Had we known on June 16, as Pat Cummins set up to launch the Ashes season’s inaugural delivery to Zak Crawley, the future outcomes that we know today, we could have resolved the world’s issues with a mere £1 bet. This minor wager could have instigated an epoch of worldwide serenity, wealth, harmony, and well-timed, fairly funded Test cricket globally.
This bet may have been historic, potentially regarded as the first and only instance of ‘betting conscientiously’, and an investment in humanity’s future.
The bet slip would merely have needed to forecast the subsequent occurrences to garner, for argument’s sake, an estimated £18.1 quadrillion (granted that the relevant bookmaker was equipped and willing to dispense the payout):
Chris Woakes’ outstanding performance
Woakes clinching the Compton-Miller medal for series’ best player
Despite having not participated in a Test since the pre-Bazballic era and having claimed only 27 wickets – with an average of 46 – in his past 12 Ashes Tests, the Brummie Bradman/Barnes/Botham shines. His last season of Test cricket in Australia and West Indies in 2021-22 yielded 11 wickets across six Tests, averaging over 50.
Woakes’ success in bagging more wickets (19) in the series than the combined total of Ollie Robinson (10), James Anderson (5), and Scott Boland (2)
Robinson had an impressive Test career start with 66 wickets at 21, Anderson managed 45 at 17 in his preceding 10 Tests, a superb garnish to his already impressive 640-wicket career, and Boland, with 33 wickets at an astonishing 19th-century average of 14, seemed perfectly suited to English conditions.
Woakes’ bowling average ending the series at less than half of Pat Cummins’
Woakes, the wizard from Warwickshire, took 19 wickets at 18.1 each. In contrast, Australia’s captain, Cummins, finished with 18 at 37.7.
Woakes securing the second spot on the all-time list of the best series average by an English seam bowler with at least 18 wickets in a home Ashes during an English summer, where ball-tracking data shows that collectively seamers extracted less lateral movement than any other season since at least 2005.
(At this stage, the bookmaker may have grown suspicious about the precision of your wager.)
Woakes is the only England seamer, apart from post-war medium-paced magician Alec Bedser (39 at 17.4 in 1953), to take 18-plus wickets in a home Ashes series with a better average.
Woakes became the first England bowler since 1985 to take more than 12 wickets in an Ashes series with an average below 20. That year, Richard Ellison, the swingster from Kent, managed a total of 17 for 185 in his two matches at the end of the series.
Consistency of openers
Zak Crawley and David Warner were the two players with the most 20-plus innings, both reaching 20 seven times. Many believed, supported by robust statistical data, that Crawley would “never be consistent but would play the occasional game-changing innings.” However, this summer he demonstrated remarkable consistency and also produced the occasional game-changing innings.
Australia’s porous defense and England’s unstoppable attack
Australia setting a new all-time record for the fewest maidens in a Test series of five or more matches.
Australia to deploy 11 bowlers in the series, nine of them conceding at least four runs per over, with the only two exceptions being the slightly unsteady occasional leg-spinners Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne.
(At this stage, the bookmaker might have grown increasingly uncomfortable and suspect you of being a time-traveler suffering from severe time-machine-lag.)
Pat Cummins having an economy rate exceeding 4.5 runs per over in five consecutive innings.
(Your bookmaker is now looking considerably distressed.)
Exciting statistics encapsulating the thrilling nature of the series
No team was dismissed for under 220.
The highest-averaging batter on each side being (a) Crawley, and (b) Mitchell Marsh, with (a) Woakes and (b) Todd Murphy as the lowest-averaging bowlers.
Six England players registering a series aggregate of 300 runs or more.
The Oval Test did not feature a century or a five-wicket haul.
Four matches being decided by margins fewer than 50 runs or by three or fewer wickets.
The series concluding with no batter having been run out.
Stuart Broad swapping the bails on the stumps twice in the series, and each bail-swappage followed by a wicket the next ball.
Several other statistical highlights and achievements worth mentioning occurred throughout the series. The captivating cricket displayed this summer, along with the immense challenge that the current England team pose to their opponents, should be evident through these figures.
Both sides experienced significant good and bad fortune throughout the series. Either team could have ended the series as convincing winners if key moments and stages had turned out differently.
This has been a spectacular summer of Ashes cricket, with both the men’s and women’s series providing the kind of sport that should be incorporated into the national curriculum as an exemplary demonstration of constructing a continuously engrossing, soul-absorbing narrative drama.
Thank you, Test cricket, for being utterly distinctive.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Ashes 2023 statistics
Who was the player of the series in Ashes 2023?
Chris Woakes won the Compton-Miller medal for player of the series in Ashes 2023. He showed a remarkable performance, taking more wickets in the series than several other key players combined.
Which opening batsmen performed consistently in Ashes 2023?
Zak Crawley and David Warner were the two players with the most innings of 20-plus. Both players reached 20 seven times, demonstrating a level of consistency previously unexpected from them.
Did Australia set a record for fewest maidens in a Test series during Ashes 2023?
Yes, Australia set a record for the fewest maidens in a Test series of five or more matches. They managed only 34 maidens in the entire series.
How many players from England posted a series aggregate of 300 runs or more?
Six England players posted a series aggregate of 300 runs or more in the Ashes 2023, something that had never happened in any previous Ashes series.
Were there any run-outs in the Ashes 2023 series?
No, there were no run-outs in the Ashes 2023 series. This is only the second Test series of five or more matches which did not feature a run-out. The other was the 1998-99 Ashes in Australia.
Was there a Test in Ashes 2023 where a three was not scored?
Yes, the Headingley Test in the Ashes 2023 was the first instance in more than 2,000 Tests, according to CricViz’s ball-by-ball data, where a match contained no threes.
