England vs India in numbers

No matter what the sport, England teams seem to specialise in being good but not quite good enough. In my lifeftime, I can count the number of times that England can justifiably claim to be top dogs rather than underdogs on the fingers of one hand. Having been born four years after England’s football World Cup triumph, there is the 2003 rugby union World Cup and the 2010 cricket World Twenty20. And that, as far as the major team sports are concerned, is that. Britain has had – and continues to boast – its fair share of world/Olympic champions and world-class practitioners in individual events: Sebastian Coe, Daley Thompson, Jessica Ennis, Ben Ainslie, Lennox Lewis, Nigel Mansell, Chris Hoy and Mark Cavendish to name but a few. But when it comes to putting eleven (or six, or 15, or whatever other number) athletes together against the league of nations, the cupboard has remained steadfastly bare.

However, England’s remarkable 12-month rise from fifth to first in the Test rankings was confirmed with victory at Edgbaston two weeks ago and underlined emphatically with a second successive innings victory at The Oval yesterday, completing a 4-0 whitewash over the former world leaders India. Defending that top ranking will be difficult – indeed South Africa have the opportunity to jump into top spot before England before play again in Sri Lanka next March – but that does not diminish the cause for celebration or the pride I feel in a team which for so many years has wallowed in mediocrity (and sometimes worse).

Here is the story of how England displaced India as the number one Test side in the world – in numbers. (For a more comprehensive view on what this series win means to England cricket fans, read Chris’s post here.)

The series in numbers

First Test, Lord’s (July 21st-25th): England 474/8 dec (Pietersen 202*, Kumar 5/106) & 269/6 dec (Prior 103*, Sharma 4/59) beat India 286 (Dravid 103, Broad 4/37) & 261 (Raina 78, Anderson 5/65) by 196 runs.

Second Test, Trent Bridge (July 29th-August 1st): England 221 (Broad 64, Kumar 3/45) and 544 (Bell 159, Kumar 4/124) beat India 288 (Dravid 117, Broad 6/46) & 158 (Tendulkar 56, Bresnan 5/48) by 319 runs.

Third Test, Edgbaston (August 10th-13th): England 710/7 dec (Cook 294, Morgan 104) beat India 224 (Dhoni 74, Broad 4/53, Bresnan 4/62) & 244 (Dhoni 74*, Anderson 4/85) by an innings and 242 runs.

Fourth Test, The Oval (August 18th-22nd): England 591/6 dec (Bell 235, Pietersen 175) beat India 300 (Dravid 146) & 283 (Tendulkar 91, Swann 6/106) by an innings and 8 runs.

The teams in numbers

4 – England posted the four highest innings totals in the series, passing 450 on each occasion.

1 – Conversely, India scored 300 only once in their eight innings – recording exactly 300 in the opening innings of the final Test, after which they were still forced to follow on.

710 – Highest innings score (for 7 declared), by England in the 3rd Test at Edgbaston. It was their third-highest Test total ever, and their highest against India.

158 – Lowest innings total, by India in the 2nd Test at Trent Bridge.

80 – England claimed all 80 Indian wickets during the series, versus just 47 for India.

2 – Number of times which India bowled England out (in both innings at Trent Bridge). England declared four times and only needed their second innings twice.

3 – India‘s margin of defeat in the third Test (an innings and 242 runs) was their third-worst ever.

Batting in numbers

Pietersen was the leading batsman in the series

6– Despite batting two times fewer (six innings versus eight), England had seven of the top ten run-scorers in the series.

5 – England batsmen posted the five highest individual scores of the series – one by Alastair Cook, and two each by Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell. All three recorded double centuries.

533 – Pietersen was the leading run-scorer in the series, with 533 runs at an average of 106.60.

294 – Cook had the highest individual score of the series, 294 at Edgbaston. As a team, India exceeded this total just once.

461 – Rahul Dravid was India’s top batsman with 461 runs, at an average of 76.83.

Dravid was India's only centurion, scoring a series-leading three

3 – Dravid was India’s only century-maker, registering tons in the first, third and fourth Tests.

3 – Dravid also became only the third Indian batsman to carry his bat in a Test innings (after Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar), scoring an unbeaten 146 in India’s first innings at The Oval. He had to come straight back out again as England enforced the follow-on.

7 – England batsmen recorded seven centuries to India’s three.

