Ashes series : England vs Australia : Third Test at Birmingham : Start Date : 30.07.09: Second Day’s highlights

MEK Hussey collected his first hall duck in this innings to provide the 95th instance of an Australian batsman collecting the first ball duck against England. MEK Hussey’s zero in this game provides the 40^th occasion of an Aussie batsman collecting the first ball duck against England in England. His zero provides the 10^th occasion of an Aussie batsman collecting the first ball duck against England at Birmingham.

RT Ponting surpassed AR Border’s run aggregate of 11174 runs when he was on 25 during the course of his knock of 38 in this innings. At the end of the innings, RT Ponting’s aggregate stood at 11188 runs. Prior to the start of this test, RT Ponting had an aggregate of 11150 runs.

RT Ponting with his aggregate of 11188 runs has become the highest run getter in tests for Australia. He also moved to the third place in the list of most run getter in tests. The first and second places are held by SR Tendulkar {12773} and BC Lara {11953} respectively.

RT Ponting at the end of this innings has an aggregate of 1900 runs against England while batting at number three. DG Bradman {3349} and C Hill {1903} are the other two Australian batsmen who have more runs than RT Ponting while batting at number three against England.

MJ Clarke was playing his 50^th test and became the 42^nd Australian cricketer to appear in 50 or more tests. In his 50^th test appearance, in the first innings he made 29.

MJ Johnson collected his first hall duck in this innings to provide the 96th instance of an Australian batsman collecting the first ball duck against England. MEK Hussey’s zero in this game provides the 4lst occasion of an Aussie batsman collecting the first ball duck against England in England. His zero provides the 11th occasion of an Aussie batsman collecting the first ball duck against England at Birmingham.

MEK Hussey and MJ Johnson collected the first ball ducks in this innings to provide the 12^thinstance of two Australian batsmen collecting the first ball ducks in a test innings against England. The twelve instances read thus – TU Groube and J Slight in second innings at The Oval in Sep 1880, G Giffen and GJ Bonnor first innings at Melbourne in Jan 1883, AC Bannerman and SMJ Woods in second innings at Manchester in Aug 1888, JM Blackham and ST Callaway in second innings at Sydney in Jan 1892, SE Gregory and MA Noble in second innings at Leeds in June 1899, WW Armstrong and E Jones in first innings at Birmingham in May 1902, WJ O’Reilly and LS Darling in second innings at Melbourne in Jan 1937, R Edwards and RJ Inverarity in second innings at Leeds in July 1972, GS Chappell and JR Thomson in first innings at The Oval in Aug 1975, SCG MacGill and CR Miller in first innings at Sydney in Jan 1999, ML Hayden and MS Kasprowicz in first innings at Birmingham in Aug 2005 and MEK Hussey and MG Johnson in first innings at Birmingham in Jul 2009,

MEK Hussey and MJ Johnson collected the first ball ducks in this innings to provide the third instance of two Australian batsmen collecting the first ball ducks in a test innings against England at Birmingham. The other two instances are WW Armstrong and E Jones in May 1902 and ML Hayden and MS Kasprowicz in Aug 2005.

JM Anderson’s five wicket haul {5 for 80} in this innings provide the 235^th occasion of an England bowler capturing five or more wickets in an innings against Australia. It also provides the 115^th occasion of an England bowler capturing five plus wickets against Australia in England and the eighth such occasion at Birmingham.

The eight occasions at Birmingham are listed below – W Rhodes {7-17} in May 1902, C Blythe {6-44} in May 1909, GH Hirst {5-58} in May 1909, C Blythe {5-58} in May 1909, IT Botham {5-11} in Jul 1981, RM Ellison {6-77} in Aug 1985, AR Caddick {5-50} in Jun 1997 and JM Anderson {5-80} in Jul 2009

MEK Hussey was bowled without scoring for the first time in his 40 tests and 68 innings career. It was his first zero against England. His zero in this innings represent sixth zero of his test career which read thus – in second innings against India at Perth in Jan 2008, in second innings against New Zealand at Brisbane in Nov 2008, in first innings against South Africa at Perth in Dec 2008, in first innings against South Africa at Melbourne in Dec 2008, in second innings against South Africa at Johannesburg in Jan 2009 and in first innings against England at Birmingham in Jul 2009.

MG Johnson’s zero in this innings represent his first zero against England and the fourth zero of his test career which read thus – in first innings against West Indies at Bridgetown in Jun 2008, in first innings against South Africa at Melbourne in Dec 2008, in first innings against South Africa at Durban in Mar 2009 and in first innings against England at Birmingham in Jul 2009.

JM Anderson’s five for 80 represents the seventh five wicket haul of his test career and his first against Australia in England-Australia test series. His seven five wicket hauls read thus – 7 for 43 vs New Zealand at Nottingham in Jun 2008, 5 for 42 vs India at Lord’s in Jul 2007, 5 for 73 vs Zimbabwe at Lord’s in May 2003, 5 for 73 vs New Zealand at Wellington in Mar 2008, 5 for 80 vs Australia at Birmingham in Jul 2009, 5 for 87 vs West Indies at Chester-le-Street in May 2009 and 5 for 102 vs South Africa at Nottingham in Aug 2003.

AN Cook’s zero in this innings represent the third zero of his test career. The other two occasions were against Sri Lanka at Kandy in Dec 2007 {first innings} and against West Indies at Kingston in Feb 2009 {second innings}

AN Cook’s zero in this innings was his first zero against Australia and also was his first zero on home soil.

AN Cook’s zero in this innings represent the 85^th occasion of an England opening batsman scoring zero against Australia. It also represents 27^th such occasion on home soil and the fourth such occasion at Birmingham. The four occasions at Birmingham read thus – CB Fry in first innings in May 1902, JB Hobbs in first innings in May 1909, ME Trescothick in first innings in Jul 2001 and AN Cook in first innings in Jul 2009.

AJ Strauss’s 64 not out in this innings represent the tenth occasion of an England opening batsman registering a half century against Australia at Birmingham.

AJ Strauss’s 64 not out in this innings represent the 200th occasion of an England opening batsman registering a half century against Australia. It was AJ Strauss’s second half century after his 50 at Melbourne in Dec 2006.

AJ Strauss’s 64 not out in this innings represent the 37th occasion of an England‘s captain opening batsman registering a half century against Australia. It was AJ Strauss’s first half century in this dual capacity,

AJ Strauss’s 64 not out in this innings represent the 123rd occasion of an England‘s captain registering a fifty against Australia. It was AJ Strauss’s second fifty as England’s captain, the first being his 161 in the first innings at Lord’s in 2009 {in the on going test series}.

AJ Strauss’s 64 not out in this innings represent the 15^th half century and 33^rd fifty of his test career. It was his second half century and eighth fifty while captaining England.

BW Hilfenhaus’s 20 in this innings represent the 12^th occasion of an Australian number eleven batsman scoring 20 plus runs against England in England.