit - May has taken only four wickets, and has been the least-used of the four front-line bowlers. For England, there was only one change to be made: after scoring a Championship century in his time out of the England side, Atherton had done enough to earn an immediate recall at number three. Evidently, both captains are confident in the merits of their respective elevens.

Edgbaston in the sun is a very different beast to Trent Bridge in the rain, so Border's decision to bat first was just objectively the right thing to do. He will have wanted to put 400 or more runs on the board though, so an innings where his batsmen - including himself - made significant contributions only to get out before really taking control of the game will be frustrating. In particular, Mark Waugh looked imperious for his 67-ball 64, and even he looked surprised when Chris Lewis held onto a leg-side flick. For England, there was no one outstanding contributor, although credit should go to Caddick and Lewis for both putting in excellent performances.

For England, it was important that someone make a really telling contribution if they wanted to avoid another high-pressure fourth innings, but like Australia they just didn't have anyone who quite managed to make the game their own. Gooch (86), Smith (76) and Hick (59) all batted excellently, but all fell to an Australian bowling attack that simply refused to go away. As they have all series, England had the most trouble dealing with the leg-spin of Shane Warne. He would claim five wickets, but not before Andy Caddick carried England to a very marginal first-innings lead with an unexpected unbeaten 37.

In order to defend their series lead, England needed wickets. Caddick got one in only his second over as Mark Taylor edged into the slips, but he was just one of the six top-class batsmen in the Australian arsenal. By the time the English bowlers had finally worked their way down to Ian Healy, handy contributions from Slater, Boon, Mark Waugh and the still-unbeaten Allan Border had taken Australia to a 200-run lead. What's more, Healy was still a more than capable right-hand man for Border as the Australian captain batted on until he had a century and his country had a 350-run lead.

He declared overnight, leaving England with a simple equation: bat for a day, or lose the Test. There was never so much as the slightest consideration of going for the win, which made for some very boring cricket. It is easiest to simply relay the times at which each wicket fell:
1 - 12:13 (Stewart) / 2 - 12:36 (Atherton) / (lunch) / 3 - 14:00 (Smith) / 4 - 14:24 (Hick) / 5 - 14:34 (Russell) / 6 - 14:35 (Gooch) / (tea)

With one session left in the game, Australia were very much in control. Pretty much all that stood in their way were the all-rounders, Lewis and DeFreitas, who had opted to play with freedom on the basis that lots of close fielders meant lots of gaps elsewhere. The approach fell flat immediately after the tea break when Lewis was clean bowled to become Reiffel's third wicket. From there, the game was lost, and the final English wicket fell at 17:06.

Spoiler: Barrington Medal Points

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Spoiler: Points system

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Phil Tufnell - 7 points
=2. Phillip DeFreitas - 6 points (+1)
=2. Graham Gooch - 6 points (+3)
=2. Alec Stewart - 6 points
5. Andy Caddick - 4 points (+2)
=6. Graeme Hick - 2 points
=6. Chris Lewis - 2 points
8. Jack Russell - 1 point

 

[Aislabie]

England (2) vs (2) Australia - Fifth Test at The Oval

England XI
Graham Gooch
Alec Stewart
Nasser Hussain
Robin Smith
Graeme Hick
Jack Russell
Chris Lewis
Phillip DeFreitas
Andy Caddick
Angus Fraser
Phil Tufnell

Australia XI
Mark Taylor
Michael Slater
David Boon
Mark Waugh
Allan Border
Steve Waugh
Ian Healy
Paul Reiffel
Merv Hughes
Shane Warne
Tim May

- - -

England win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

An unchanged Australian side after their series-levelling victory (or indeed, just generally) is no surprise. What was something of a surprise was England's apparent confusion with regards to their number three position. Just two matches after dropping Atherton for Hussain, and only one match after dropping Hussain for Atherton, England again chose to drop Atherton for Hussain in the hope that he might be of assistance to a batting order that hasn't quite been firing as it might like. Uncertainty also reigned about the position of Jack Russell at number six: an ever-present over the last three years, his batting returns have started to decline, and this has put huge pressure on England's top five batsmen. Regardless, he keeps his place.

After winning the toss and batting, the last thing a captain wants to see is the return of all of his top four batsmen to the pavilion before 100 runs are on the board. And yet that's exactly what occurred as Gooch (21), Hussain (1), Smith (29) and Stewart (30) all fell early in the piece. If there's one man who will have been aware of the criticism of Jack Russell at number six, it's Jack Russell, but the nuggety keeper-batsman dug in for an excellent 53. Alongside Hick (also 53), this returned England to a position of competitiveness, but for neither to have turned the game to England's advantage will have been frustrating. A good job then that Lewis and DeFreitas had both packed their batting spikes: the pair combined for an outrageous seventh-wicket partnership of 174, during which Lewis got to celebrate a maiden Test century. DeFreitas fell just short, but between them they carried England to that magical 400 mark that had looked so unlikely.

