Thursday, August 11, 2005

Old Trafford - Day 1 Lunch

What's a good First innings score?
With England on 93/1 at Lunch, I guess the question on most minds will be "What should England aim for in the first innings". Some of these stats might help you judge for yourselves:

The Old trafford pitch has got better for batting over the years. The average 1st innings score on this ground is 326, but in the last 10 matches, it has gone up to 385!

Only 7 times has a team lost to the Aussies after scoring more then 400 in the first innings (and Won 28 times, 26 draws and 1 Tie).

And only twice after scoring more then 450 (england in 1928/29 & 1948).

Only two teams have lost the game at Old trafford after scoring 300 runs in the first innings:
South Africa in 1947 after scoring 339 & West Indies in 2004 after scoring 395 for 9d

I recon 450 is a great score, but England can settle for 400+. Remember, they have a good bowling attack

Personal Landmarks
I guess we are all aware of Warne approaching 600 wickets. Couple of other worth mentioning.

Lee has just taken his 150th test wicket in his 40th Test.

And Treskothick needs just 31 runs to complete 500o runs in his 64th Test (he will cross 5000 when he scores 66).