Numbers Game

Virender Sehwag didn't play by the textbook, but he achieved incredible things over a career that lasted more than a decade

India isn't renowned for producing many world-class seam and swing bowlers, but Zaheer Khan was clearly among the best during his best years

Ian Bell's form could be a key factor for England if they are to reverse the results of 2012 in the UAE

In Pakistan's Test history, no player batting in the top three positions has scored 4500 runs; Azhar Ali is well on course to becoming the first

In the last five years, most teams have struggled to unearth stable and successful opening combinations, the one exception being Australia

Over the last ten years, teams have lost more than twice as many matches as they have won when playing overseas, a record which is much worse than in earlier years

Fifty-over games in England used to be relatively low-scoring, with the chasing team winning most often. That is no longer the case

Ishant Sharma and Dhammika Prasad seem to have both turned a corner in the last 18 months, while tail became top in the recent Sri Lanka-India series

Steven Smith, Chris Rogers and Joe Root were the leading run scorers in the Ashes, but another batsman had better control stats than all of them

Kumar Sangakkara's stunning numbers over the last decade puts him right up among the very best batsmen the game has ever seen

Over a career of more than 100 Tests, Clarke's numbers are outstanding along certain parameters, but quite ordinary along others

The upcoming three-Test series will pit two teams whose batting line-ups have several questions to answer

Since 2009, teams batting first have a win-loss ratio which is 61% higher than it was between 2000 and 2008

Since the beginning of 2012, Ian Bell averages 34.69 when batting in the top six; among regular top-order batsmen, only Shane Watson has a lower average

They are clearly the next batting stars, and each of them has outstanding Test numbers since the beginning of 2013

Are teams finding it easier to score big runs in the last innings, or was Pakistan's outstanding run-chase in Pallekele a one-off?

With the red Dukes ball, against Australia's current batting line-up, Stuart Broad has a much better record than James Anderson

Also: A look at Bangladesh bowlers' many recent debut successes in one-dayers

All sorts of batting records have been broken in the England-New Zealand ODI series, and the hosts' bold approach - especially in the first 30 - has been the main reason for this

They have a dismal 24-43 win-loss record against the top eight teams since January 2012, and batting has been their biggest worry