ANOTHER characteristic of the Australian cricketer is that one sniff of an Englishman seems to bring out the best in him. No fewer than eight of the team which toured England in 1997 recorded their maiden Test century against the Poms – Blewett, Elliott, Healy, Ponting, Slater, skipper Taylor and both Waughs.

 Taylor's 219 at Trent Bridge in 1989 remains his highest Test innings, while Elliott and Ponting have yet to better the 199 and 127 respectively that they made at Headingley last year.

It's similar tale among the Aussie bowlers. Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz and Glenn McGrath (right) returned career-bests in England in 1997. Paul Reiffel's best return remains his 6 for 71 at Edgbaston in 1993. And Shane Warne? No prizes for guessing against whom he took 8 for 17 at Brisbane in 1994-95. Oh, and his Test hat-trick was at England's expense, too, in the next match.

So that's a full Australian XI, plus a reserve or two, whose maiden Test century or best bowling performance has come against England.

No other side has quite such a marked preference for the Mother Country. Aamir Sohail, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar (when 17), Clayton Lambert and Stephen Fleming are rare examples of those who made their maiden Test ton at England's expense. Mohammad Azharuddin did take such a liking to England's bowling that he made his first three hundreds against them – uniquely, in his first three Tests. Sohail and Fleming, along with Saeed Anwar and someone called Brian Lara, have made their highest scores against England– but most of their team-mates' career-bests have come against other countries. And it's no surprise to find that Curtly Ambrose reserved his best bowling for England– 8 for 45 at Bridgetown in 1989–90.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd