Australia always preferred to bat first in all forms, and when it comes to Test matches, they hardly think twice, which gives them an opportunity to defend a substantial target in last few sessions of a Test.
From Oct’98-2013, they played 181 Tests, and asked their bowlers to defend in 84 Tests.
In which they won 51, lost 19, Drawn 14.
Here are few tables explaining their performance.
Table 1- phases
| Period | Tests | Won | % win |
| 1998-2001(end of Ashes’01) | 38 | 26 | 68.42% |
| 2001-2005(end of Ashes’05) | 51 | 34 | 66.67% |
| 2005-2009(end of Ashes’09) | 43 | 28 | 65.12% |
| 2009-2013(2nd of 3rd Ashes Test) | 49 | 24 | 48.98% |
| 181 | 112 | 61.88% |
Table 2 : various targets given to them between 1998-2001 & result
| 1998-2001(end of Ashes’01) | Defending less than 100 | Defending target (100-200) | Defending target 201-300 | Defending target 301-400 | Defending target 401+ |
| Tests | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| Won | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||
| Lost | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Drawn | 1 | 1 |
Table 3 : various targets given to them between 2001-2005 & result
| 2001-2005(end of Ashes’05) | Defending less than 100 | Defending target (100-200) | Defending target 201-300 | Defending target 301-400 | Defending target 401+ |
| Tests | 3 | 3 | 8 | 8 | |
| Won | 6 | 7 | |||
| Lost | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Drawn | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Table 4 : various targets given to them between 2005-2009 & result
| 2005-2009(end of Ashes’09) | Defending less than 100 | Defending target (100-200) | Defending target 201-300 | Defending target 301-400 | Defending target 401+ |
| Tests | 1 | 2 | 6 | 11 | |
| Won | 1 | 5 | 9 | ||
| Lost | 1 | 1 | |||
| Drawn | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Table 5 : various targets given to them between 2009-2013 & result
| 2009-2013(2nd of 3rd Ashes Test) | Defending less than 100 | Defending target (100-200) | Defending target 201-300 | Defending target 301-400 | Defending target 401+ |
| Tests | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
| Won | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | |
| Lost | 1 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Drawn | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Table 6: bowlers performance(2nd Inn figures only) in defending all targets. Includes all those played Test cricket between (1998-2013) with min 10 inns qualification. Highlighted bowlers are currently playing Test match for Australia.
| Bowlers | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | 4/5/10 wk | Avg | St.Rate | R/O | LE R x L S R | % mdns |
| Warne | 29 | 4034 | 1971 | 74 | 7-3-3 | 26.64 | 54.51 | 2.94 | 160.15 | 23.70 |
| McGrath | 35 | 3538 | 1294 | 67 | 3-3-1 | 19.31 | 52.81 | 2.20 | 115.97 | 33.94 |
| Johnson | 29 | 3105 | 1610 | 57 | 1-3-2 | 28.25 | 54.47 | 3.12 | 169.93 | 23.06 |
| Gillespie | 25 | 2170 | 970 | 43 | 3-1 | 22.56 | 50.47 | 2.75 | 138.55 | 25.76 |
| Lee | 27 | 2827 | 1563 | 43 | 2-1 | 36.35 | 65.74 | 3.32 | 218.31 | 19.12 |
| MacGill | 17 | 1962 | 1119 | 33 | 1-2-1 | 33.91 | 59.45 | 3.43 | 203.95 | 20.54 |
| Siddle | 20 | 1969 | 819 | 33 | 3-0-0 | 24.82 | 59.67 | 2.50 | 149.12 | 32.65 |
| S Clark | 11 | 1267 | 496 | 26 | 2-1 | 19.08 | 48.73 | 2.35 | 114.50 | 34.11 |
| Harris | 10 | 928 | 478 | 22 | 0-2 | 21.73 | 42.18 | 3.10 | 130.59 | 19.43 |
| Hilfenhaus | 12 | 1151 | 507 | 20 | 1-0 | 25.35 | 57.55 | 2.54 | 145.89 | 27.50 |
| Kasprowicz | 12 | 787 | 385 | 20 | 0-1 | 19.25 | 39.35 | 2.94 | 115.65 | 25.19 |
| Lyon | 15 | 1558 | 698 | 22 | 1-0 | 31.73 | 70.82 | 2.70 | 191.44 | 28.66 |
| Watson | 19 | 924 | 405 | 11 | 0-0-0 | 36.82 | 84.00 | 2.63 | 220.91 | 24.68 |
Now, a brief look at all nations. This year in 39 tests, 26 times teams were asked to defend. Here is a table of targets of >100 onwards.
| Target | Defending target (100-200) | Defending target 201-300 | Defending target 301-400 | Defending target 401+ |
| Tests | 6 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| Won | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| Drawn | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
All data updated till end of 3rd Ashes Test @WACA, 2013-14.
Here is a link to meaning of all ndicators/formula – http://allthatcricket.com/?p=1489