3 – Number of England batsmen who scored at least 300 runs in the series (Pietersen, Bell, Cook) versus just one for India (Dravid).

8 – Number of batsmen who averaged 40 or more in the series. With the exception of Dravid, all were English.

350 – The third wicket stand of 350 between Bell and Pietersen at The Oval was the highest partnership of the series.

12 – There were 12 century partnerships during the series, 10 of them by English batsmen.

34.12 – Batting average of Sachin Tendulkar, well below his career average of 56.25. He fell nine runs short of what would have been his 100th international century at The Oval.

59.76 – England’s average runs per wicket during the series, more than double India’s average of 25.55.

70 – Pietersen scored more boundaries than any other batsman in the series (68 fours, two sixes).

3 – Eoin Morgan was dismissed for a third-ball duck in England’s first innings of both the first and second Tests. He made up for it by scoring a century in the first innings of the third Test, however.

2 – Virender Sehwag recorded a king pair at Edgbaston – out first ball in both innings.

Bowling in numbers

Broad was the top wicket-taker and also claimed a hat-trick

25 – Number of wickets taken by Stuart Broad, the most on either side, and ten more than the leading Indian Praveen Kumar. (Broad also added 182 runs with the bat.)

6 – Number of bowlers who took 10 or more wickets in the series. Four were English, including the top two wicket-takers, Broad and Tim Bresnan (16).

5 – Number of times a bowler took at least five wickets in an innings. Four of these were by an English bowler (Broad, Bresnan, Jimmy Anderson, Graeme Swann).

2 – Bowlers captured six wickets in a single innings on two occasions, both Englishmen: Broad and Swann.

Kumar averaged better than a wicket every five overs

1 – Hat-tricks in the series, by Broad at Trent Bridge. It was the first time a bowler has ever taken a hat-trick in a Test against India.

29.5 – Kumar took a wicket every 29.5 balls, the best strike rate among regular bowlers in the series. Bresnan and Broad were not far behind, with impressive strike rates of a wicket every 34.3 and 36.3 balls respectively.

3 – Three of England’s bowlers (Bresnan, Broad, Anderson) averaged fewer than 30 runs per wicket. Only one Indian (Kumar) did.

58.18 – Other than Kumar, among India’s specialist bowlers Ishant Sharma had the second-best bowling average – his 11 wickets cost a whopping 58.18 runs apiece.

143.5 – Harbhajan Singh, for so long India’s primary spin threat, took just two wickets in his two matches at an average of 143.5.

And finally, a few other numbers

Prior took 16 catches and added a hundred with the bat

1 – England are now the number one country in Test cricket.

5 – England’s ranking 12 months ago.

17 – England wicketkeeper Matt Prior claimed 17 dismissals in the series (16 catches, one stumping). His counterpart M S Dhoni took 13 catches.

5 – Cook and Andrew Strauss led among other fielders with five catches each.

11 – India have now lost 11 out of 16 Tests at Lord’s.

7 – England’s 4-0 victory marks only the seventh time in their history they have won a series by four matches or more.

6 – This was India’s sixth series defeat by four or more matches, and their first since their tour of Australia in 1991/92.

Worthy SPotY shortlist has one notable omission

Earlier this evening, the BBC announced its final shortlist of ten candidates for the 2010 Sports Personality of the Year (SPotY) awards, which will take place on December 19th at the LG Arena in Birmingham. While each of the ten nominees – determined by the votes of a panel of 30 sports journalists – is merit-worthy in their own right, there was one notable absentee from the list: triple world gymnastics champion Beth Tweddle.

When I previewed the likely top ten four weeks ago, based on the odds quoted by Ladbrokes at that time, the bookmaker had correctly predicted eight of the shortlist of ten. In alphabetical order, here is the final confirmed list, along with my thoughts as to their chances of winning:

Image courtesy of Graham Watson

Mark Cavendish (cycling)

Winner of five stages at July’s Tour de France, and a further three stages and the green jersey in his debut at the Vuelta a España in September. Unquestionably the world’s best sprinter for the third year in a row – and this in a year where he has at times struggled for peak form. In four years as a pro, the rider from the Isle of Man has already won an astonishing 23 stages in the three Grand Tours – including 15 at the Tour de France – not to mention the 2009 Milan-San Remo, one of the most prestigious one-day classics on the cycling calendar. ‘Cav’ is quite simply the best in the world at what he does.