With actual runs to bowl at for a change, Caddick continued his series-long domination of Mark Taylor to claim England's first wicket. Three further wickets shared between the erstwhile batting heroes DeFreitas and Lewis helped to ensure that England finished the second day's play in a towering position of strength. On the third morning they converted that position: two wickets each for Tufnell and Fraser were then rounded off nicely by a third for Lewis as Australia were again all-out before reaching the follow-on mark. Only David Boon made any sort of meaningful contribution.

Owing to the ample time left in the game and exceedingly sunny weather forecast Gooch opted not to enforce the follow-on. Instead, he tasked his batsmen with building an impregnable lead with the intention of declaring around lunch on the fourth day. That did not go perfectly to plan as both Hughes and Warne bowled very well to share eight of the ten English wickets between them, but it still carried England to a lead of 462 runs, and gave more time for the batting conditions underfoot to deteriorate.

Unusually, Caddick could not dismiss Taylor this time, and the honour only fell to Chris Lewis with 40 minutes left on day four, and after he and Slater had amassed a century stand. Most unfortunate for Slater then that he was to watch DeFreitas and Tufnell remove Boon, Mark Waugh and Border for a combined five runs before the Steve Waugh was able to steady things until the close. The Slater-Waugh partnership continued for quite some time, but England had enough of a margin in the game not to be too worried. Once Fraser and Tufnell prised the pair from the batting crease, the tail-enders fell meekly into line and afforded England a second successive Ashes victory.

This one was rather more entertaining than the last one though.

Spoiler: Barrington Medal Points

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Spoiler: Points system

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Phillip DeFreitas - 9 points (+3)
2. Phil Tufnell - 9 points (+2)
3. Chris Lewis - 7 points (+5)
=4. Graham Gooch - 6 points
=4. Alec Stewart - 6 points
5. Andy Caddick - 4 points
=7. Graeme Hick - 2 points
=7. Jack Russell - 2 points

With a tie on points for the Barrington Medal, the decision came down to a judgement call from the panel, and for a decisive performance in the decisive Ashes Test the panel have chosen to award the Medal to Phillip DeFreitas, who has scored 166 runs @ 33.20 and taken 18 wickets @ 16.44 since his recall for the third Test.

 

[Aislabie]

Records

Highest Innings Score
for 571 for 5 dec. vs West Indies, The Oval 1991
vs 571 all out, Australia, Adelaide Oval 1991

Lowest Innings Score
for 122 all out vs New Zealand, Edgbaston 1990
vs 93 all out, Pakistan, Old Trafford 1992

Highest Innings
for 294, Graham Gooch vs West Indies, The Oval 1991
vs 185, Vinod Kambli, India, Calcutta 1993

Best Innings Bowling
for 8 for 47, Peter Such vs India, Calcutta 1993
vs 7 for 66, Wasim Akram, Pakistan, Headingley 1992

Best Match Bowling
for 12 for 173, Phil Tufnell vs Sri Lanka, Colombo, 1993
vs 11 for 137, Wasim Akram, Pakistan, Headingley 1992

All-Time Record Most Runs in a Series
1016 - Graham Gooch vs West Indies, 1991

Partnerships
1. 190 - Graham Gooch & Tim Robinson vs Australia 1991
2. 192 - Alec Stewart & Mike Atherton vs Sri Lanka 1993
3. 325 - Graham Gooch & Robin Smith vs West Indies 1991
4. 247 - Robin Smith & Graeme Hick vs Pakistan 1992
5. 176 - Graeme Hick & Jack Russell vs West Indies 1991
6. 106 - Graham Gooch & Chris Lewis vs West Indies 1991
7. 174 - Chris Lewis & Phillip DeFreitas vs Australia 1993
8. 54 - Chris Lewis & Andy Caddick vs Australia 1993
9. 69 - Gladstone Small & Angus Fraser vs Australia 1990
10. 29 - Gladstone Small & Devon Malcolm vs New Zealand 1990

