England v South Africa, Test series 2017 – Statistical Preview

England will have multiple objectives when they take the field against South Africa in the four-match Test series under the helm of the newly appointed captain, Joe Root. The 4th ranked England team should ensure they don’t lose the series to move up in the ICC rankings but for that, they would need to break the jinx as they lost the previous two series to the Proteas at home and last won 19 years ago.

Ahead of the series, we look at some of the key numbers and records related to the series.

7 – Number of times Stuart Broad has dismissed Hashim Amla in Test cricket; the joint most times by any bowler in this format. Amla has scored 301 runs in 644 balls at an average of 43 against Broad.

8 – Number of times Morne Morkel has got Alastair Cook out in Test cricket; the joint 2nd most times by any bowler in this format. Cook has scored 207 runs in 528 balls against Morkel at an average of 25.88 in Tests.

35.53 – Alastair Cook’s batting average against South Africa in Tests; his lowest against any side in this format. Cook has scored 995 runs in 28 Test innings vs South Africa.

36 – Dean Elgar will become the 36th Test captain for South Africa as he will be leading them in the first Test in absence of their regular skipper Faf du Plessis. Elgar is only the 12th captain for SA in Tests since their readmission to cricket in 1992.

57 – Number of consecutive Tests Alastair Cook has led England up to their last series in December 2016. It is the 4th longest streak as captain in Test cricket which came to an end when he stepped down.

75.70 – Hashim Amla’s batting average in Tests on England soil; the 2nd most for any player with a minimum of 500 Test runs. Donald Bradman averages 102.84 in Tests in England.

80 – Joe Root will be the 80th player to captain England in Test cricket and only the 2nd one since Andrew Strauss’ retirement in 2012.

110 – Runs Joe Root has scored against Morne Morkel in Test cricket so far. He scored those in 145 balls at a strike-rate of 75.86 and the pacer hasn’t been able to dismiss him.

165.5 – Hashim Amla’s batting average in Tests against James Anderson. Amla has scored 331 runs in 623 balls against Anderson and got out twice in this format.

1998 – Last time England won a Test series against South Africa at home was in 1998. South Africa won the previous two series in 2008 and 2012 while the 2004 series ended in a draw.