England's chance to right Old Trafford record

A stats preview of the second Test between England and Pakistan at Old Trafford

26-Jul-2006

Inzamam-ul-Haq celebrates his hundred at Old Trafford in 2001 © AFP

As the teams head into the second Test at Old Trafford with both casualty wards equally full, England will seek to score their first win against Pakistan at Old Trafford. Three of the four Tests between the two sides have been drawn while Pakistan won by 108 runs in 2001 to draw the series 1-1.

Of the 70 Tests staged at Old Trafford, the captain winning the toss has batted on 62 occasions. The decision to field first - in only eight Tests - has resulted in seven draws and one loss. Since 1990, the team that won the toss batted first 12 times and fielded just once. Of those 12, the team winning the toss has won three, lost two and drawn seven.

Only 51.4% of the Tests at Old Trafford have produced a decisive result (36 out of 70). Since 1990, Old Trafford has the highest percentage of draws, 53.8%, among all Test venues in England. Trent Bridge is second with 40%. Since 2000, however, the trend has been more encouraging, with three results and two draws, the last of which was the thriller where Australia's last pair staved off defeat in 2005.

After a poor outing at Lord's where he scored 16 and 18, Marcus Trescothick will be looking forward to Old Trafford where he averages 56.37, several rungs higher than his career 44.71. He has one hundred and three fifties from ten innings at Manchester with scores of 63 and 41 in the last Test there against Australia in 2005.

Old Trafford isn't Steve Harmison's happiest hunting ground in England. He's taken just seven wickets in two Tests at an average of 36 and a strike-rate of 61.4 at the venue. Among grounds in England, Harmison has a worse record only at Edgbaston, where he averages 68.2 and has a strike-rate of 96.6.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, on the other hand, will be looking forward to playing at Old Trafford again after he scored 114 and 85 in his last Test there in 2001. He averages 75 in two Tests at Manchester.

Inzamam-ul-Haq Marcus Trescothick Steve Harmison Pakistan England England vs Pakistan Pakistan tour of England and Scotland Old Trafford

George Binoy is editorial assistant of Cricinfo