Honours Board

vs , 1989-90
Graham Gooch - 112
Robin Smith - 101
Robin Smith - 112
Graham Gooch - 100

vs , 1990
Graham Gooch - 127
Rob Bailey - 196

vs , 1990
none

vs , 1990-91
Robin Smith - 110
Graham Gooch - 170

vs , 1991
Robin Smith - 127
Graham Gooch - 175*
Graeme Hick - 108*
Graham Gooch - 165
Graham Gooch - 294
Robin Smith - 145

vs , 1991
Alec Stewart - 166
Graeme Hick - 100

vs , 1991-92
Alec Stewart - 126*
Graham Gooch - 124
Graeme Hick - 107

vs , 1992
Graham Gooch - 103
Robin Smith - 132
Graeme Hick - 147
Graham Gooch - 150*

vs , 1992-93
Graham Gooch - 132
Alec Stewart - 151*
Mike Atherton - 147
Robin Smith - 137

vs , 1992-93
Alec Stewart - 137
Robin Smith - 102*

vs , 1993
Alec Stewart - 132
Alec Stewart - 111
Graham Gooch - 139
Chris Lewis - 114*


vs , 1989-90
Angus Fraser - 5 for 47
Gladstone Small - 5 for 72
Chris Lewis - 6 for 70

vs , 1990
none

vs , 1990
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 116
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 72

vs , 1990-91
Angus Fraser - 5 for 116
Devon Malcolm - 6 for 75

vs , 1991
Steve Watkin - 5 for 56
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 138
Devon Malcolm - 5 for 47
Angus Fraser - 5 for 86

vs , 1991
none

vs , 1991-92
Angus Fraser - 5 for 51
Phil Tufnell - 7 for 57

vs , 1992
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 100
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 31
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 45

vs , 1992-93
Phil Tufnell - 8 for 114
Peter Such - 8 for 47
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 72
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 167
Phil Tufnell - 7 for 171

vs , 1992-93
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 102
Phil Tufnell - 6 for 71

vs , 1993
Phil Tufnell - 7 for 105
Phillip DeFreitas - 5 for 19
Phillip DeFreitas - 5 for 62

Career Statistics
Includes all players who debuted before 1990 and played from that date onwards either in real life or in this universe.

Cap Numbers

Player	#	Debut	Last Test
Graham Gooch	461	v (1), 1975	v (5), 1993
Ian Botham	474	v (3), 1977	v (3), 1990
Mike Gatting	477	v (3), 1977-78	v (2), 1992-93
David Gower	479	v (1), 1978	v (2), 1991
John Emburey	480	v (3), 1978	v (4), 1989
Wayne Larkins	484	v (3), 1979-80	v (1), 1990
Allan Lamb	494	v (1), 1982	v (4), 1989-90
Derek Pringle	495	v (1), 1982	v (6), 1989
Eddie Hemmings	497	v (1), 1982	v (5), 1989-90
Neil Foster	502	v (3), 1983	v (1), 1992
Tim Robinson	511	v (1), 1984	v (5), 1991
Gladstone Small	521	v (2), 1986	v , 1991
Phillip DeFreitas	522	v (1), 1986-87	v (5), 1993
Neil Fairbrother	525	v (1), 1987	v (3), 1987-88
David Capel	526	v (3), 1987	v (6), 1989
Paul Jarvis	527	v (1), 1987-88	v (5), 1992
Robin Smith	530	v (4), 1988	v (5), 1993
Rob Bailey	531	v (5), 1988	v (4), 1991
Matt Maynard	532	v (5), 1988	only Test
Syd Lawrence	534	v , 1988	v , 1991
Phil Newport	535	v , 1988	v (1), 1989
Jack Russell	536	v , 1988	v (5), 1993
Angus Fraser	537	v (3), 1989	v (5), 1993
Mike Atherton	538	v (5), 1989	v (4), 1993
Devon Malcolm	539	v (5), 1989	v (2), 1993
Alan Igglesden	540	v (6), 1989	only Test
- - - - - - - - - -	- - -	- - - - - - - - - -	- - - - - - - - - -
Alec Stewart	542	v (1), 1989-90	v (5), 1993
Phil Tufnell	543	v (1), 1989-90	v (5), 1993
Chris Lewis	544	v (4), 1989-90	v (5), 1993
Graeme Hick	545	v (5), 1989-90	v (5), 1993
Martin Bicknell	546	v (3), 1990	v (4), 1991-92
Steve Watkin	547	v (1), 1991	v (2), 1991
Peter Such	548	v (3), 1991	:eng: v (1), 1993
Ian Salisbury	549	v (1), 1992-93	only Test
Mark Ramprakash	550	v (2), 1992-93	v , 1992-93
Dermot Reeve	551	v (3), 1992-93	only Test
Andy Caddick	552	v (2), 1993	v (5), 1993
Nasser Hussain	553	v (3), 1993	v (5), 1993

Captains

Player	Mat	W	D	L	First	Last
Graham Gooch	40	17	8	15	v (5), 1988	v (5), 1993
Graeme Hick	1	1	0	0	v (2), 1992-93	only Test

