Heard the one about the stand-in opener who almost trebles his average when he moves up the order? The word "makeshift" was used more than a few times to describe Russel Arnold when he was promoted to opener in place of Sanath Jayasuriya for this match, but Arnold began his Test career at the top of the order, and he showed why as he held up England on the final day. Arnold's 109 was his third Test century - and they have all come when he has been opening, even though only 19% of his Test innings (12 out of 62) have been at the top of the order. When Arnold bats down the order, he averages a mere 23.31. But put him against the new ball and it's nearly three times that: Arnold has 654 runs at an average of 65.40. He made a hundred the last time he opened in a Test before this match, but that was almost three years ago. The success of the Jayasuriya-Atapattu partnership meant that Arnold could not force his way in, but now he could give a whole new meaning to the term "partnership-breaker" by splitting Sri Lanka's most successful opening pair.

Our graph shows where Arnold scored his runs, with the majority on the off side. The most profitable area was through the covers, where he managed 27 out of 109 - nearly 25%. Oddly, all three Arnold's Test hundreds have come outside Sri Lanka. Most Sri Lankan batsman are more comfortable on the spongier surfaces in their homeland. Not Arnold. He averages 23 at home, and 40 away.

Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com.

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