In the second of our data analytics series on the summer of sport - in partnership with HPE - cricket statistician, Benedict Bermange, looks at the impact a ground can have on a player or a teams performance as we head into the second Investec Test at Emirates Old Trafford… And so Englands Test series against Pakistan moves north to Manchester, which in 1884 became just the fourth ground to host Test cricket. Cheap Shoes Wholesale Free Shipping . And, true to form, that first scheduled day of Test cricket at the ground - Thursday 10 July - was totally rained off. Master the Data Deluge Learn why the worlds top 10 most valuable brands drive decisions with HPE big data solutions That was the first of a record 29 days to have been totally lost to rain at the venue, a clear seven ahead of the next best, Dunedin and Sydney.Mancunians must have been delighted in 2009 when Cardiff became the 100th Test venue - no longer do they hold the crown as the wettest England home Test venue as Cardiff receives an annual average of 1061 millimetres of rainfall compared to 810mm at Manchester. London only has 594mm annually. Given variations like the weather, temperature, and altitude at certain grounds, do some players prefer certain venues?England captain Alastair Cook will be thankful that there is no Test scheduled at Trent Bridge this summer, having only scored 306 runs in his nine Tests there, averaging 21.85. However, he does have his solitary Test wicket at the venue!Joe Root has enjoyed much more success at Nottingham, scoring 13 more than Cook despite playing in six fewer matches. Surprisingly, Root has struggled at his home venue of Headingley, with an average of just 25.28 in his four Tests.Steven Finn will be eager to return to Edgbaston for the third Test against Pakistan, the scene of his eight wickets in the win over Australia last year, contributing to a career average of 20.92 in Tests at the Midlands ground.Finn wont be relishing his trip to The Oval for the fourth Test quite as much, though, having taken only four wickets in his two previous Tests there, at an average of 45.50.The Oval is also the ground where Englands two premier strike bowlers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, have their worst Test figures at home.Anderson has taken 35 Test wickets there at an average of 33.51; Broad takes his wickets at a slightly less costly rate with 25 wickets at an average of 32.44. In contrast, Mohammad Amir took six wickets at 16.83 on his last visit to The Oval in 2010.One classic example of a player performing better on a certain ground than others is Sky Sports own Nasser Hussain. In his 96 Tests he averaged 37.18 overall - not bad considering he had to face some of the all-time great bowlers.Looking at Hussains ground-by-ground record at home, it is no real surprise that he had his best record at Lords - traditionally a very fine batting pitch. However, he also performed very well at Nottingham and Leeds, traditionally grounds which have favoured bowlers.What really stands out is how poorly he performed at The Oval and, in particular, at Manchester - where his highest score in seven innings was just 16. Other than just the psychological feeling at some grounds rather than others, there is no real evidence to show why he performed so differently around the country.Of course, some players have had famous love affairs with certain grounds. Brian Lara set his two world records of 375 and 400 not out at the Antigua Recreation Ground - renowned as possibly the most batsman-friendly pitch in the world.But it is Sri Lankas Mahela Jayawardene who has the most Test runs on any ground. He scored 2,921 runs at an average of 74.89 at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo. He is second on the list as well at Galle, with 2382.At English grounds, Graham Goochs 2,015 at Lords leads the way, with Cook on 1657 at the same ground.With the ball, another Sri Lankan occupies the top three places - Muttiah Muralitharan taking 166 wickets at the SSC, 117 at Kandy and 111 at Galle.Since 2000 in Test cricket in England, seam bowling has dominated, but at some grounds more than others.The northern grounds of Leeds (85 per cent) and Nottingham (82 per cent) have seen the highest percentage of wickets taken by seam bowlers. By contrast, the traditional end-of-season venue of The Oval is down at 75 per cent - level with Manchester, traditionally seen as perhaps the best wicket in the country for Test cricket. Interestingly, over this recent time period, spinners have had a better average than seamers at Edgbaston.If you are searching for a home banker, then look no further than a Test match played in May. For instance, of the 33 home Tests starting in that month, England have won 24, drawn six and lost just three. Those losses were to Australia in 1921, Pakistan in 2001 and New Zealand in 2015. One of those victories came at Chester-le-Street - the northernmost of all Test grounds at only 2,429 miles from the North Pole. Perhaps tellingly, England have won all six of their Tests played at the Riverside ground. This is the most consecutive wins by any home side from the inauguration of a Test Ground.Test cricket is played around the world in different climates and conditions. The best players find ways to perform at any venue in all conditions, thats what makes them the best.Find out more about Hewlett Packard data solutions. Cheap Clearance Shoes Online . Rudy Gay made the tying basket in regulation and a 3-pointer in overtime that gave Sacramento the lead for good, and Fredette scored a career-high 24 points to help the Kings beat the Knicks 106-101 on Wednesday night. Cheap China Shoes Free Shipping Worldwide . And Richard Bachman, their rookie goalie, is facing a penalty shot a few seconds after the opening face-off. No pressure, right? Bachman stood his ground against Zack Kassian and saw the puck dribble off the Canuck rookies stick, then settled in and backstopped the Stars to a 5-2 win over Vancouver Tuesday that put Dallas in first place in the Pacific Division. http://www.cheapshoeschinafreeshipping.com/ .com) - John Wall supplied 24 points and 11 assists in leading the Washington Wizards to a 102-91 win over the New York Knicks on Christmas Day.Newcastle United managing director Lee Charnley has told fans the club remain fully focused on on-pitch matters after announcing the financial results for the year ending June 30, 2015. The Magpies generated a profit after tax of £32.4m and a net cash flow from operating activities of £39.1m. The figures both show an increase on 2014 when they stood at £18.7m and £32.9m respectively.However, Charnley knows the main issues are on the field with Rafa Benitezs men sitting down in 19th place in the Premier League with only seven matches remaining. We appreciate that at the present time, football results and not financial results are what our supporters want to see from us, he said.That said, it would be wrong for the club not to acknowledge the submission of our accounts for the period July 14 to June 15. Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley alongside new boss Rafa Benitez We understand, however, that what you want to see are results on the pitch. There are still 21 points to play for and lots can, and likkely will, happen over the next seven games. Cheap Shoes Wholesale China. We of course acknowledge the seriousness of our situation. However, we must remain positive and retain the belief that we can secure our Premier League status and we are doing everything we can to support Rafa and the team.The financial report shows owner Mike Ashley has not used Newcastles profit to chip away at the £129m owed in the form of interest free loans from him and companies under his control. Mike Ashley has not chipped away at his loans to Newcastle None of the debt has been repaid and the Sports Direct founder has not taken any other money from Newcastle during the year or since the year end.The results also show the club had £48.3m in the bank at the end of the financial year, but the net spend on players during the subsequent transfer windows amounted to just under £80m. Also See: Newcastle video Newcastle fixtures Newcastle stats ' ' '