Batting & Fielding

Player	Mat	Inn	NO	Runs	Avg	100s	50s	Best	Ct	St
Mike Atherton	24	45	3	1550	36.90	1	9	147	9	-
Rob Bailey	15	28	1	815	30.19	1	2	196	15	-
Martin Bicknell	4	4	0	65	16.25	-	-	48	2	-
Ian Botham (RET)	108	176	7	5656	33.47	14	25	208	135	-
Andy Caddick	4	7	1	119	19.83	-	-	37*	-	-
David Capel (RET)	11	18	0	293	16.27	-	2	98	4	-
Phillip DeFreitas	19	29	2	475	17.59	-	1	82	5	-
John Emburey (RET)	60	89	18	1540	21.49	-	8	75	33	-
Neil Fairbrother	4	4	0	5	1.25	-	-	3	3	-
Neil Foster (RET)	39	60	12	600	12.50	-	-	42*	13	-
Angus Fraser	37	52	7	447	9.93	-	-	34	6	-
Mike Gatting	70	121	14	4037	37.73	9	19	207	53	-
Graham Gooch	111	205	8	8752	44.43	20	49	294	126	-
David Gower (RET)	124	215	17	8506	42.96	15	47	215	75	-
Eddie Hemmings (RET)	13	19	3	332	20.75	-	1	95	4	-
Graeme Hick	23	41	3	1655	43.55	4	9	147	39	-
Nasser Hussain	2	3	0	34	11.33	-	-	33	3	-
Alan Igglesden	1	1	1	2	-	-	-	2*	1	-
Paul Jarvis	10	15	4	189	17.18	-	-	35*	1	-
Allan Lamb (RET)	60	105	9	3224	33.58	9	12	137*	53	-
Wayne Larkins (RET)	10	19	0	348	18.31	-	-	43	5	-
Syd Lawrence	2	2	0	6	3.00	-	-	4	-	-
Chris Lewis	32	51	8	1146	26.65	1	3	114*	28	-
Devon Malcolm	24	34	8	162	6.23	-	-	14*	6	-
Matt Maynard	1	2	0	13	6.50	-	-	10	-	-
Phil Newport	2	3	0	70	23.33	-	-	36	1	-
Derek Pringle	21	36	3	512	15.51	-	2	66	7	-
Mark Ramprakash	3	6	1	195	39.00	-	2	76*	-	-
Dermot Reeve	1	2	0	12	6.00	-	-	6	-	-
Tim Robinson	41	71	6	2362	36.33	4	12	175	14	-
Jack Russell	46	78	17	2063	33.82	1	12	128*	121	10
Ian Salisbury	1	1	0	21	21.00	-	-	21	-	-
Gladstone Small	20	26	7	382	20.10	-	2	59	2	-
Robin Smith	47	87	7	3806	47.58	10	21	145	15	-
Alec Stewart	19	37	3	1692	49.76	6	3	166	5	-
Peter Such	8	9	2	21	3.00	-	-	6	2	-
Phil Tufnell	31	45	10	158	4.51	-	-	36	8	-
Steve Watkin	2	4	0	55	13.75	-	-	27	-	-

Bowling

Player	Mat	Ovr	Runs	Wkts	Avg	Econ	5WI	10WM	Best
Mike Atherton	24	73	305	9	33.89	4.2	-	-	3/32
Rob Bailey	15	43	175	2	87.50	4.1	-	-	1/0
Martin Bicknell	4	191	469	11	42.63	2.5	-	-	3/72
Ian Botham (RET)	108	3779	11223	400	28.13	3.0	27	4	8/34
Andy Caddick	4	171	422	13	32.46	2.5	-	-	4/71
David Capel	11	209	628	12	52.33	3.0	-	-	2/13
Phillip DeFreitas	19	666	1884	49	38.45	2.8	3	1	5/19
John Emburey	60	2371	5105	138	36.99	2.1	6	-	7/78
Neil Fairbrother	4	2	9	0	-	4.5	-	-	-
Neil Foster	39	1451	3902	115	33.93	2.7	5	1	8/107
Angus Fraser	37	1494	3680	110	33.45	2.5	3	-	5/47
Mike Gatting	70	125	317	4	79.25	2.5	-	-	1/14
Graham Gooch	111	306	740	17	43.53	2.4	-	-	2/12
David Gower (RET)	124	6	20	1	20.00	3.3	-	-	1/1
Eddie Hemmings	13	513	1454	31	46.90	2.8	-	-	4/90
Graeme Hick	23	46	170	5	34.00	3.7	-	-	3/38
Nasser Hussain	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Alan Igglesden	1	37	146	3	48.67	3.9	-	-	2/91
Paul Jarvis	10	359	1069	26	41.12	3.0	-	-	4/50
Allan Lamb (RET)	60	5	23	1	23.00	4.6	-	-	1/6
Wayne Larkins (RET)	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Syd Lawrence	2	68	223	4	55.75	3.3	-	-	2/74
Chris Lewis	32	931	2536	68	37.29	2.7	1	-	6/70
Devon Malcolm	24	850	2737	86	31.83	3.2	2	-	6/75
Matt Maynard	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Phil Newport	2	92	339	9	37.66	3.7	-	-	4/87
Derek Pringle	21	625	1807	48	37.64	2.9	2	-	5/95
Mark Ramprakash	3	1	2	0	-	2.0	-	-	-
Dermot Reeve	1	14	39	0	-	2.8	-	-	-
Tim Robinson	41	1	0	0	-	0.0	-	-	-
Jack Russell	46	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ian Salisbury	1	13	76	0	-	5.9	-	-	-
Gladstone Small	20	784	1980	60	33.00	2.5	3	-	5/48
Robin Smith	47	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Alec Stewart	19	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Peter Such	8	370	1092	38	28.74	3.0	1	-	8/47
Phil Tufnell	31	1387	4028	161	25.01	2.9	14	5	8/114
Steve Watkin	2	64	223	5	44.60	3.5	1	-	5/56

