Flashback: Only instance of a team fielding four bowlers with 200+ Test wickets
A side with experienced bowlers is a side that wins more often than not. Players with a number of wickets in their respective careers come together to form a formidable team irrespective of the format. However, not often does a Playing XI have all the bowlers with a bucketload of experience. Recently, the Australians fielded a team with four bowlers with over 200 wickets and the result of the match was exactly what they needed.
After winning the opening Test of the 2023 Ashes series against arch-rivals England at Edgbaston in Birmingham, the Kangaroos faced their old foes at Lord’s in the second match. Coincidentally, all of their four premier bowlers had over 200 scalps to their names in the longest format of the game.
Australia’s bowling attack
Skipper Pat Cummins, speedster Mitchell Starc, the ever-consistent Josh Hazlewood, and their spin master Nathan Lyon were the four main bowlers for the Aussies who fielded at Lord’s. Starc replaced Scott Boland from the Birmingham Test as the Aussies decided to bring back their speed merchant.
English skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to field first. The visitors posted a challenging total of 416 on the board in their first innings. In reply, the home side got bundled out for 325 as Starc and Hazlewood picked up three and two wickets respectively while Cummins and Lyon snared a scalp each, with the latter suffering a bad calf injury.
Lyon got ruled out for the remainder of the match and eventually the series. Meanwhile, the tourists set a huge target of 371 for the hosts which they could not achieve. England got bowled out for 327 as the Aussies won the contest by 43 runs, with Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood picking three wickets apiece. With this, Australia took a 2-0 lead in the series as the World Test Champions look in great form at the moment.
Overall, Starc has played 79 Tests and picked up 316 scalps at an average of 27.64 while captain Cummins has appeared in 52 games and taken 229 wickets at an average of 22.01. Right-arm fast-medium seamer Hazlewood has played 61 Tests and managed to snare 230 scalps at an average of 26.06. Last but not least, Lyon, who is approaching a staggering 500 wickets, has 496 scalps to his name at an average of 31.00 in 122 matches.
