Home ... and now away
Shane Warne took ten wickets in a Test for the fifth time – but it was the first time he'd done it outside Australia. It was also the second time he'd taken ten or more against England. His best match haul was 12 for 128 against South Africa at Sydney in 1993-94 (a game which Australia managed to lose), and he also took 11-109, including his 300th Test wicket against South Africa at the SCG in 1997-98 (yes, they did win that one). His other two ten-wicket hauls came at The Gabba in Brisbane: 11-110 against England in 1994-95, and 11-77 against Pakistan in 1995-96.

McGrath goes second
When Glenn McGrath dismissed Usman Afzaal he moved past Dennis Lillee (355 wickets) into second place on the list of Australian Test wicket-takers. Ahead lies only Shane Warne (406 and counting). Warne's tenth wicket of the match (Mark Ramprakash) put him past Curtly Ambrose (405) into fifth place on the overall Test-wicket list.

Seven up
This was the first English summer to feature seven Tests with positive results (England won two and lost five). The previous record was six, in the nine-Test Triangular tournament summer of 1912, when England won four and Australia two. The third team, South Africa, lost five of those and Australia one.

Waughs' winning record
Steve Waugh finished on the winning side for the 66th time in Tests, extending his record, while his twin brother Mark moved clear of Viv Richards (63) with his 64th Test victory. At the other end of the scale Alec Stewart extended his record with the 48th Test defeat of his career, ahead of Allan Border (46) and Mike Atherton (44).

McGrath's milestone
Glenn McGrath finished the series with 32 wickets. It was the third time he has taken 30 or more in a series (also 36 against England in 1997, and 30 v West Indies in 1998-99). The only other bowlers to do this three times are SF Barnes and Alec Bedser of England, and Craig McDermott of Australia.

Famous 4-1s
This was the first five-Test Ashes series in England to contain five positive results. It was the 11th Ashes series to finish in a 4-1 scoreline – but only the second in England. Australia also won 4-1 at home in 1897-98, 1901-02, 1907-08, 1924-25, 1950-51 and 1974-75, while England managed to win by the same scoreline in Australia in 1911-12, 1928-29 and 1932-33. All of those were five-Test series, and all except 1950-51 and 1974-75 were played under regulations which required all the matches to be played out to a finish – there wasn't a drawn Test in Australia between 1881-82 and 1946-47. England also won the six-match 1978-79 series 5-1.

McGrath needs a new bunny
When it happened, it came as something of a relief. If Mike Atherton is tired of being told he was Glenn McGrath's bunny, so is everyone else. We're glad we won't have to mention it again. Anyway, for the last time: this was the sixth time McGrath took Atherton's wicket in this series and the 19th in all Tests, breaking a record they shared with Alec Bedser and Arthur Morris. England fast-medium bowler Bedser dismissed Australian opener Morris 18 times from 1946-47 to 1953. Atherton will be relieved that he and "Pigeon" McGrath won't be making it 20 in 2002-03.

Shane Warne's best in England
This is the first time Shane Warne has taken seven wickets in a Test innings over here and the second time in the series that he has improved his best figures in England. His 6 for 33 at Trent Bridge bettered the 6 for 48 he took at Old Trafford in 1997. Warne's best figures in any innings against England are 8 for 71 at Brisbane in 1994-95, when he bowled Australia to victory by 184 runs. Click here for more on( How Warne reached his landmark)

Another ton for Gilchrist
The last England wicket to fall, Darren Gough stumped off Shane Warne, was Adam Gilchrist's 100th dismissal in Test cricket. Of those 100 victims, only seven have been stumped - typical of today's Test cricket but perhaps a little surprising with Warne or Stuart MacGill in the team. As with his batting, Gilchrist made his hundred quickly. The 100th dismissal came up in only his 22nd Test, breaking the world record set by South Africa's Mark Boucher, also against England, at Port Elizabeth in 1999-2000.

Gilchrist's first Test victim was Mohammad Wasim, caught off Damien Fleming at Brisbane in 1999-2000. Of his six dismissals in that Test, the first five were caught, the sixth (Azhar Mahmood) stumped. Off Shane Warne, of course. Gilchrist is the twenty-sixth wicketkeeper to make 100 Test dismissals - but only the fifth from Australia. The other four were Bert Oldfield (130, including a world record 52 stumpings), Wally Grout (187) - and two world record holders. Rod Marsh's total of 355 was overtaken by current Wisden.com columnist Ian Healy, whose 395 is the record for any country. He would have reached the 400 if he hadn't been replaced in the team - by Gilchrist.

The second Jimmy
What is it about the name? Jimmy Ormond is only the sixth England player with a surname beginning with O (see below). He's also only the second actual Jimmy to play Test cricket for England, the first since Yorkshire wicketkeeper Jimmy Binks played in two matches in India in 1963-64.

And only a few Jims have played for England. Jim McConnon was a spinner kept out of the England team by Jim Laker, famous for taking 19 wickets in a single Test in 1956. Jim Parks kept wicket in the 1960s, Jim Smith and Jim Langridge played in the 1930s,

As for the more formal Jameses, there haven't been too many of those either. James Whitaker played in only one Test in 1986-87 - and you have to go more than a century for the others. James Cranston also played in only one Test, in 1890 - and there were two Jameses in England's first ever Test team, at Melbourne in 1876-77. James Lilywhite, who captained the team, and 49-year-old James Southerton, who remains the oldest player to make his Test debut.

Oh and Steve James was capped in 1998, but that doesn't count.

A very exclusive club
Assuming Mark Waugh has played his last Test knock against England, he joins a very exclusive club of players who scored a century in their first and last Ashes Tests. Waugh hit a hundred in his maiden Test innings, 138 against England at Adelaide in 1990-91. Only four other players have achieved this. Like Waugh, the two other Australians on the list both completed this particular double at The Oval.

Reggie Duff scored 146 there in 1905 (his last Test innings) after making 104 at No. 10 on his debut, at Melbourne in 1902.

Bill Ponsford scored 110 against England at Sydney in 1924-25 and a towering 266, his highest Test score, at The Oval in 1934, when he shared a record stand of 451 with Don Bradman. Australia won by 562 runs to regain the Ashes.

Meanwhile Maurice Leyland scored centuries in his first and last Test innings, both against Australia. He hit 137 at Melbourne in 1928-29 and 187 at The Oval in 1938, when he shared a record second-wicket stand of 382 with Len Hutton, who made his world record 364.

Finally, Raman Subba Row's only Ashes series was in 1961, when he scored 112 in the first Test at Edgbaston and 137 at The Oval, in his last Test innings against any country.

Afzaal's best Test
A bit of an allrounder, is our Usman. As well as hitting his first Test fifty, he took a wicket with only his third ball in Test cricket. Only ten other England bowlers have achieved this, including five with their very first delivery. The first of these five was Walter "Bill" Bradley against Australia at Old Trafford in 1899, the latest Richard Illingworth against West Indies at Trent Bridge in 1991.

The last England player before Afzaal to take a wicket with his third ball was also better known as a batsman. At Lord's in that same 1991 series, Graeme Hick's offspin brought him the scalp of Phil Simmons, who curiously enough had also been Illingworth's first victim.

A day to polish your average
Before this series, Steve Waugh's batting average against England was a more than healthy 58.50. After his knock at The Oval, this has gone up to 61.59. Among players who have scored 2000 runs in Ashes Tests, this puts him fourth on the alltime list, behind the 63.96 of Ken Barrington, Herbert Sutcliffe's 66.85 and the unassailable 89.78 of Don Bradman. In Tests in England, Steve Waugh averages 74.23, remarkable in the modern game. Bradman's figure is 102.84, but we stopped making comparisons a long time ago. Meanwhile Mark Waugh's averages against England aren't too shabby: 51.25 in all, 49.54 away from home.

And, short of a miracle, this will be Australia's final innings of the series and, surely, Steve Waugh's last in England. He therefore finishes his Test career in this country as he started it: with a big unbeaten hundred. His 177 not out at Headingley in 1989 was his first century in Test cricket - and it had taken him a while: it was his 42nd Test innings.

His century at The Oval was his 27th in Test cricket, moving him above Garry Sobers and level with his former captain Allan Border into third place on the alltime list. He had to wait until his 42nd Test innings to score his maiden hundred, a cathartic 177 not out at Headingley in 1989. Meanwhile Mark Waugh's 120 at The Oval was his 20th Test hundred, making him the seventh Australian to reach that landmark. Like his brother, his first Test ton was scored against England, 138 at Adelaide in 1990-91, in his very first Test innings. He came into the team as a replacement for his twin, who was dropped after a run of 42 consecutive Tests from his own debut.

100	Player	Country	Inns
34	Sunil Gavaskar	India	214
29	Don Bradman	Australia	80
27	Allan Border	Australia	265
27	Steve Waugh	Australia	220
26	Garry Sobers	W Indies	160
25	Sachin Tendulkar	India	135
24	Greg Chappell	Australia	151
24	Viv Richards	W Indies	182
23	Javed Miandad	Pakistan	189
22	Wally Hammond	England	140
22	Colin Cowdrey	England	188
22	Geoff Boycott	England	193
22	Mohammad Azharuddin	India	147
21	Neil Harvey	Australia	137
21	David Boon	Australia	190

Australia's latest landmark
Australia's total of 641 for 4 declared is their highest in an Oval Test since Don Bradman & Co made 701 in 1934.

The Waughs climb the over-50s list
Steve Waugh's innings at The Oval was his 69th score of 50 or more in Test cricket, moving him level with Viv Richards in third place on the alltime list. Meanwhile Mark Waugh isn't far behind. His Oval innings was his 63rd score above 49, which moves him above Mike Atherton into eighth place on the list.

Tot	Player	Country	50	100
90	Allan Border	Australia	63	27
79	Sunil Gavaskar	India	45	34
69	Viv Richards	W Indies	45	24
70	Steve Waugh	Australia	42	27
66	Javed Miandad	Pakistan	43	23
66	Graham Gooch	England	46	20
64	Geoff Boycott	England	42	22
63	Mark Waugh	Australia	44	19
62	Mike Atherton	England	46	16
60	Colin Cowdrey	England	38	22

Australia's triple ton landmark
This is only the second time that three Australian batsmen have scored hundreds in the same Test innings at The Oval. Back in 1884, Percy McDonnell made 103, HJH "Tup" Scott 102 - and their captain Billy Murdoch's 211 was the first double-century in Test cricket.

This is the third time in all that three Australian batsmen have scored centuries in the same Test innings in England. The top three in the order hit hundreds at Lord's in 1993: Mark Taylor 111, Michael Slater 152 and David Boon 164. Later in the same series, Boon made 107 and Allan Border and Steve Waugh were unbeaten on 200 and 157 respectively at Headingley. Australia won by an innings to take the series 3-0 and retain the Ashes.

Four players hit hundreds against Australia in the in the same innings at Trent Bridge in 1938. Openers Charlie Barnett and Len Hutton scored 126 and 100 respectively, Eddie Paynter thrashed 216 not out, and Denis Compton made 102. In the same Test, Stan McCabe made 232 in the first innings and his team mates Bill Brown (133) and Don Bradman (144 not out) scored hundreds in the second. Not surprisingly, the match was drawn.

In the last Test of the same series, three batsmen hit hundreds against Australia in England's huge innings of 903 for 7 declared at The Oval: Hutton's 364 was a world record at the time, Maurice Leyland made 187 and Joe Hardstaff junior was unbeaten on 169. England won by the inhuman margin of an innings and 579 runs and shared the series.

Three players hit hundreds against Australia in the same innings at Edgbaston in 1985: Tim Robinson 148, captain David Gower 215 and Mike Gatting 100 not out. England's innings win put them 2-1 ahead on the way to regaining the Ashes.

Justin Langer's century was his eighth, in his 42nd Test. It was his second against England, following 179 not out at Adelaide in 1998-99.

Mark moves up
Mark Waugh moved past David Boon (7422 runs) into fourth place on the list of Australian Test runscorers when he reached 32 in the first innings. Ahead lie only Allan Border (11174 runs), twin brother Steve (9129 before this match) and Mark Taylor (7525).

The story of O
England's new cap Jimmy Ormond is only the sixth person with a name beginning with O to play for England, and the first since Chris Old, who won the last of his 46 caps in 1981. The others were Alan Oakman (two caps in 1956), Sir Timothy Carew O'Brien, Bt (five Tests between 1884 and 1895-96), Jack O'Connor (four Tests in 1929 and 1929-30) and Norman Oldfield (one cap in 1939; he later umpired in two Tests as well).

Caddick's half-century
Andy Caddick is winning his 50th Test cap at The Oval: he is the 46th player to reach this landmark for England.

Opening gambit
The stand of 158 between Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer was the highest for the first wicket by two Australian left-handers - and the third-highest opening stand between left-handers from any country, behind the 159 of England's Peter Richardson and Geoff Pullar at Bombay in 1961-62 and the 198 between Pullar and Bob Barber at Dacca later in the same tour.

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