​

Four players in particular really improved their numbers in this Ashes series:

• Phillip DeFreitas - 166 runs @ 33.20 (best 82) and 18 wickets @ 16.44 (2 5WI, best 5/19) in 3 matches
• Chris Lewis - 306 runs @ 43.71 (1 century, best 114*) and 16 wickets @ 28.06 (best 3/30) in 5 matches
• Alec Stewart - 527 runs @ 58.56 (2 centuries, best 132) in 5 matches
• Phil Tufnell - 28 wickets @ 22.57 (1 5WI, best 7/105) in 5 matches

That's right - Phil Tufnell, who came into the series with a career average of 25.53 and on one of the hottest runs of form of any spinner in decades, improved his bowling average. He has also moved up to 11th on the all-time list of England wicket-takers; he's also fourth among spinners, and of those above him only Laker has a better bowling average.

Hugely impressive from Tufnell, and I hope it's making @blockerdave happy

 

[Aislabie]

England tour of the West Indies, 1993-94

Itinerary
19 Feb 1994 - West Indies vs England - First Test at Sabina Park - Match drawn
17 Mar 1994 - West Indies vs England - Second Test at Bourda - West Indies won by 8 wickets
25 Mar 1994 - West Indies vs England - Third Test at Queen's Park Oval - England won by 214 runs
08 Apr 1994 - West Indies vs England - Fourth Test at Kensington Oval - Match drawn
16 Apr 1994 - West Indies vs England - Fifth Test at Antigua Rec - England won by 7 runs

England Squad

Graham Gooch

Mike Atherton
Graeme Hick
Mark Ramprakash
Robin Smith
Alec Stewart
Graham Thorpe

Richard Blakey
Jack Russell

Chris Lewis

Andy Caddick
Dominic Cork
Phillip DeFreitas
Angus Fraser
Mark Ilott
Devon Malcolm

Peter Such
Phil Tufnell

Only two changes from the Ashes-winning squad: the first is that Nasser Hussain is left out following a horrible start to his Test career against Australia; the second is that Mark Ilott forces his way in after a stellar tour of South Africa with the England 'A' team in which he took 37 wickets at 14 apiece. England haven't had a left-arm seamer in roughly forever, so it will be interesting to see if they can find room for him in a role that already has plenty of suitors. With Hussain out of the squad, it is as yet unclear whether the number three role will go back to Atherton, or if Robin Smith will be promoted into the position after having had a bit of a lean run, by his standards, in the last year at number four.

 

[i.n]

England tour of the West Indies, 1993-94

Itinerary
19 Feb 1994 - West Indies vs England - First Test at Sabina Park
17 Mar 1994 - West Indies vs England - Second Test at Bourda
25 Mar 1994 - West Indies vs England - Third Test at Queen's Park Oval
08 Apr 1994 - West Indies vs England - Fourth Test at Kensington Oval
16 Apr 1994 - West Indies vs England - Fifth Test at Antigua Rec

England Squad

Graham Gooch

Mike Atherton
Graeme Hick
Mark Ramprakash
Robin Smith
Alec Stewart
Graham Thorpe

Richard Blakey
Jack Russell

Chris Lewis

Andy Caddick
Dominic Cork
Phillip DeFreitas
Angus Fraser
Mark Ilott
Devon Malcolm

Peter Such
Phil Tufnell

Only two changes from the Ashes-winning squad: the first is that Nasser Hussain is left out following a horrible start to his Test career against Australia; the second is that Mark Ilott forces his way in after a stellar tour of South Africa with the England 'A' team in which he took 37 wickets at 14 apiece. England haven't had a left-arm seamer in roughly forever, so it will be interesting to see if they can find room for him in a role that already has plenty of suitors. With Hussain out of the squad, it is as yet unclear whether the number three role will go back to Atherton, or if Robin Smith will be promoted into the position after having had a bit of a lean run, by his standards, in the last year at number four.