SPotY prospects: None. Road cycling is a minority and poorly understood sport in the UK, and one which the ordinary sports fan most readily relates with doping scandals. There will be a big voting campaign among cycling fans. It will make no difference whatsoever – Cavendish will probably finish tenth.

Previous cycling SPotY winners: 2 – Tom Simpson (1965), Chris Hoy (2008).

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Tom Daley (diving)

Still only 16, Daley bagged double Commonwealth Games gold in the 10m platform individual and synchronised diving competitions, after injury denied him the chance to defend his European title.

SPotY prospects: Minimal. Daley competes in a niche event, and will never make the top three in a non-Olympics year.

Previous swimming/diving SPotY winners: 2 – Ian Black (1958), Anita Lonsbrough (1962).

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Jessica Ennis (athletics)

Followed up last year’s World Athletics Championships heptathlon victory with gold medals in both the World Indoor Championships pentathlon and the European Championships heptathlon. She remains the world’s number one-ranked heptathlete.

SPotY prospects: Top three. The current golden girl of British athletics, and the country’s only number-one ranked athlete in either male or female events.

Previous athletics SPotY winners: 17 – most recently Kelly Holmes (2004) and Paula Radcliffe (2002).

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

David Haye (boxing)

Haye became only the fifth British boxer to hold a world heavyweight belt after beating the giant Nikolay Valuev twelve months ago. Since then the 30-year old has made two successful defences of his WBA heavyweight title, defeating the credible challenge of John Ruiz in April and then the somewhat less credible Audley Harrison a fortnight ago.

SPotY prospects: An outside bet for the top three. Boxing currently lacks the high profile and strength in depth of the Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield eras, but Haye’s win over Harrison is timely in terms of the public vote.

Previous boxing SPotY winners: 5 – most recently Joe Calzaghe (2007) and Lennox Lewis (1999).

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

A P McCoy (horse racing)

Tony McCoy has been the dominant force in National Hunt racing for the past 15 years, and the best jump jockey in the business finally won the Grand National in 2010, at his 15th attempt, piloting Don’t Push It to a five-length victory.

SPotY prospects: Favourite to win. McCoy is a dominant, likeable figure, and his maiden Grand National win should ensure a further triumph in the SPotY arena.

Previous horse racing SPotY winners: 0, but two third places – one of them McCoy himself in 2002.

Image courtesy of belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Graeme McDowell (golf)

The 31-year old from Northern Ireland finished second overall on the European Tour money list, won his first major, the US Open, and held his nerve to win the critical final singles match in the Ryder Cup, securing the trophy for Europe by the narrowest of margins, 14½-13½.

SPotY prospects: Possible top three. McDowell has had a fairy-tale year, and the likelihood of the European Ryder Cup squad winning the Team of the Year award may attract floating public voters on the night. Lee Westwood‘s presence in the top ten may take vital votes away, however.

Previous golf SPotY winners: 2 – Dai Rees (1957), Nick Faldo (1989).

Graeme Swann (cricket)

53 wickets in 11 Tests this calendar year, including five five-fors, cementing his position as England’s primary bowling threat. Also named the ECB Cricketer of the Year, and nominated as one of Wisden‘s five Cricketers of the Year.

SPotY prospects: An outside bet for the top three. Swann is England’s main bowling weapon, and strong performances in the second and third Tests could propel him to the sharp end of the public vote.

Previous cricket SPotY winners: 4 – Jim Laker (1956), David Steele (1975), Ian Botham (1981), Andrew Flintoff (2005).

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Phil Taylor (darts)

The undisputed king of the oche for the best part of two decades, Taylor won his 15th World Championship and 11th World Matchplay title in 2010, among others. Incredibly, he has only been nominated for the main SPotY award once before (2006).

SPotY prospects: Minimal. Despite his incredible dominance of the sport, too many viewers will never vote for a darts player. It will be a miracle if Taylor gets anywhere near the top three, and he is more likely to be joining Cavendish at the bottom of the public vote.

Previous darts SPotY winners: 0 (and no top three placings either).

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Lee Westwood (golf)

The new world number one was runner-up in both the US Masters and The Open, and contributed 2½ points from his four matches as Europe regained the Ryder Cup.

SPotY prospects: An outside bet for the top three. A failure to win a major and the presence of McDowell in the field means Westwood is unlikely to manage better than a top five placing.

