12400 test runs, 38 Centuries, an average of 57.40 by retirement, 20 months ago he made 4 centuries in the World Cup, he has the second most ODI runs of all time. Yesterday Kumar Sangakkara was dropped from the Hobart Hurricanes, a team based in a city of 215,000
A common joke among England fans is that bowling all-rounder batsman James Vince looks superb for 20 or 30 runs, then inevitably gets himself dismissed before he can reach the 40-run mark. Today, I will be using statistics to determine if this is actually the case. Yes, I really am that bored at the minute. For this comparison, I will be considering all players who have batted at least twenty innings for England at positions #1-#7 since the start of 2015 (Root, Stokes, Cook, Bairstow, Buttler, Ali, Burns, Denly, Jennings, Ballance, Malan, Pope, Hales, Stoneman, the recently-retired Bell and of course Vince himself). I will also include every batsman who averages 50 or more with a minimum of twenty innings played and who has played a Test match from the start of 2015 onwards (this means Smith, Kohli, Williamson, Labuschagne, Sangakkara, Younis Khan, Chanderpaul, de Villiers and of course the legendary Adam Voges). Finally, I'll be including Don Bradman because why the heck not. In the first table, I'll be presenting each player, their batting average, their total number of innings batted, their no. of innings in which they scored between 0 and 19, their no. of innings in which they scored between 20 and 39 and finally, their no. of innings in which they scored 40 or more. Players are listed by batting average from highest to lowest.
Player
Average
Innings
0-19
20-39
40+
Don Bradman
99.94
80
22
12
46
Marnus Labuschagne
63.43
23
7
2
14
Steve Smith
62.84
131
45
24
62
Adam Voges
61.87
31
13
7
11
Kumar Sangakkara
57.40
233
86
40
107
Virat Kohli
53.62
145
60
22
63
Younis Khan
52.05
213
86
42
85
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
51.37
280
108
52
120
Kane Williamson
50.99
140
57
21
62
AB de Villiers
50.66
191
69
37
85
Joe Root
47.99
177
70
31
76
Alastair Cook
45.35
291
128
50
113
Ian Bell
42.69
205
97
34
74
Ollie Pope
37.94
20
12
2
6
Ben Stokes
37.84
122
52
31
39
Gary Ballance
37.45
42
18
12
12
Jonny Bairstow
34.74
123
55
29
39
Jos Buttler
33.90
82
37
19
26
Rory Burns
32.44
38
19
6
13
Joe Denly
29.53
28
11
11
6
Moeen Ali
28.97
104
59
21
24
Dawid Malan
27.84
26
14
5
7
Mark Stoneman
27.68
20
10
4
6
Alex Hales
27.28
21
14
2
5
Keaton Jennings
25.19
32
19
7
6
James Vince
24.90
22
13
4
5
By coincidence, Vince is at the very bottom when it comes to batting average (I swear I didn't plan this). With Vince, the perception is that he often reaches 20 but fails to reach 40. Thus, the next table will be looking at what percentage of the time each of the above batsmen reach 20 runs in an innings, ranked from highest to lowest.
Player
Percentage reached 20 runs
Don Bradman
72.50 %
Marnus Labuschagne
69.57 %
Steve Smith
65.65 %
AB de Villiers
63.87 %
Kumar Sangakkara
63.09 %
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
61.43 %
Joe Denly
60.71 %
Joe Root
60.45 %
Younis Khan
59.62 %
Kane Williamson
59.29 %
Virat Kohli
58.62 %
Adam Voges
58.06 %
Ben Stokes
57.38 %
Gary Ballance
57.14 %
Alastair Cook
56.01 %
Jonny Bairstow
55.28 %
Jos Buttler
54.88 %
Ian Bell
52.68 %
Rory Burns
50.00 %
Mark Stoneman
50.00 %
Dawid Malan
46.15 %
Moeen Ali
43.27 %
James Vince
40.91 %
Keaton Jennings
40.63 %
Ollie Pope
40.00 %
Alex Hales
33.33 %
There are actually a lot of insightful conclusions you can draw from this sort of 'breaking down innings into chunks' data (see this wonderful analysis by u/insideoutovercover for an example) but we're not here for that; instead, we're here for some spicy James Vince memes. Still, aside from Vince, there are a few interesting case studies here. Firstly, Vince actually isn't as good at reaching the 20-run mark as I thought he was. Nearly 60% of the time, he gets out before then. Small sample size, I know, but his reputation of reliably making 20s and 30s doesn't appear to be backed up by the stats. Secondly, Ollie Pope's stats here are pretty poor and a little surprising considering that he's yet to be dismissed for a duck in his Test career. His average is a lot better than the players around him, though, so perhaps he's just good at making big scores once he does get his eye in. Also, it could simply be the case that he just hasn't played that many innings so his numbers are a little skewed. Thirdly, out of the batsmen who average 50 or above, Smith, AB and Sangakkara rank pretty highly in terms of consistently reaching 20 runs, whereas Voges and Kohli struggle to reach that landmark relatively speaking. In Voges' case, I'm not at all surprised given how a couple of great series completely blew up his average, and in Kohli's case, he has a reputation for either going cheaply or scoring piles of runs so these stats shouldn't be particularly shocking. Fourthly, out of the England batsmen, Dendulkar is the king of reaching 20 runs consistently (in fact, in that metric, he beats out three of the Fab Four) and Root isn't far behind. Beyond England's generational batting talent (and Joe Root), Stokes and Ballance do pretty well when it comes to reaching the 20-run mark. Finally, this Bradman fellow seems like a decent batsman. He's got nothing on Marnus Labuschagne, though. This is only part of the story, however. As well as his reputation for consistently reaching 20-30 runs, Vince also has a reputation for consistently getting out on 20-30 runs. Let us then create a table ranking these batsmen by how often they reach 40 runs given that they've already reached 20 runs. To do this, we just simply take the number of innings in which they've scored 20+ runs and divide that by the number of innings in which they've scored 40+ runs.
