England performance outside their own country

The current World Champions in the ODI format are not as good in Tests as they are placed fourth in the ICC Test Rankings. Their current form isn’t good either as they have lost a Test series 2-1 to West Indies, had to sweat it out to beat the lowest ranked Ireland side and drew an Ashes series at home for the first time in a few years.

Talking about their away record, like most of the countries, England have a worse record in Tests than at home. While it is one thing to stay at the top of the ICC Rankings owing to a certain format of play and winning matches, the advent of the World Test Championship makes it important to win at home as well as outside of home. As every team plays three series at home and three away, the sides clinching away series will have an upper hand in the tournament.

For England to do that, they will have to look at that away record. England have played in all nine Test playing nations that have been playing for years now. The two new teams Afghanistan and Ireland are yet to host the ‘Three Lions’. The England v Australia rivalry is the oldest in Test cricket history. The English side has been touring Down Under since 1877, but their record is not that good. In an excellent sample set of 180 matches, they have won only 57 matches and lost 95. The remaining 28 matches ended in a draw. This computes their Win/Loss percentage to 60.

Australia’s neighbours New Zealand have been hosting the English side since 1930. The two sides have played 49 matches, out of which England have won 18 and lost just 5. One of the main reasons is the quality of their swing attack that can make full use of the swinging conditions that the Kiwis have on offer. Their W/L percentage is 360. The English side has also been visiting the Caribbean islands since 1930. They have won just 15 games out of 71 and lost 27. They  are yet to crack the code of the islands having a lowly W/L percentage of 55.56.

Pakistan has been a pretty scary hosting nation for England as they have won just 2 Tests there losing 9 out of the 30. Their W/L percentage is just 22.22. It is the lowest for them in a country where they have won at least one game. They have not a single one of them in Zimbabwe. They visited the nation just once in 1996 for a couple of Tests. Both matches ended in a draw. The latest first Test in a country for England is in Bangladesh. They have a brilliant record in the Aisan country. They have beaten the home side five times and lost just once. Their W/L percentage is 500, which is the best for them in any country (even at home).

The three remaining countries are South Africa, India and Sri Lanka. According to the World Test championship schedule, England will be touring South Africa from 26 December 2019 to 28 January 2020 for 4 Tests. They will be travelling to Sri Lanka for a couple of games in March 2020 and their last assignment in the Championship will be in India in the month of January 2021, which will be their only five-match series in the competition.

They have been pretty successful in South Africa and Sri Lanka. They have been visiting South Africa since 1889 and have played 81 Tests there. They have won 31, lost 19 and drawn the remaining 31. Their W/L percentage is 163.16. In Sri Lanka, they have won 7, lost 5 and drawn 4 out of the 16 Tests. The W/L percentage is 140.

The only series they will have to worry about is against India in India. The No. 1 ranked Test side has an outstanding record at home and to win a Test series against them is one of the tasks in the bucket lists of the best teams in the world. However, England should go in with one positive that they are the last team to beat India in India (2-1 in 2012). They have won 13, lost 19 and drawn 28 out of 60 Tests in the subcontinent. Their W/L percentage is 68.42.

Be sure to check the live cricket score of England in the World Test Championship, especially in the away series!