Previous golf SPotY winners: 2 – Dai Rees (1957), Nick Faldo (1989).

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Amy Williams (skeleton bobsleigh)

Gold medalist in the skeleton bobsleigh at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, going one place better than Shelley Rudman had four years previously in Turin.

SPotY prospects: None. The Winter Olympics stand several rungs down from its summer counterpart, and are already a distant and fading memory. Many viewers will have already forgotten her name, let alone be willing to cast a vote for her.

Previous Winter Olympics SPotY winners: 3 (all skaters) – John Curry (1976), Robin Cousins (1980), Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean (1984).

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Finally, do spare a thought for the unfortunate Beth Tweddle, who won her third gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam in October with a flawless performance on the uneven bars, having triumphed in the same event in 2006 and on the floor last year. She also repeated her double gold performance at the European Championships in Birmingham earlier in the year, duplicating her 2009 wins in the uneven bars and the floor.

The 25-year old previously placed third in the SPotY voting in 2006 behind winner Zara Phillips and Darren Clarke. She is Britain’s only ever gymnastics world champion. Her exclusion from the shortlist is, to me, incomprehensible. It’s a real shame, because none of the final ten, for all their achievements, have been quite the trailblazer that Tweddle has been in her sport.

I fully expect McCoy to canter to victory on December 19th, to be followed home by Ennis and McDowell. But in Tweddle’s absence, I will be casting my vote – albeit largely a protest one – for Mark Cavendish. So there.

SPotY continues to appeal to the lowest common denominator

This year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year (SPotY) awards take place on December 19th at the LG Arena in Birmingham. Over the coming weeks, we will be gently reminded about the leading contenders for the main SPotY award by the BBC, but as usual there will be a few merit-worthy candidates who are bound to miss out on the final shortlist of ten.

I will look at some of the outsiders shortly, but here is a summary of the top ten candidates for the main SPotY award according to Ladbrokes, as of yesterday:

Tony McCoy (6/5 favourite) – The dominant force in National Hunt racing for the past 15 years, the best jump jockey in the business finally won the Grand National in 2010, at his 15th attempt, piloting Don’t Push It to a five-length victory.

Graeme McDowell (9/4) – The 31-year old won his first major, the US Open, this year, as well as holding his nerve to win the critical final singles match in the Ryder Cup, securing the trophy for Europe.

Jessica Ennis (14/1) – Followed up last year’s World Athletics Championships heptathlon victory with gold medals in both the World Indoor Championships pentathlon and the European Championships heptathlon. She remains the world’s number one-ranked heptathlete.

Tom Daley (20/1) – Still only 16, Daley bagged double Commonwealth Games gold in the 10m platform individual and synchronised diving competitions, after injury denied him the chance to defend his European title.

Lee Westwood (20/1) – The new world number one was runner-up in both the US Masters and The Open, and contributed 2½ points from his four matches as Europe regained the Ryder Cup.

Phil Taylor (20/1) – The undisputed king of darts won his 15th World Championship and 11th World Matchplay title in 2010, among others. Incredibly, he has only been nominated for SPotY once before (2006).

Lewis Hamilton (25/1) – Winner of three grands prix to date in the 2010 season, and currently lies third in the drivers’ championship, 21 points behind with a maximum of 50 still available from the final two races. Has blotted his copybook with individual errors in recent races, though.

Graeme Swann (25/1) – 51 wickets in ten Tests this calendar year, including five five-fors, cementing his position as England’s primary bowling threat. Also named the ECB Cricketer of the Year, and nominated as one of Wisden‘s five Cricketers of the Year.

Amy Williams (25/1) – Gold medalist in the skeleton bob at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Colin Montgomerie (25/1) – Winning captain of the European Ryder Cup team.

With no Olympic Games, World Athletics Championships or World Cups in rugby union or cricket this year, and with England flopping miserably at the football World Cup, it has hardly been a banner year for UK sport. Which makes the absence of the following four sportspeople from Ladbrokes’ current top ten list all the more baffling:

Mo Farah (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Mo Farah (33/1)

The Somali-born British long distance runner claimed gold medals in both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the European Athletics Championships. In so doing, he became the first Briton to win the European title at the longer event, and only the fifth man ever to complete the European 5,000m/10,000m double. He also won this year’s London 10,000 road race, beating 10km world record holder Micah Kogo, in a British road record time of 27:44.