Player
Percentage reached 40 runs after reaching 20 runs
Marnus Labuschagne
87.50 %
Don Bradman
79.31 %
Ollie Pope
75.00 %
Kane Williamson
74.70 %
Virat Kohli
74.12 %
Kumar Sangakkara
72.79 %
Steve Smith
72.09 %
Alex Hales
71.43 %
Joe Root
71.03 %
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
69.77 %
AB de Villiers
69.67 %
Alastair Cook
69.33 %
Ian Bell
68.52 %
Rory Burns
68.42 %
Younis Khan
66.93 %
Adam Voges
61.11 %
Mark Stoneman
60.00 %
Dawid Malan
58.33 %
Jos Buttler
57.78 %
Jonny Bairstow
57.35 %
Ben Stokes
55.71 %
James Vince
55.56 %
Moeen Ali
53.33 %
Gary Ballance
50.00 %
Keaton Jennings
46.15 %
Joe Denly
35.29 %
It won't surprise anybody that for the most part, batsmen tend to find it easier to get from 20 to 40 than they do to get from 0 to 20. Kohli of course does well here, and of the England batsmen, both Pope and Hales are ridiculously better at converting 20s into 40s than they are at reaching 20 in the first place (of course, Hales was so bad at reaching 20 that his ability to push on to 40 didn't really matter). Of all the batsmen we have analysed, there are only three exceptions to this general rule:
Stokes: He reaches 20 runs 57.38% of the time and from there, he reaches 40 runs 55.71% of the time. It's only a slight drop, but any sort of drop is unusual, at least for the batsmen analysed in this post (for all I know, this particular list of players could be the exception rather than the norm). His ability to get starts is certainly better than most recent English batsmen and his average suggests that he does a relatively good job of cashing in once he reaches 40 runs compared to other English batsmen.
Ballance: Like Stokes but worse. He reaches the 20-run mark 57.14% of the time (nearly as often as Stokes does) but then there's just a 1-in-2 chance that he kicks on to 40. His average is about the same as Stokes', though, so he can be quite dangerous once he reaches 40. I don't know for sure why this happens, but my hypothesis is that around the 20-run mark, teams begin to figure out Ballance's glaring technical flaw, and if they haven't figured it out by the time he reaches 40, they probably aren't figuring it out any time soon.
Denly: By far the most bizarre batsman on this list; he somehow finds it easy to reach 20 but can't seem to reach 40 to save his life. It's not just a slight difference either; he reaches 20 runs 60.71% of the time (the best out of the English batsmen) yet once he's settled, he only reaches the 40-run mark 35.29% of the time (way behind the second-worst, Keaton Jennings, at 46.15%). I...can't explain this. Seriously, I'm at a loss here. For most batsmen, they tend to struggle in the nervous nineties; for Root, it's the nervous sixties; for Denly, it's the nervous twenties and thirties.
You know who isn't on the above list? That's right: Marnus Labuschagne. In fact, he's more reliable at reaching 40 once he reaches 20 than Bradman is. Labuschagne > Bradman confirmed. Oh, also, Vince isn't on the list either. If you were to present two scenarios to England fans (Vince reaching 20 and Vince reaching 40 given that he's already reached 20) and ask them which one is more likely, I suspect most of them would say that the former is the likelier scenario (although perhaps I just have a very skewed perception of the general opinion among fellow England fans). As a matter of fact, Vince reaches 20 runs around 40.91% of the time while he reaches 40 runs 55.56% of the time in situations where he's already scored 20. That doesn't seem too unusual for a batsman of his rather low ability. Why, then, does he seemingly have this reputation of scoring 20-30 runs before immediately getting out? To be honest, I have no idea. Perhaps this reputation is simply something that I've conjured up in my imagination rather than it being a reputation which actually exists in the minds of England fans. Denly certainly has a reputation for scoring twenty-odd or thirty-odd before being dismissed, but in his case, the stats actually back it up. A slightly more tongue-in-cheek one this time, but I think there's a lot of genuinely useful stuff you can find out from this sort of analysis. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the read.