Carnt Believe Your On The West Indies Tour All ready . Is That Batting and Bowling Or bit Of Sim Going on Aislabie.

 

[Aislabie]

West Indies vs England - First Test at Sabina Park

West Indies XI
Desmond Haynes
Phil Simmons
Richie Richardson
Brian Lara
Keith Arthurton
Jimmy Adams
Junior Murray
Winston Benjamin
Curtly Ambrose
Kenny Benjamin
Courtney Walsh

England XI
Graham Gooch
Alec Stewart
Robin Smith
Graeme Hick
Mark Ramprakash
Jack Russell
Chris Lewis
Phillip DeFreitas
Andy Caddick
Phil Tufnell
Devon Malcolm

- - -

West Indies win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

Despite being a winning team, England do come into this series with a little bit of uncertainty. To try to resolve it, they have omitted Michael Atherton from the Test team to instead give Mark Ramprakash a go at making the number five spot his own. In order to accommodate him, Smith has moved to three and Hick to four, giving England a top four with Test averages of 44.43, 49.76, 47.58 and 43.55. Suffice to say, there are worse players for a new batsman to come in behind. However, the other change to the side would be in view first: a recall for the express pace of Devon Malcolm.

England had a bit of a shocker with ball in hand. There really weren't many positives at all - the continued progress of Andy Caddick was one, and Phil Tufnell single-handedly taking on responsibility for not losing the game before his team had picked up a bat was another, but the control of someone like an Angus Fraser was sorely missed. His replacement (Malcolm) conceded 56 runs from his first eleven overs, although he did get the opportunity for a couple of confidence-boosting tail-end wickets thanks to some unusually caring captaincy from Gooch. Regardless, 469 is not the sort of total your bowlers concede in matches you go on to win.

Not that anyone had told the English openers: both Gooch and Stewart batted sublimely in a 186-run opening stand. Stewart was distraught to be caught-and-bowled for 93, but Gooch made no such mistake with regards to his landmark. He is also a batsman who prides himself on scoring "daddy hundreds", so his eventual 143 should bring him some satisfaction. After that, no English batsman managed to reach 40, but patient contributions from Russell (35) and DeFreitas (38) did the tourists no harm at all: by the time Caddick became the tenth wicket to fall, the West Indian advantage was reduced to only 29 and there were fewer than five sessions left in the match in which to force a now unlikely victory.

There was in theory a small chance that England could push for a win if they were to quickly roll the West Indies over, but it was pretty clear that Richie Richardson wasn't about to let that happen. Despite good spells from DeFreitas, Lewis and Tufnell in particular, the home batsmen held firm and were not prepared to risk a loss in order to chase the win. The result was an unattainable target for England of 249 to win in three hours, a target which they did not opt to chase. Instead, Smith and Stewart calmly batted out most of those hours, making the Gooch golden duck a complete non-issue.

Not an especially interesting first Test, but one that was important not to lose. In terms of those returning to the side, neither had a great game - Ramprakash managed only 19 in his one innings, while Malcolm was having one of his off-days.

Spoiler: Barrington Medal Points

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Spoiler: Points system

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Graham Gooch - 3 points (+3)
2. Phil Tufnell - 2 points (+2)
3. Alec Stewart - 1 point (+1)

 

[Aislabie]

West Indies (0) vs (0) England - Second Test at Bourda

West Indies XI
Desmond Haynes
Richie Richardson
Brian Lara
Keith Arthurton
Jimmy Adams
Shiv Chanderpaul
Junior Murray
Winston Benjamin
Curtly Ambrose
Kenny Benjamin
Courtney Walsh

England XI
Graham Gooch
Alec Stewart
Robin Smith
Graeme Hick
Mark Ramprakash
Jack Russell
Chris Lewis
Phillip DeFreitas
Andy Caddick
Phil Tufnell
Peter Such

- - -

England win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

Bourda tends to be two of three things for bowlers: slow, low, and taking turn. On this occasion, it looked likely to be all three, which meant that England replaced Malcolm not with Angus Fraser, but with Peter Such. West Indies meanwhile made a change of their own, casting Phil Simmons off to the great cricketing dustbin and replacing him with local debutant Shivnarine Chanderpaul. He has quite a classical technique, which should doubtless stand the test of time. I'm sure the West Indies' apparent decision that Jimmy Adams is their front-line spinner won't be a problem.

