The records in a series is one of the main reasons why a player wants to be a part of a particular series, and if the series is more than a 130 years old, everyone wants to find himself in the series record book.
There are many young players, both in England and in Australia who want their names alongside the likes of Sir Donald Bradman and Sir Ian Botham in the Ashes records. Also, there are many others who want to witness the old Ashes records being broken and newer ones being made.
Below is a list of all the records in Ashes so far.
Ashes Records - Batting Records
Ashes Most Runs
Sir Donald Bradman holds the record forthe most runs in the Ashes. He has scored 5028 runs in 37 matches.
Ashes Most Centuries
Sir Donald Bradman has scored 19 centuries and 12 half centuries in the Ashes. This makes him the player with the most centuries in the Ashes.
Ashes Best Average
Sir Donald Bradman also has the best batting average in the Ashes of 89.78 in 37 matches and 63 innings.
Ashes Most Ducks
The record for the most ducks is also held by an Australian, Sydney Edward Gregory who has 11 ducks in 52 matches (92 innings) of the Ashes. It is interesting to note that out of his 12 career ducks, 11 of them came in the Ashes alone.
Ashes Records - Bowling Records
Ashes Most Wickets
Shane Warne holds the Ashes record for the most wickets in the Ashes, with 195 wickets in 36 matches (72 innings). He took 5 wickets in an innings 11 times and 10 wickets in a match 4 times. This also makes him a legendary bowler of the Ashes.
Ashes Most 5 Wicket Hauls
Sydney Barnes of England holds the record for the most 5 wicket hauls in the Ashes, as he has done it 12 times in 20 matches (36 innings).
Ashes Most 10 Wicket Hauls
Both Shane Warne and Thomas Richardson jointly hold the record for the most 10 wicket hauls in the Ashes. Both of these bowlers have four 10-wicket hauls to their names.
Ashes Best Economy
The record for the best economy is held by an English player called William Attewell who has an economy rate of 1.31 runs per over. He made this record across 10 matches where he bowled 475 overs and conceded only 626 runs.
Ashes Best Bowling Figures
Jim Laker has the best bowling figures in an innings, with 10/53 and also the best bowling figures in a match, with 19/90. He achieved this in the fourth test of the Ashes at Manchester in 1956. He managed to take 9 wickets in the first innings and all the 10 wickets in the second innings. The English team won the match by an innings and 170 runs.
Ashes Most Catches
Sir Ian Botham has the record of most catches to his name, as he has taken a total of 54 catches in 32 matches (62 innings).
Ashes Records - Individual Records
Most Matches Played in Ashes
Sydney Gregory has the Ashes record of playing the most matches as he has played 52 matches in the Ashes. He has scored 2193 runs with a top score of 201 runs.
Ashes Most Matches as Captain
Allan Border of Australia has played the most matches as captain in the Ashes and also has recorded the most wins as captain. He has played 28 matches as a captain and has won 13 of them, losing only 6.
Ashes Most Man of the Match
The Australian player Steven Smith has the record for winning the most Man of the Match titles in the Ashes. He has won 6 such titles so far in the Ashes, with the 6th title coming in the first match of Ashes 2019.
Ashes Most Man of the Series
The Australian players Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath hold the record for most Man of the Series awards (2 each). All others have won this award only once so far.
Ashes Records - Team Records
Ashes Highest Total Chased
The record for chasing the highest total in the Ashes is held by Australia who successfully chased a target of 404 in 1948 at Headingley. Arthur Morris and Donald Bradman scored centuries in this innings with scores of 182 and 173 respectively.
Ashes Lowest Total Defended
The record for defending the lowest total in the Ashes is held by Australia, where they successfully defended a target of 85 runs at London in 1882, after which the Ashes series started. Fredrick Spofforth took 7 wickets in the 4th innings of the match and led to the first loss of England in a home match.
Ashes Highest Partnership by Wicket
The highest partnership by wickets was recorded on 18 August 1934 at The Oval, when Donald Bradman (244) and Bill Ponsford(266) made 451 runs for the second wicket. Australia won the match by 562 runs.
Ashes Most Wins
The Ashes series has been played 70 times so far and Australia has won 134 out of 331 matches played so far. England is way behind Australia in terms of matches won and stands at only 106 victories. 90 matches have been drawn in the Ashes so far and we might see a few additions this time as well. However, in terms of series wins both England and Australia are almost at par, where Australia's leading marginally by 33-32. England will definitely try to level this Ashes record in 2019.
Ashes Highest Total
The highest total in the Ashes was made by England in 1938 at The Oval, where England cricket team made 903/7 dec and won the match by an innings and 579 runs. Sir Leonard Hutton scored 364 runs and Maurice Laeyland (187) and Joe Hardstaff (169) also managed to hit tons in that match.
Ashes Lowest Total
The lowest total in the Ashes was made by the Australian cricket team in 1902 at Birmingham, where the Australian team made only 36 runs against England’s 376/9 dec. The match ended in a draw.
Ashes Biggest Wins
England’s victory at The Oval in 1938 by an innings and 579 runs also remains an Ashes all time record for the biggest victory. England also holds the record of the biggest victory in Ashes by runs alone, which was by 675 runs. The match took place in 1928 at Brisbane and Patsy Hendren of England scored a century (169) in the first inning of the Test. Australia were chasing 742 runs but were bowled out at only 66 runs. However, Australia has 5 10-wicket victories in Ashes as compared to 3 by England in terms of biggest victory by wickets.