In events which are still largely dominated by African runners, the 27-year old Farah is Britain’s first truly world-class track distance runner since the heady days of the early 1980s, when David Moorcroft was the 5,000m world record holder.

Farah may well sneak into the ten-strong shortlist for SPotY. He won’t get anywhere near the final three, though.

Beth Tweddle (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Beth Tweddle (33/1)

Tweddle won her third gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam last month with a flawless performance on her favourite apparatus, the uneven bars, having triumphed in the same event in 2006 and on the floor last year.

She also repeated her double gold performance at the European Championships in Birmingham earlier in the year, duplicating her 2009 wins in the uneven bars and the floor.

The 25-year old is almost single-handedly responsible for boosting the popularity of the sport in the UK, and remains Britain’s only ever world champion gymnast. She previously placed third in the SPotY voting in 2006 behind winner Zara Phillips and Darren Clarke.

Tweddle will probably be included in the final list of ten for the SPotY ceremony. She may even get close to the final three. But she won’t win.

Mark Cavendish (image courtesy of Graham Watson)

Mark Cavendish (66/1)

It is all too easy to run out of superlatives when describing the dominant sprinter in road cycling. Winner of five stages at July’s Tour de France, he then added a further three stage wins and the green jersey (for winning the points competition) in his debut at the Vuelta a España in September. As in the previous two years, he has unquestionably been the world’s fastest finisher again this year – and this in a year where he has at times struggled for peak form.

In four years as a pro, the rider from the Isle of Man has already won an astonishing 23 stages in the three Grand Tours – including 15 at the Tour de France – not to mention the 2009 Milan-San Remo, one of the most prestigious one-day classics on the cycling calendar.

Cav is the best in the world at what he does. He has yet to make the SPotY shortlist. That is an incredible oversight which says much about how populist the selection process is.

Chrissie Wellington (image courtesy of chrissiewellington.org)

Chrissie Wellington (100/1)

33-year old Chrissie Wellington is the queen of ironman events. She is one of only three women to have won three consecutive times (2007-09) at the Ironman World Championships – and might well have won a fourth had she not had to withdraw at the last minute due to illness.

Nonetheless, Wellington remains undefeated in competition over the full ironman distance (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile marathon run), and has won all three ironman/half-ironman events in which she has competed this year. In the past two years, she has taken 26 minutes off the women’s ironman-distance world record, lowering it to 8:19:13.

Ladbrokes rate Wellington’s chances of winning the main SPotY award at 100/1. Of course, she won’t win – like 2009 World Triathlon Champion Alistair Brownlee she probably won’t even make the shortlist – but it does seem somewhat ridiculous that a British athlete who has dominated her sport for a number of years is rated at the same odds as Audley Harrison. Go figure.

Of course, the final SPotY shortlist will almost certainly be different from Ladbrokes’ current top ten, but I fully expect the likes of Cavendish and Wellington to miss out no matter what. It’s not that I think they should necessarily win Sports Personality of the Year. But what is a terrible shame is that they will not even make the shortlist and will therefore not be exposed to a national audience, whereas other, arguably much less deserving sportspeople, will be listed simply because they compete in a high-profile sport. Does that automatically make them more worthy? Of course not.

If the BBC wants to make SPotY a true reflection of British sporting achievement – especially in a year where there has been so little of note to celebrate – then it should widen its net beyond the usual suspects and recognise the existence of Mark Cavendish and Chrissie Wellington, both of whom stand firmly on top of the world in their chosen disciplines.

You know it will never happen, though. In the meantime, I will be casting my vote for Beth Tweddle.

The week in numbers: w/e 29/8/10

Rubens Barrichello: 300 races and still going strong

300 – Rubens Barrichello competed in his 300th Formula 1 race at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, having entered his first in 1993. In that time, the 38-year old has won 11 times and set 14 pole positions. Yesterday, starting from seventh on the grid, he retired after an accident at the end of the first lap as Britain’s Lewis Hamilton won and took over the lead in the drivers’ championship.

3 – With 13 of 19 races completed, Lewis Hamilton (182 points) leads Mark Webber (179) in the drivers’ championship by just three points.

20 – French side Auxerre were drawn in the same Champions League group as Real Madrid, AC Milan and Ajax, who have won the European Cup/Champions League 20 times between them (respectively nine, seven and four).