Did Ravindra Jadeja Deserve the 2nd Most Valuable Test Player of the 21st Century accolade by Wisden?
Ravindra Jadeja was recently named the 2nd most valuable player of the 21st Century. Jadeja has done great for India in Tests. He alongside Ashwin has made India unbeatable at Home. But he has played a total of 16 away Tests only. That’s maybe also due to limited opportunities granted to him. But even then a player who has only played 16 away Tests and scored 663 Runs at average of 30.13 and Taken 56 Wickets at an average of 34.62 deserved to be called the 2nd Most Valuable Player of the 21st Century? I have made a Test XI for the 21st Century. My Criteria for selecting the XI. For Batsmen Minimum of 4000 Test Runs against the Top 8 Opposition and a Minimum of 2000 Away Test Runs against the Top 8 Opposition. For Bowler Minimum of 200 Test Wickets against the Top 8 Opposition and a Minimum of 100 Away Test Wickets against the Top 8 Opposition. I’ve selected the Criteria considering that 20 Years of Cricket has already been seen in the Century.
Sachin Tendulkar, Sir Viv Richards, Virat Kohli & Joe Root showed up once on each of the Tests and the ODIs Lists but not at the same positions. Please look at my other post For Nos 4-5 & 6-8. All the data was not fitting in the same post so I made separate posts. Thank You.
Evaluating ODI Batsmen Using Relative Strike Rates
Often any kind of discussion or comparison in sport automatically devolves into the "you can't compare different eras!" conclusion, which in limited overs cricket is probably even more prominent than elsewhere - the climate for a batsman today post-IPL, post-white ball swing, with huge bats and ramp shots and general pandemonium, would be impossible for a batsman in the 70s, 80s, or even the early part of this century to imagine. And the area where these differences are most highlighted is in strike rates, which simply put have risen exponentially. A cursory look at the stats will make you think all batsmen of the past were glorified Boycotts, nudging and prodding without any real flair or power. But that would be stupid. A possible workaround is instead of looking at the raw strike rates, to look at a batsman's strike rate in the context of their contemporaries. Doing that is easy - You take the batsman's strike rate, you take the overall strike rate over the course of this batsman's career, and you divide the first number by the second. A figure greater than 1 implies they scored more freely than "expected", while a figure less than 1 implies they scored more restrictively than expected. The further away from 1 the more remarkable the strike rate, either positively or negatively. For convenience and to make things a bit cleaner and slightly less nitpicky, I define a batsman's career as follows: 1 January "first year batting" - 31 December "final year batting" Furthermore, since the primary motivation of this is for comparisons in all time XIs and such, I've decided to break things up into 3 roles: Openers, 3-4, 5-7. The basis of these designations came from glancing at the overall strike rate trends per individual batting position, but I admit they're crude and maybe even arbitrary. I'll also only consider a batsman's stats in their primary role, eg Tendulkar played all over the place initially but played the best and most significant part of his career as an opener, so only those stats are counted when comparing openers. A batsman can still be considered in more than one role, but the numbers will be accurately divided. The strike rates are of course also calculated according to each role, which helpfully excludes useless tailender data and allows us to see how a batsman plays in relation to the general demands of their position. To filter more, only those who've scored at least 1000 runs in their role are looked at. To get an intuitive feel for a batsman's overall "effectiveness", I've