The most important thing Graham Gooch could do was win the toss and bat, which he did - guaranteeing his spinners last use of the surface. The second-most important thing he could do was to bat long. This he did not do, picking up his second duck in consecutive innings. Worse was to follow as both Stewart and vice-captain Hick followed cheaply, heaping pressure on the young Ramprakash. With the guidance of Smith, he withstood that pressure for long enough to make a good 48, only to fall to Curtly Ambrose anyway. The only other batsman to provide stability was Russell: his innings of 40 from number six was good, but one suspects could have been better. One expects more than 226 when you have first use of a Test pitch.

Beginning their bowling effort on the second morning, there wasn't much early reward for the English seamers: their only wicket fell to Chris Lewis with 71 already on the board. With the pitch taking turn, one might have expected better from the spinners, but although they shared the wickets of Lara and Arthurton between them they appeared powerless to do anything about the in-form Richie Richardson. He would progress to 153 before finally becoming Phil Tufnell's second victim; the Middlesex and England star was unusually outshone by his junior spinning partner Peter Such, and even by Chris Lewis. Plus, the West Indian lead of 185 was a serious problem.

If England could battle their way to around 300 then they would at least have something to bowl at, but their lack of success in the first innings had not inspired confidence. After the usual early wickets, a lot of responsibility fell on the shoulders of Hick and Ramprakash. They were fully prepared to try to shoulder that responsibility - both made 50s that were impressive in different ways - but neither could make that decisive contribution their team needed. Chris Lewis also contributed well from further down the order, although his innings was ended on 45 by a good Winston Benjamin yorker. Surely a lead of 90 couldn't be enough, even on a late-day four pitch?

Nope. Especially not when Desmond Haynes decided to win it quickly. Phillip DeFreitas bowled well though.

Spoiler: Barrington Medal Points

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Spoiler: Points system

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
=1. Graham Gooch - 3 points
=1. Peter Such - 3 points (+3)
=2. Mark Ramprakash - 2 points (+2)
=2. Phil Tufnell - 2 points
=3. Chris Lewis - 1 point (+1)
=3. Alec Stewart - 1 point

 

[Aislabie]

West Indies (1) vs (0) England - Third Test at Queen's Park Oval

West Indies XI
Desmond Haynes
Richie Richardson
Brian Lara
Keith Arthurton
Jimmy Adams
Shiv Chanderpaul
Junior Murray
Winston Benjamin
Curtly Ambrose
Kenny Benjamin
Courtney Walsh

England XI
Graham Gooch
Alec Stewart
Robin Smith
Graeme Hick
Mark Ramprakash
Jack Russell
Chris Lewis
Phillip DeFreitas
Andy Caddick
Angus Fraser
Phil Tufnell

- - -

England win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

After a win like that, nobody would blame the West Indies for going unchanged. And they did, throwing their support behind what is clearly a very good team. England made only one change - a conditions-based change to replace Such with Angus Fraser, despite the former having outbowled his spin bowling colleague in the last game. Phil Tufnell is one of England's great spinners, and has earned the leniency.

Winning the toss and batting is always the orthodox move, but when confronted with Curtly Ambrose it does carry with it an element of risk. So it proved again as England found themselves two down with only 14 on the board. Brave half-centuries from Gooch, Hick and Ramprakash did help things somewhat, but brave half-centuries don't win you Test matches. One of those players needed to go on and take the game by the scruff of the neck, but none of them did. Yet again, England found themselves bowled out before the end of the first day, with fewer than 250 runs on the board, and the team management must surely be considering ways of strengthening the batting.

That never looked like being enough runs, especially not once Brian Lara got to the crease. The young left-hander made hay while the sun shone (which was somewhat infrequent given the constant rain delays) as he dominated the second day with a virtuoso century for the ages. Even his dismissal to Lewis on the third morning could not detract from such a spectacle of batsmanship. After that though, there were regular inroads for the visitors as Lewis and Tufnell chipped away at the West Indian batting until they had their opponents 316 for nine. It was at that point that disaster struck: well into a long spell and chasing a five-wicket haul, Lewis pulled up clutching a hamstring. He hobbled off, and England ended up so deflated that they leaked another 60 runs with Ambrose and Walsh at the crease. That was 60 runs they could ill afford to concede.

It would be critical to overhaul the West Indian advantage while incurring minimal losses, and England achieved exactly that: by the close of the third day, both Gooch (61*) and Stewart (78*) were still batting, and England had eked out an advantage of four runs. The game was quite literally back in the balance. There would be no faffing about in the 90s for Stewart this time, as he cruised into three figures and beyond, making his seventh career century and falling only narrowly short of a career-best score. Further half-centuries also came from Ramprakash and Russell, and by the time the ten men of England were bowled out on the fourth morning, they'd put together a lead of 297 runs. It's a cliché, but all four results were still on the table.