2 – Aston Villa were knocked out in the final playoff round of the Europa League by Rapid Vienna, 4-3 on aggregate after losing their home leg 3-2. They were eliminated at the same stage by the same side last season too.

3 – Bournemouth were 3-0 up within 28 minutes at home to Notts County in their League 1 encounter on Saturday, and still 3-1 up in the 91st minute. The game finished 3-3.

54 – Years since Britain’s women’s basketball team last reached the European Championship finals, which will be held in Poland next year. After losing their opening qualifying game, they won their last five, clinching qualification with a 77-59 win over Germany on Thursday night.

1:41.01 – David Rudisha broke the 800 metres world record for the second time in eight days, clocking 1:41.01 in Rieti.

England vs Pakistan

Mohammad Amir: 50 Test wickets

50 – At 18 years and 136 days, Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir became the youngest bowler to reach 50 Test wickets during the first innings of the fourth and final Test at Lord’s on Friday. He finished with a return of 6-84. Sadly, he now finds himself a key player in the betting scandal which overshadowed the match, which England won yesterday to clinch a tarnished series 3-1.

0 – Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan were all dismissed for ducks, the first time ever that England‘s numbers four, five and six have been dismissed without scoring in an innings (and only the fifth time in Test history).

332 – Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad put on a world-record 332 runs for England’s eighth wicket. Trott finished with 184, Broad 169.

1,000 – Trott and Broad both passed 1,000 career runs during their innings. Trott reached the milestone in his 23rd Test innings, the same as Mike Atherton and Kevin Pietersen. (The record is 12, by Herbert Sutcliffe.)

Stuart Broad scored 169 to rescue England after a first innings collapse

1 – It was Broad’s maiden Test hundred, making him and his father Chris the first father and son to complete Test centuries for England. His score of 169 was also higher than any of his father’s six Test hundreds (his best was 162).

3 – Pakistan were bowled out for 74 in their first innings, their second-lowest ever total against England. Their three all-time lowest scores have come during this series (80 in the first Test, 72 in the second Test).

17 – Number of wickets that fell on Saturday: England’s last three first innings wickets, the whole of Pakistan’s first innings, and then the first four of their second as England enforced the follow-on.

404 – Trott was the highest run-scorer in the series, scoring 404 runs at an average of 67.33. His total was over 150 more than the next best batsman, Broad (250).

1 – Trott was the only one of England’s six specialist batsmen to average over 30 in the series (although both Broad and wicketkeeper Matt Prior also did). Lack of form and an alarming tendency for batting collapses remains a major concern ahead of the Ashes.

184 – Umar Akmal was Pakistan’s best batsman, with just 184 runs in the entire series – the exact number of runs scored by Trott in his single innings at Lord’s.

23 – James Anderson was England’s leading wicket-taker, with 23 – one more than Graeme Swann.

The Premier League week in numbers

11 – Although they won 2-1 at Blackburn, Arsenal have now conceded a goal in their last 11 away games in all competitions.

540 – Chelsea have now gone 540 minutes since they last conceded a Premier League goal.

18 – Wigan‘s win at Tottenham broke a run of 18 Premier League games without a win in London (four draws, 14 defeats) since winning at West Ham in December 2006.

Wayne Rooney scored his first goal since March

1,114 – Wayne Rooney‘s first-half penalty in Manchester United’s 3-0 win over West Ham ended a goal drought of 1,114 minutes for club and country extending back to March.

5 – Manchester United have now won their last five league games against West Ham, scoring 13 and conceding none.

1 – Central defender Roger Johnson scored his first goal for Birmingham in his 41st game for the club, but it was not enough to secure a win as they let slip a two-goal lead against Bolton in a 2-2 draw.

4 – Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen was sent off for the fourth time in his Premier League career.

9 – Liverpool have now beaten West Bromwich Albion in all nine of their Premier League meetings, scoring 25 and conceding none. Dating back to the old First Division, they have now won twelve straight league games against West Brom.

18 – Everton won 18 corners in their 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa, the most by one team in a Premier League match since Liverpool gained 19 against Stoke in September 2008.

(Some statistics courtesy of @OptaJoe, @optajim, @OptaJean and @StatManJon.)

Related Articles

• Trott & Broad tons rescue England (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Lewis Hamilton makes it a hat-trick at the rain-lashed, chaotic Belgian Grand Prix (mirror.co.uk)

The week in numbers: w/e 22/8/10

Graeme Swann

23 – Graeme Swann took his 100th Test wicket in last week’s defeat to Pakistan, his 23rd match. He is tied with Derek Underwood as the fastest post-war English spinner to 100 wickets. Shane Warne also took 23 Tests to complete his first century.

