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England v Pakistan, 3rd Test, Headingley

England favourites to wrap up the series

George Binoy

August 3, 2006

Matthew Hoggard is four short of taking 500 first-class wickets © Getty Images

Pakistan are hoping to have Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar back for the fourth Test at The Oval but they have a real fight on their hands to ensure that the series stays alive after the third at Headingley. In eight Tests, England have beaten Pakistan four times at Leeds, while Pakistan have won just once. The most recent match in 1996 ended in a draw. Since 2000, England have won three times and lost twice - against India and South Africa - at Headingley.

Since 1990, the team that has won the toss has batted on eight occasions but won only four of those games. Of the five Tests in which a team has chosen to field, they've won three, and drawn and lost one each.

74% of the matches (48 out of 65) at Leeds have ended in a decisive result. The stat has risen to 84% since 1990 with 11 out of 13 Tests having a result.

After being ravaged by injuries, England have eight players in their 12-man squad who have never played a Test at Leeds before. Only Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison have played at Headingley. Since Pakistan didn't play at Leeds during their 2001 tour, Inzamam-ul-Haq is the only player to have played at this venue.

However, Inzamam hasn't had the happiest time at Leeds where he averages 22.75 in four innings and has passed 20 only once.

Headingley hasn't been Hoggard's favourite ground either. He averages 38.57 and has a strike-rate of 66.8 after taking seven wickets in two Tests. However, he is just four wickets short of taking 500 first-class wickets.

Pakistan's opening partnerships in two Tests so far have been 28, 0, 4 and 21. The prospects for improvement don't look too good because Leeds has an average opening partnership of 29.15 since 1990 - the lowest average for any venue in England which has hosted more than two Tests.

George Binoy is editorial assistant of Cricinfo

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