England v West Indies, 2nd Test, Headingley

A paradise for seam bowlers

S Rajesh

May 23, 2007

Headingley hasn't been kind to spinners in the last decade, but Monty Panesar managed six wickets in his only appearance here last year © Getty Images

Despite little opportunity to practice and get used to conditions, West Indies performed creditably at Lord's to ensure that the series is level after one Test. The challenge is to lift that standard in the second Test at Headingley, a venue where they were mauled inside two days by an innings and 39 runs the last time they played there, in August 2000.

If the weather stays fine, it's highly unlikely that Leeds will produce another stalemate - the eight Tests here have all produced a winner, while ten out of 11 Tests between these two sides has also produced a decisive result. (Click here for a list of all Tests at Headingley, and here for all batting and bowling stats at the venue.)

The venue has often been called a seamer's paradise, but captains have still preferred to bat first after winning the toss - in 66 Tests, only 12 times has a captain chosen to field; on the 54 occasions when the team has batted first, they've won 21 times, including the last three matches. Overall, the toss hasn't had too great an impact on the result - only 26 out of 49 results have gone in favour of the team calling correctly - but the last four Tests have all been won by the team winning the toss.

Recent numbers do show quite clearly, though, that seam and pace is the way to go here: in ten Tests since 1995, pace has accounted for 279 wickets at an average of 31 runs per wicket, and on 15 occasions bowlers have taken five or more wickets in an innings. (Darren Gough alone has achieved it three times during this period.) Spinners, on the other hand, have managed a paltry 34 wickets at nearly 46 apiece in Tests since 1995. Only once has a spinner taken more than three in an innings - India's Anil Kumble nailed 4 for 66 and finished with match figures of 7 for 159 in 2002. The only other slow bowler who has managed more than five wickets in a match during this period is England's current specialist spinner - Monty Panesar had match figures of 6 for 166 against Pakistan last year. The last spinner to take a five-for here was John Emburey, against Australia in 1985.

Most of the England batsmen in the current line-up have pretty good records here: Andrew Strauss has a hundred and a half-century in four innings, for an average of 56. Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell both got centuries the last time they played here - against Pakistan last year - but for Michael Vaughan his county ground hasn't been as lucky: in six innings he has only scored 201 runs at 33.50.

The most interesting stats at this ground, though, belong to Andrew Flintoff: in his first four innings, he failed to get off the mark. In his next three innings he passed 50 each time, and made 94 in his last appearance here in 2004. Unfortunately, he won't have a chance to extend that excellent run this time.

S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo

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