110 – Runs scored by opener Alastair Cook in England’s second innings, four more than he had scored in total in his previous eight Test innings this summer.

3 – Goals conceded by Tottenham in the first 28 minutes of the away leg of their Champions League qualifier against Swiss side Young Boys. Spurs recovered to 3-2 to give them a good chance of progressing to the group stage, which starts in mid-September.

14 – New Zealand‘s late comeback against South Africa in Saturday’s 29-22 victory was their 14th consecutive win and clinched the 2010 Tri-Nations title.

18 – Number of gold medals won by Great Britain‘s disabled swimming team at the IPC World Swimming Championships. Eleanor Simmonds added four golds to her two from the Beijing Paralympics.

David Rudisha

1:41.09 – New world record time for the 800 metres set by Kenya’s David Rudisha in Berlin on Sunday afternoon. He beat the previous record by 0.02s, which had been held by Denmark’s Kenyan-born Wilson Kipketer since 1997.

28 – Years that David Moorcroft‘s British 5,000 metres record of 13:00.41 had stood before Mo Farah recorded a time of 12:57.94 at Thursday’s Diamond League meeting in Zurich.

18 – Number of games for which the French Football Federation has banned Nicolas Anelka over his conduct at the World Cup, from which he was sent home after a row with former national coach Raymond Domenech.

1 – The first yellow card of the German Bundesliga season was shown to Mark van Bommel. Old habits die hard.

The Premier League week in numbers

James Milner

126,000,000 – Estimated amount spent by Man City so far in the summer transfer window, following the signing of James Milner from Aston Villa (with Stephen Ireland going the other way in part exchange).

99,750,000 – Estimated total value of kit sponsorship deals which will be earned by the 20 Premier League clubs this year alone, according to Sporting Intelligence research. This compares with a total of £71.8m for last season.

5 – Theo Walcott became the fifth Arsenal player to score a hat-trick in a competitive match at the Emirates Stadium. The other four are Jay Simpson (who joined Hull City last week), Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Vela and Nicklas Bendtner.

1971 – The last time Arsenal played a league game against Blackpool was in their first Double-winning season of 1970/71. (They won both games that season with identical 1-0 scorelines.)

16 – By beating Blackburn 2-1, Birmingham extended their run of unbeaten home games to 16.

25 – in taking charge of the Birmingham vs Blackburn match, Michael Oliver became the youngest referee in Premier League history, aged 25 years 182 days.

Kieron Dyer - sick-note

77 – Kieron Dyer played 77 minutes in West Ham‘s 3-1 loss to Bolton. It is the first time he has completed over 75 minutes in a Premier League match since 25th August 2007 (vs Wigan).

2 – Bolton are unbeaten in their opening two league fixtures for the first time since 2006.

0 – There were no corners in the Wigan v Chelsea game.

20-0 – Aggregate score in Chelsea’s last three Premier League games, including the final weekend of last season (8-0 vs Wigan, 6-0 vs West Brom, 6-0 vs Wigan).

0-18 – Aggregate score in Wigan’s last three Premier League games, including the final weekend of last season (0-8 vs Chelsea, 0-4 vs Blackpool, 0-6 vs Chelsea). Next week they travel to Spurs, where they lost 9-1 last season.

70 – Chelsea have scored 70 league goals in 20 Premier League games in 2010, at an average of 3.5 goals per game.

13 – Newcastle‘s 6-0 win over Aston Villa was the 13th time they have scored five or more goals in a single Premier League game.

150 – Paul Scholes scored his 150th goal for Man Utd in the 2-2 draw at Fulham.

2 – Prior to tonight’s match between Man City and Liverpool, only two teams have yet to score this season: Man City and Wigan.

2 – Prior to tonight’s match, only two teams have yet to conceded a goal this season: Man City and Chelsea.

4 – There were only been 16 6-0 scorelines in the first 18 seasons of the Premier League, an average of 0.89 per season. There have already been four this season, three of them this weekend.

6 – After 19 games of the 2010/11 season, 6-0 is the most common score (four times), ahead of 2-1 (three times).

(Some statistics courtesy of @OptaJoe, @optajim, @OptaJean and @StatManJon.)

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