taken a geometric mean of their batting average (A) and their relative strike rate (RS), ie sqrt(A*RS). Essentially with this metric, below 6 represents a fairly ineffective batsman, 6-7 a good to great batsman, 7-8 a world class batsman, and 8+ a truly special batsman. The batsmen I've done this for are a mix of the top run scorers, and people who for some reason I thought this would be interesting. Sorting is done in order of the relative strike rate, but not everyone is included so expect to see some big gaps. I've looked at more people in the openers category to show a broad range of numbers representing different eras, and because it's what I looked at first and I got lazier afterwards. Openers
Player
Runs
Average
Strike Rate
Era Strike Rate
Relative Strike Rate
Rating
Virender Sehwag
7518
36.49
104.72
77.42
1.3526
7.0255
Shahid Afridi
3543
24.6
101.66
75.46
1.3472
5.7568
Adam Gilchrist
9200
36.5
98.02
74.91
1.3085
6.9109
Brendon McCullum
3363
32.97
102.74
79.13
1.2984
6.5427
Jonny Bairstow
2214
51.48
109.06
85.94
1.269
8.0827
Sanath Jayasuriya
12740
34.61
92.48
74.62
1.2393
6.5493
Jason Roy
3381
42.79
107.4
86.73
1.2383
7.2793
Sachin Tendulkar
15310
48.29
88.05
75.41
1.1676
7.5089
Shane Watson
3882
45.13
91.68
78.78
1.1637
7.2471
Saeed Anwar
8156
39.98
79.93
69.74
1.1461
6.7692
Marcus Trescothick
4335
37.37
85.21
74.47
1.1442
6.5391
David Warner
4969
45.58
95.26
83.3
1.1436
7.2197
Quinton de Kock
4823
45.5
95.61
84.59
1.1303
7.1713
Shikhar Dhawan
5518
44.5
94.01
83.4
1.1272
7.0825
Romesh Kaluwitharana
2798
26.14
78.72
70.66
1.1141
5.3965
Chris Gayle
10179
39.45
88.02
79.58
1.1061
6.6056
Rohit Sharma
6977
58.14
92.28
83.68
1.1028
8.0072
Gordon Greenidge
4993
45.39
64.65
58.8
1.0995
7.0644
Herschelle Gibbs
6103
35.69
82.86
75.82
1.0929
6.2453
Tillakaratne Dilshan
7367
46.04
89.08
82.1
1.085
7.0678
Matthew Hayden
5892
44.3
78.7
73.22
1.0748
6.9004
Mark Waugh
5729
44.06
76.74
71.8
1.0688
6.8623
Hashim Amla
8083
49.89
88.65
83.12
1.0665
7.2945
Sunil Gavaskar
2651
35.34
61.5
58
1.0603
6.1215
Martin Guptill
6001
43.8
88.25
83.3
1.0594
6.812
Desmond Haynes
8648
41.37
63.09
59.61
1.0584
6.617
Aaron Finch
4539
40.89
89.52
84.59
1.0583
6.5782
Graeme Smith
6974
38.1
80.94
77.73
1.0413
6.2987
Gary Kirsten
6647
41.8
72.25
71.88
1.0051
6.4819
Sourav Ganguly
9146
41.57
73.59
74.45
0.9884
6.4101
Alastair Cook
3204
36.4
77.13
78.94
0.9771
5.9637
Shai Hope
1349
96.35
82.3
85.75
0.9598
9.6163
Tamim Iqbal
6892
35.52
77.74
82.42
0.9432
5.7882
Michael Atherton
1572
38.34
59.68
67.28
0.887
5.8317
Roshan Mahanama
3283
30.97
57.47
66.14
0.8689
5.1875
Conclusions:
To no real surprise, players 'ahead of their time' are Sehwag, Afridi, Gilchrist, McCullum, Jayasuriya.
Aaron Finch is far, far less impressive than I thought he was. Both in terms of scoring rate and size, so many of his peers totally eclipse him: Bairstow, Roy, Watson, Warner, de Kock, Amla, Rohit, Dhawan, Guptill, Dilshan... And the same goes for players before his time, Desmond Haynes for instance.
Bairstow may have sacrificed his test technique, but he didn't just do it to become a good or even a great white ball player, he did to become possibly the best one day opener we've ever seen. And no you're not clever for saying Trescothick would actually walk into this England team.
Tendulkar stands out as the model of longevity, consistent scoring, and fluent scoring.
Shane Watson probably doesn't get enough credit, and is arguably the best one day opener Australia have had.
Swashbuckling Ganguly is somewhat of a myth, he actually scores at a slower rate than his peers. Similarly stodgy Gavaskar is also somewhat of a myth, he actually scores at a faster rate than his peers, by a decent distance too.
Gary Kirsten was the player most in line with the scoring trends of his era.
Among 'older' players, Gordon Greenidge is certainly the standout.
Mahanama worst ODI opener to have played this much?
