Ashes analysis: the numbers behind England’s battle in Australia

England’s abysmal record in Australia since their famous 2010-11 series win is well documented, but what are some of the underlying issues facing tourists?

Here is a selection of key statistics from the past three series that demonstrate the challenge facing Ben Stokes’ side.

For exclusive stories and all the detailed cricket news you need, subscribe to The Cricket Paper website, digital edition or newspaper from just 14p per day.

0 – Number of England wins since 2011

We’ll start with the obvious statistic that all England fans will have had enough of by now, but the tourists have gone 15 Tests without tasting success Down Under and have only managed to record two morale-boosting draws in that period (MCG in 2017 and SCG in 2022).

3 – England trailed 3-0 after three Tests and the series had been over in each of the past three tours

Ben Stokes’ men simply cannot afford another slow start with Australian momentum seemingly impossible to counter in their home conditions.

35.68 – Joe Root’s Test average in Australia

A story that will continue to dominate headlines in the coming series unless Joe Root – who has nine scores above 50 – can finally achieve that elusive Test century in Australia.

While a ton is neither Root’s primary focus nor even necessary to cement his legacy, it is clear that England’s leading run-scorer has found Australian conditions to be his biggest challenge, as his second-lowest average is 45.42 in India (excluding an average of 24.50 in just two Tests in Bangladesh).

48% – England goes all the way for under 200

It was difficult to bat as a group, with England being dismissed for less than 200 runs fourteen times in 29 innings – four times, happening twice in the same Test.

They have surpassed 300 just six times, including back-to-back first innings totals of 400+ in 2017-2018, but failed to do so throughout the entire 2021-2022 tour.

8 – Number of times England trailed by more than 150 runs after the first innings

It is fair to say that whether England has batted or bowled first, they have almost always caught up at half-on and mainly from a position of unlikely return.

Only twice have England opened a first innings lead, both in the 2013 and 2017 MCG Boxing Day Test.

120 – Smallest margin of victory based on runs

It is therefore unsurprising that the Tests in Australia have not been nearly as dramatic as those of recent times in England, with the 120-run defeat in the Second Test of 2017-18 in Adelaide statistically the closest we have come to a chase with fleeting moments of hope, requiring 185 runs and seven wickets in hand before being quickly extinguished.

17 – Number of times England have lost six or more wickets for less than 100 runs

‘Tis the season for a batting collapse if you’re England in Australia, with people in Britain often waking up to the news that the wheels have come off another batting in dramatic fashion.

This may have been a gentle way of portraying it, with many small-scale collapses painting a much worse picture, but from losing six wickets for nine runs in Brisbane 2013 to losing all 10 wickets in the space of 56 runs in Hobart 2022 and everything in between, it has largely been a car crash.

68 – England played against The G

England’s 2021 capitulation in Melbourne was Australia’s lowest total since 1904, with debutant Scott Boland needing just 19 deliveries to reach a haul of five wickets on his way to remarkable figures of 6–7.

21.59 – Average score among English openers

Losing early wickets has been a particular problem for England, with only four half-century partnerships, culminating in Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed’s nightmare tour in 2021-22, in contrast to Australia’s much more solid average of 40.35.

In 15 of the 29 innings, England have lost at least one of their openers with the score in single figures, and the average fall of the first wicket is 7.3 overs, laying the challenge on Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, who as a pair have averaged a healthy 46.47 in 55 innings.

1 – Number of England batters to average over 30 during the 2013-14 and 2021-22 series (minimum three matches)

Ben Stokes led the way in his debut Test series with an average of 34.87 in 2013-14, while Joe Root scored three half-centuries from 2021-2022 at 32.20.

By comparison, Australia had six in each of these two series, the majority of which were above 40.

5 – Centuries scored by an English player

Three of those came in two Tests in 2017 – Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow in Perth and Alastair Cook in Melbourne – with Ben Stokes and Bairstow also making the only hundreds for England in 2013-14 and 2021-22 respectively.

That total is equaled by Steve Smith alone, with Australia recording a total of 24 individual centuries.

9 – Century partnerships by an England couple

Following that similar pattern, England have struggled to occupy the crease for extended periods, with their number of century partnerships significantly lower than Australia’s 23 – most notably Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh, who added 301 for the fifth wicket in Perth in 2017.

662 – Australia’s highest ash total

That partnership at the WACA Ground between Smith and Marsh helped the hosts reach 662-9d, which was their highest score in the Ashes on an Australian ground – they achieved their third highest score in the fifth Test in Sydney later that series (649-7d).

2 – Contenders for Ball of the Century

Now, there’s not much England can do about this, but it pretty much sums up their time with the bat that Australia summoned for two moments of magic in back-to-back series.

Ryan Harris’ first ball against Alastair Cook in the second innings of the 2013-14 Third Test in Perth may not be as dramatic as Mitchell Starc’s against Rory Burns eight years later, but it will be remembered for its unplayable nature as he swung Cook in before a late move saw him clip the bail atop a stump.

Back at the WACA Ground in the next series, Starc removed James Vince with a delivery around the wicket, rightly fooling the England batsman as he hit a crack and deviated from going down to crashing at 90mph.

13.71 – Difference in bowling averages between the three most profitable sears of Australia and England

Australia’s seam attack has dominated England’s batsmen, with an overall average of 20.49 over the past three series Down Under, from Mitchell Johnson’s remarkable 37 wickets at 13.97 to Scott Boland’s three-match burst at 9.55.

In contrast, England’s frontline scorers have averaged significantly higher at 34.20, a figure comparable to the overall mixed record of James Anderson and Stuart Broad in Australia, which was a far cry from their average in the Ashes series on home soil, while Australia’s big players have been able to replicate their performances much more accurately.

Anderson’s strike rate of 79.50 over the past three series was notably his worst than any other country, which may have played a role in England’s choice of a fast-pace strategy this time around.

35 – Number of wickets taken by English spinners

England have struggled to replace Graeme Swann following his mid-season retirement in 2013/14, with the spinners used since then failing to make much of an impact with a combined average of 73.80.

While Australia have been able to call on a world-class operator in Nathan Lyon who has claimed 56 wickets in the past three home Ashes series at an impressive average of 27.40.

14 – Players who played their last Test for England Down Under

This is not necessarily a surprising revelation as attrition after a major series is par for the course as some players contemplate the end of their international careers, but performances in an Ashes series, both as a team and individually, can often influence future decisions.

Kevin Pietersen was the notable name dropped in an exodus of experienced members from the 2013/2014 squad as England were rebuilding.

Scott Borthwick (2013-14), Mason Crane and Tom Curran (both 2017-18) have not featured in the Test line-up since making their debuts in the Ashes, while Rory Burns, Joe Buttler and Haseeb Hameed all made what remain their final Test appearances in the 2021-22 series.

READ MORE: Ashes flashbacks: a recap of rare moments of English positivity during the drought Down Under