What's more, clouds were in the skies - and Angus Fraser likes clouds. He removed Desmond Haynes before a run was scored, and quickly followed that with the vital scalp of Richardson. Caddick then claimed Lara to reduce the West Indies to 23 for three. Surely things couldn't carry on like this? In fact, they could - Phillip DeFreitas' entry to the attack had an enormous impact on the recovering Windies. He reprised his summer form to claim the wickets of Arthurton, Adams and Murray in quick succession and expose the tail. The West Indies reached lunch at 50 for six, and the game was well and truly up. It's hard to say which England seamer was the star - was it DeFreitas, who got Arthurton, Adams, Murray and Chanderpaul, or was it Fraser who bowled 20 impeccable overs, 9 maidens, five for 21?

Regardless, England were the unlikely winners, and back level in the series.

Spoiler: Barrington Medal Points

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Spoiler: Points system

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Angus Fraser - 5 points (+5)
=2. Phillip DeFreitas - 3 points (+3)
=2. Graham Gooch - 3 points
=2. Mark Ramprakash - 3 points (+1)
=2. Alec Stewart - 3 points (+2)
=2. Peter Such - 3 points
7. Phil Tufnell - 2 points
8. Chris Lewis - 1 point

 

[Aislabie]

West Indies (1) vs (1) England - Fourth Test at Kensington Oval

West Indies XI
Desmond Haynes
Richie Richardson
Brian Lara
Keith Arthurton
Jimmy Adams
Shiv Chanderpaul
Junior Murray
Winston Benjamin
Curtly Ambrose
Kenny Benjamin
Courtney Walsh

England XI
Graham Gooch
Alec Stewart
Robin Smith
Graeme Hick
Mark Ramprakash
Graham Thorpe (debut)
Jack Russell
Phillip DeFreitas
Mark Ilott (debut)
Angus Fraser
Phil Tufnell

- - -

England win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

Despite losing the third Test, the West Indies went into this match with yet another unchanged lineup. England had no such luxury: with Chris Lewis injured, they had no choice but to replace him. Their decision to select debutant Graham Thorpe in that role was an interesting one, as it meant a deviation from the usual four-seamer strategy that has been Gooch's preference as captain. Speaking of seamers, Andy Caddick also lost his place in the side after taking only five wickets at 64 apiece in the first three Tests. Thus, England go into the crucial fourth Test with two debutants and an untried strategy.

For the third time, Gooch opted to bat first upon winning the toss. Unusually for Gooch, he stamped his authority on proceedings straight away, flaying Walsh's opening over for 14 runs, and he never let go of that momentum: failures from Stewart and Smith didn't derail his route to yet another Test century, one reached with his vice-captain Graeme Hick for company. Hick, however, fell marginally short of his own century, caught behind for 94 after the West Indies took the second new ball. After finishing the first day in a position of strength at 275 for three, the pressure was on England to convert such a start into a winning position. The impetus to do so came from a debutant: Graham Thorpe looked instantly at home at Test level by scoring a composed 94. When he fell - like Hick, agonisingly short of a century - Gooch declared to pursue the win.

The other debutant Ilott took the new ball, and claimed the first wicket of the innings... a mere 146 runs later. The third and fourth days of the Test were horrific for the English bowlers; only DeFreitas put in a display of real quality, and his two wickets for 94 were scant reward. As for everyone else, they just got massacred by the scything Gray-Nicholls of Brian Lara. The Trinidadian marauded his way to a remarkable unbeaten 239, and could possibly have gone on to a triple century had Richardson not declared to try to get some sort of result out of the game.

All England really had to do was to bat long and refuse to get out. So naturally, Gooch, Smith, Hick and Ramprakash all got out cheaply. Had Alec Stewart not been scoring fluently at the other end, there would have been a real collapse on the cards. Instead, he and Thorpe managed to steady the ship somewhat. There was another twist though - Ambrose, on his usual fine form, dismissed both batsmen, sparking a second collapse from a relatively safe 146 for four. Only breezy 20-odds from Ilott and Fraser managed to get England into the sort of territory where it might actually be difficult for the West Indies to chase down the target in the time left.

Indeed, with an asking rate of well over six from the remaining 32 overs, the West Indians did not end up actually going for the target. The English bowlers opted not to push their luck on the matter, instead simply counting their blessings, accepting the draw, and surviving to take the fight into the fifth Test.

Spoiler: Barrington Medal Points

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Spoiler: Points system

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Graham Gooch - 6 points (+3)
2. Angus Fraser - 5 points
3. Alec Stewart - 4 points (+1)
=4. Phillip DeFreitas - 3 points
=4. Mark Ramprakash - 3 points
=4. Peter Such - 3 points
=7. Graeme Hick - 2 points (+2)
=7. Phil Tufnell - 2 points
9. Chris Lewis - 1 point