3-4
Player
Runs
Average
Strike Rate
Era Strike Rate
Relative Strike Rate
Rating
Viv Richards
5791
52.17
91.19
68.94
1.3227
8.3071
AB de Villiers
6457
53.8
100.98
78.19
1.2915
8.3355
Eoin Morgan
3780
45.54
94.42
78.9
1.1967
7.3823
Virat Kohli
11260
62.2
93.8
80
1.1725
8.5399
Aravinda de Silva
7801
36.45
81.62
70.12
1.164
6.5137
Brian Lara
6962
40.47
81.69
71.54
1.1419
6.7979
Kevin Pietersen
3131
35.57
83.78
75.92
1.1035
6.2652
Ricky Ponting
13308
42.51
80.49
73.29
1.0982
6.8327
Faf du Plessis
4761
52.9
88.44
81.67
1.0829
7.5687
Steve Smith
3384
47.66
85.88
80.91
1.0614
7.1125
Kumar Sangakkara
12234
44
79.97
75.86
1.0542
6.8106
Joe Root
5633
50.29
86.52
82.16
1.0531
7.2773
Ross Taylor
8213
48.59
82.79
78.9
1.0493
7.1404
Babar Azam
3271
54.51
87.01
83.07
1.0474
7.5562
Mahela Jayawardene
8325
34.97
77.98
74.88
1.0414
6.0347
Kane Williamson
5601
48.7
81.5
80.21
1.0161
7.0344
Jonathan Trott
2611
49.26
77.77
76.64
1.0147
7.0701
Allan Border
3781
31.77
69.5
68.67
1.0121
5.6704
Jacques Kallis
10484
45.78
73.35
73.97
0.9916
6.7377
Michael Clarke
5073
45.29
75.42
76.84
0.9815
6.6673
Younis Khan
4871
31.22
73.34
75.43
0.9723
5.5095
Rahul Dravid
7301
37.63
70.18
73.18
0.959
6.0073
Sanjay Manjrekar
1165
34.26
61.25
69.55
0.8807
5.4929
Conclusions:
Before doing this, I expected AB, Viv, and Kohli to come out most impressively, and that's pretty much exactly what's happened. Viv's numbers are just astounding, the way he scored so much more prolifically and so much more freely than his peers borders on incomprehensible.
I'm realising I've really romanticised Jayawardene as a one day player in my head, despite his numbers being really unremarkable. Might not even qualify for an all time Sri Lanka ODI team.
Kallis looks like the most 'of his time' player as far as scoring rate is concerned.
I've got my issues with Faf as a test player, but we shouldn't forget just how incredible he is in white ball cricket, the numbers make him one of the absolute best ODI batsman of all time. Eoin Morgan similarly seems to get pigeonholed as some kind of specialist captain recently, but his batting is up there amongst the greats.
5-7
Player
Runs
Average
Strike Rate
Era Strike Rate
Relative Strike Rate
Rating
Shahid Afridi
3141
23.26
129.63
78.23
1.657
6.2083
Glenn Maxwell
2443
33.01
118.07
87.05
1.3563
6.6913
Jos Buttler
3396
39.95
116.26
87.05
1.3356
7.3045
AB de Villiers
2075
79.8
109.15
82.6
1.3214
10.2689
Lance Klusener
1068
35.6
94.42
73.43
1.2859
6.7658
Andrew Symonds
4315
40.7
92.83
76.47
1.2139
7.029
Jonty Rhodes
4744
35.66
82.26
72.94
1.1278
6.3416
Michael Hussey
4211
47.31
88.95
79.43
1.1199
7.2788
Suresh Raina
4355
34.56
92.43
82.57
1.1194
6.2199
Ben Stokes
2400
43.63
95.16
86.35
1.102
6.934
Yuvraj Singh
4870
38.34
86.73
80.31
1.0799
6.4347
Steve Waugh
5797
34.3
77.39
73.37
1.0548
6.0149
Michael Bevan
4510
51.25
77.3
73.4
1.0531
7.3466
Arjuna Ranatunga
6041
35.12
76.88
73.02
1.0529
6.0808
MS Dhoni
8273
48.09
85.73
82.75
1.036
7.0585
Angelo Mathews
5367
42.25
83.33
84.2
0.9897
6.4663
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
2845
40.64
73.4
76.08
0.9648
6.2617
Conclusions:
Afridi stands out here with by far the highest relative strike rate of any player in any role. Maybe if he were a few years younger, and subsequently his pretend age also a few years younger, while also not being as much of a prick, he could have been a more appreciated cricketer.
For current players, no surprise to see Buttler and Maxwell so high.
Not a huge sample size, but AB's numbers here are insane.
Andrew Symonds was too good a cricketer in all formats to have faded out the way he did.
So with that in mind, and also using some personal judgement, here's my rough attempt at an all time ODI top 7, not considering bowling and the balance of the side: Jonny Bairstow (Tendulkar if you have a sample size issue) Rohit Sharma Virat Kohli Viv Richards AB de Villiers Jos Buttler (wk) Michael Bevan (Ben Stokes/Andrew Symonds if you want a more enthusiastic allrounder) Problems:
The central assumption of relative strike rate is that scoring faster is desirable for all batsmen of all eras, which is a simplistic way of looking at things. With ODI sides for a long time just being copies of test sides, there wasn't necessarily that onus to play more aggressively, it's an issue of capability but also an issue of intention. So even with this adjustment older players are disadvantaged.
