Published: Sep 06, 2013, 09:31 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 25, 2014, 12:58 AM (IST)
England and Australia have played each other four times at Headingley in ODIs with two wins each. Their last encounter at the venue was in 2005 © Getty Images
After the gruelling Ashes 2013 and a couple of Twenty20 internationals, the arch rivals will lock horns in the first of the five One-Day Internationals at Headingley on Friday. Sarang Bhalerao does a statistical analysis of the venue.
Eoin Morgan will lead England against Michael Clarke’s Australia at Headingley on Friday. Both the teams played one-off games against Ireland and Scotland respectively and have got valuable practice ahead of the marquee clash.
England struggled at the start of the innings chasing Ireland’s total of 270. Centuries from Morgan and Ravi Bopara rescued England from a precarious position they were once in at 48 for four.
Australia hammered Scotland courtesy of big hundreds from Aaron Finch (148) and Shaun Marsh (151). Australia scored an imposing 362 for three and dismissed Scotland for 162, thus winning by 200 runs.
So far, England and Australia have played four times at Headingley. Australia won the first two games (1975 and 1981) comfortably. Later England produced clinical wins over Australia in 1997 and 2005.
Head to head in ODIs:
| England vs Australia | M | W | L | NR | Tied | W/L |
| Overall | 118 | 47 | 67 | 2 | 2 | 0.7 |
| In England | 53 | 25 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| At Headingley | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
W/L ratio is the factor obtained by dividing the number of wins by the number of losses.
England and Australia were involved in two ties — at Trent Bridge in 1989 and at Lord’s in 2005.
England’s overall win-loss ratio is below one. They have lost 67 games and won 47 games in 118 matches. The teams have been involved in two tied matches as well.
England’s lowest score at Headingley is 93, when Gary Gilmour picked up six wickets in the semi-final of the 1975 Prudential World Cup. Australia won the game by four wickets.
In 1981, Graham Wood scored 108 and powered Australia to a comfortable 71-run win over England in the third and the decisive game of the three-match one-day series.
In 1997, England chased Australia’s total of 171 as Adam Holllioake finished the game in style, hitting Jason Gillespie for a six to finish the game.
In 2005, England thrashed Australia by nine wickets in a game where the Supersub was used for the very first time. Marcus Trescothick scored an unbeaten 104 and skipper Michael Vaughan hit an unbeaten 59.
Australia have played eight ODI games at Headingley and have won four and lost four. Their top score has been 278 against Pakistan in the 1975 World Cup (60-over contest). It was here where Australia won their last Super Six game against South Africa in the 1999 World Cup where Steve Waugh scored a scintillating century.
The five games will be played in Leeds, Old Trafford, Birmingham, Cardiff and Southampton. Let us look at England’s performances at the home venues:
| Ground | M | W | L | NR | W/L |
| Headingley, Leeds | 26 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Old Trafford | 32 | 21 | 10 | 1 | 2.1 |
| Birmingham | 32 | 19 | 11 | 1 | 1.73 |
| Cardiff | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | – |
| Southampton | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1.5 |
England’s record in the five venues is decent: they have won more than they have lost in all the five centres. The best W/L ratio is at Old Trafford where the home team has won 21 games and has lost just 10 games. At Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, England have not lost a single game. It is the same venue where Bangladesh beat Australia in a thrilling encounter in 2005.
Note: Clarke and Shane Watson are the only members of the Australian side who have played an ODI at Headingley. Clarke scored a nine-ball two while Watson scored a 13-ball three. Watson bowled three overs and conceded 16 runs.
(Sarang Bhalerao hails from a family of doctors, but did his engineering. He then dumped a career in IT with Infosys to follow his heart and passion and became a writer with CricketCountry. A voracious reader, Sarang aspires to beat Google with his knowledge of the game! You can follow him on Twitter here)