I've also not made any adjustments to averages over time, I've assumed that any batsman goes out with the intention of scoring as much as possible. However as we all know team scores have risen and so obviously individual scores have risen, batsmen now score more than their predecessors. So perhaps an adjustment is needed there.
The geometric mean method is very basic, unsophisticated. It's good for basic intuition, but still I think it's heavily biased towards bigger averages, so it depends in part on how each of us value one day batsmen. Would you rather have a Shai Hope or a Virender Sehwag? A Chanderpaul or a Maxwell?
My system also disadvantages players who are systematically promoted up the order in certain match situations, which is quite a frequent occurrence these days. Jos Buttler for instance has some of his best, most destructive numbers when playing in the top 4, yet those aren't counted.
The usual "big game" issue - none of this tells us about performances in world cup knockouts, home and away, against the biggest rivals, in front of the biggest crowds...
The ODI landscape has changed a lot through time, does the emergence of associate and other weaker nations distort things? Or is a hungry Afghanistan side in 2019 a bigger challenge than a bored test leftover England side in 1980? And not necessarily just when these weaker teams are opponents, more in how their results against each other would impact the era strike rates.
As I said before the 1-2/3-4/5-7 designations are far from perfect. In fact looking at the numbers, I found that while openers, 3-4, and 6-7 can be pretty much grouped together at least in the modern era, 5 stands out. But talking about a specialist number 5 still feels very odd to me, and I thought grouping it made more sense.
Another unaccounted for issue is the strength of a batsman's team. For instance it's easy to look at Tamim Iqbal's numbers and call him a poor opener, but he's required to put a higher price on his wicket than say Jason Roy is.
Players with stop-start career paths are given an unfair advantage. For instance someone who plays a random one off ODI in 2005 as a teenager, but then returns to play consistently from 2015-2020 will have their career calculated as 2005-2020 instead of 2015-2020, which will artificially inflate their relative strike rate.
A Statistical Analysis to Determine Team and Player of the Decade
I've seen a lot of opinion pieces lately, so I figured doing a pure stats dump as a team of the decade post would be appropriate. As part of this process players will be deemed to fill the following roles for the period 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2019:
5 × Batsmen
1 × Allrounder
1 × Wicketkeeper batsman†
4 × Bowlers
These will be broken down further into the following:
Batsmen
2 × Openers
1 × Number 3
2 × Middle Order Batter
Bowlers
1 × Spinner
3 × Pace bowlers
As well as an additional role:
1* × Captain (played as captain)
Why this mix? Well, personally this is the makeup of a team I'd pick if I were leading a team to facing a random side on a random group. That said, the intention is to present data in such a manner that if you wished to pick a team with a different makeup, you can do so in the comments section, to then be criticised for why you're wrong by someone else. As to the notes above: * A captain will be selected from the players selected, not as a specialist role. Data will be presented to help make an informed decision however. † We're going for wicketkeeper batsman rather than a pure wicketkeeper, against my better judgement, because stats keeping for keepers has traditionally been utter garbage. Really, what I'll give you is the best keepers in terms of batting. This will crush my soul in many ways, but hey. In terms of how the best will be picked:
Batsmen will be in terms of batting average.
Bowlers will be considering both wickets per match (WPM) and bowling average (ave) combined into one rating as a geometric mean (rat). This is done as the geometric mean of WPM and 1/average, giving a rating that is effectively wickets / sqrt(match × runs conceded).
Allrounders will be judged by a rating which is the geometric mean of the above two methods.
Wicketkeepers, as noted, will just be picked on their batting. I will need to spend many hours seeking forgiveness for this crime, but you know...
As to why I've gone with that rating for bowlers? It servers two key purposes: 1, it doesn't disadvantage spinners as much (who tend to take more wickets per match, but have higher averages), 2, it values players who can carry the weight of their teams bowling efforts. I've had some people complain in the past that it would saturate, and some players would not be able to get high WPM figures due to teammates, but no team has ever averaged 20 wickets per match. Whether it's linear (ie the difference between 3 and 4 wickets per match is the same quality wise as 4 to 5) is up for debate, but for our purposes this should do. Anyhow, onto eligibility. In essence, we want players that have played a sufficient amount in the decade, and we want players representative of the decade. For this reason, we'll go with:
At least 40 innings for batting.
At least 40 wickets for bowling.
Additionally, on being picked we can consider a range of different fractions of matches played. For arbitrary reasons, I'll go with 1/5, 2/5 and 3/5 of matches as the three possible ways of picking the lineup. For these, we'll calculate this from fraction of total available tests. This means that 3 possible lineups will be presented. Note, players under the 1/5 threshold will not be included on the lists given here. Now, this has a few advantages, one is that it doesn't advantage or disadvantage players for playing for certain countries. It also means that when considering the side, people can go back and re-evaluate what they deem important for the team of the decade. This also means that lineups won't be cherry picking criteria on a player by player basis to just get in the players I like, like so many selectors this decade. Additionally, z-scores will be given for each of the roles, ie how far from the average player in their sample they are. This is comparing players directly to the other eligible players in that role. These will be used to determine a player of the decade. For z-scores, however, number 3 and middle order batsmen will be merged, and players total runs will be considered for those considered there, while the sample their z-score will be calculated from will bat 1-7. The same goes for bowlers, but comparing to 1st to 5th bowlers. Note, these will be given within their roles, calculated from these rules. Anyhow, onto the lists. Note, these versions are truncated, but the full versions can be found in the comments.
Batters
Openers
Player
Available
Matches
Fraction
Inns
Runs
100s
50s
Ave
z-score
DA Warner (AUS)
112
83
74.1%
150
7049
23
30
48.95
1.059
AN Cook (ENG)
126
111
88.1%
200
8769
23
37
46.15
0.741
GC Smith (SA)
90
38
42.2%
66
2814
9
12
45.39
0.655
CJL Rogers (AUS)
112
24
21.4%
46
1996
5
14
44.36
0.537
TWM Latham (NZ)
83
48
57.8%
84
3525
11
16
43.52
0.442
V Sehwag (INDIA)
107
32
29.9%
57
2338
6
13
42.51
0.328
Tamim Iqbal (BDESH)
56
46
82.1%
89
3680
8
25
41.82
0.249
S Dhawan (INDIA)
107
34
31.8%
58
2315
7
5
40.61
0.113
D Elgar (SA)
90
52
57.8%
93
3440
11
13
40.00
0.043
M Vijay (INDIA)
107
55
51.4%
97
3719
12
14
38.74
-0.100
From this, the selected players would be:
Number
1/5
2/5
3/5
1
Warner
Warner
Warner
2
Cook
Cook
Cook
Number 3
Player
Matches
Fraction
Inns
Runs
100s
50s
Ave
z-score
KC Sangakkara (SL)
44
46.3%
80
4763
17
20
65.25
2.909
KS Williamson (NZ)
68
81.9%
118
5785
19
28
54.58
1.697
HM Amla (SA)
72
80.0%
118
5690
19
23
52.69
1.483
CA Pujara (INDIA)
69
64.5%
109
5223
17
22
50.22
1.203
IJL Trott (ENG)
44
34.9%
71
3063
7
15
46.41
0.771
Azhar Ali (PAK)
57
68.7%
100
4127
12
24
42.99
0.382
R Dravid (INDIA)
25
23.4%
42
1669
6
5
42.79
0.360
DM Bravo (WI)
32
38.6%
52
1964
4
12
40.08
0.052
JE Root (ENG)
28
22.2%
49
1792
2
13
38.13
-0.169
UT Khawaja (AUS)
38
33.9%
66
2343
6
12
37.19
-0.276
From this, the selected players would be:
Number
1/5
2/5
3/5
3
Sangakkara
Sangakkara
Williamson
Middle Order
Player
Matches
Fraction
Inns
Runs
100s
50s
Ave
z-score
SPD Smith (AUS)
72
64.3%
130
7164
26
28
62.84
2.636
KC Sangakkara (SL)
46
48.4%
86
4851
17
20
61.41
2.473
S Chanderpaul (WI)
41
49.4%
70
3198
9
13
60.34
2.352
JH Kallis (SA)
33
36.7%
55
2810
13
6
58.54
2.148
AB de Villiers (SA)
60
66.7%
98
5059
13
27
57.49
2.028
V Kohli (INDIA)
84
78.5%
141
7202
27
22
54.98
1.743
Younis Khan (PAK)
55
66.3%
101
4839
18
12
54.37
1.674
KS Williamson (NZ)
78
94.0%
137
6379
21
31
51.44
1.342
MEK Hussey (AUS)
33
29.5%
58
2597
9
10
50.92
1.283
Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK)
57
68.7%
101
4225
8
35
50.30
1.212
From this, the selected players would be, remembering that Sangakkara was already selected at 3, as was Williamson:
Number
1/5
2/5
3/5
4
Smith
Smith
Smith
5
Chanderpaul
Chanderpaul
de Villiers
Wicketkeeper
Player
Available
Matches
Fraction
Inns
Runs
100s
50s
Ave
z-score
BJ Watling (NZ)
83
59
71.1%
90
3224
7
17
41.87
0.255
LD Chandimal (SL)
95
24
25.3%
43
1602
5
7
41.08
0.165
Mushfiqur Rahim (BDESH)
56
41
73.2%
77
2860
6
12
40.86
0.140
Q de Kock (SA)
90
42
46.7%
70
2633
5
18
40.51
0.101
MJ Prior (ENG)
126
54
42.9%
83
2709
5
17
39.26
-0.041
JM Bairstow (ENG)
126
48
38.1%
85
3028
5
15
37.85
-0.201
MS Dhoni (INDIA)
107
50
46.7%
82
2700
3
17
36.49
-0.356
Sarfaraz Ahmed (PAK)
83
49
59.0%
86
2657
3
18
36.40
-0.366
N Dickwella (SL)
95
34
35.8%
62
1851
0
14
31.91
-0.875
TD Paine (AUS)
112
30
26.8%
49
1295
0
7
31.59
-0.912
Number
1/5
2/5
3/5
7?
Watling†
Watling†
Watling†
Allrounders
Player
Matches
Fraction
Runs
Bat Ave
W
Ave
WPM
Rat
All Round
z-score
RA Jadeja (INDIA)
48
44.9%
1844
35.46
211
24.64
4.396
0.4223
3.870
2.521
Shakib Al Hasan (BDESH)
42
75.0%
3147
42.53
162
31.98
3.857
0.3473
3.843
2.476
R Ashwin (INDIA)
70
65.4%
2385
28.73
362
25.37
5.171
0.4515
3.602
2.065
JO Holder (WI)
40
48.2%
1898
32.72
106
26.38
2.650
0.3170
3.221
1.417
VD Philander (SA)
61
67.8%
1700
24.64
220
21.99
3.607
0.4050
3.159
1.311
BA Stokes (ENG)
60
47.6%
3787
35.73
139
33.14
2.317
0.2644
3.074
1.166
MA Starc (AUS)
56
50.0%
1493
22.28
240
27.09
4.286
0.3978
2.977
1.003
MM Ali (ENG)
60
47.6%
2782
28.98
181
36.60
3.017
0.2871
2.884
0.845
CR Woakes (ENG)
32
25.4%
1145
27.26
92
30.97
2.875
0.3047
2.882
0.841
PJ Cummins (AUS)
29
25.9%
639
17.27
139
21.93
4.793
0.4675
2.842
0.772
Number
1/5
2/5
3/5
6?
Jadeja
Jadeja
Shakib
Bowlers
Pace Bowlers
Player
Matches
Fraction
W
Ave
WPM
Rat
z-score
PJ Cummins (AUS)
29
25.9%
139
21.93
4.793
0.4675
1.857
K Rabada (SA)
41
45.6%
190
22.57
4.634
0.4531
1.653
DW Steyn (SA)
59
65.6%
267
22.30
4.525
0.4505
1.616
Mohammad Abbas (PAK)
17
20.5%
72
20.90
4.235
0.4501
1.611
RJ Harris (AUS)
27
24.1%
113
23.52
4.185
0.4218
1.211
JM Anderson (ENG)
106
84.1%
429
24.35
4.047
0.4077
1.010
N Wagner (NZ)
46
55.4%
201
26.52
4.370
0.4059
0.986
VD Philander (SA)
61
67.8%
220
21.99
3.607
0.4050
0.973
MA Starc (AUS)
56
50.0%
240
27.09
4.286
0.3978
0.871
JR Hazlewood (AUS)
51
45.5%
195
26.20
3.824
0.3820
0.648
From this, the selected players would be:
Number
1/5
2/5
3/5
8?
Cummins
Rabada
Steyn
9?
Rabada
Steyn
Anderson
10?
Steyn
Anderson
Philander
Spinners
Player
Matches
Fraction
W
Ave
WPM
Rat
z-score
R Ashwin (INDIA)
70
65.4%
362
25.37
5.171
0.4515
1.6304
Saeed Ajmal (PAK)
30
36.1%
160
26.51
5.333
0.4485
1.5880
HMRKB Herath (SL)
72
75.8%
363
26.42
5.042
0.4369
1.4235
Yasir Shah (PAK)
38
45.8%
209
30.44
5.500
0.4251
1.2571
RA Jadeja (INDIA)
48
44.9%
211
24.64
4.396
0.4223
1.2180
PP Ojha (INDIA)
22
20.6%
104
30.40
4.727
0.3943
0.8219
Abdur Rehman (PAK)
20
24.1%
88
29.07
4.400
0.3891
0.7476
GP Swann (ENG)
46
36.5%
193
30.15
4.196
0.3731
0.5216
S Shillingford (WI)
16
19.3%
70
34.56
4.375
0.3558
0.2776
NM Lyon (AUS)
95
84.8%
380
32.11
4.000
0.3529
0.2371
From this, the selected players would be:
Number
1/5
2/5
3/5
11?
Ashwin
Ashwin
Ashwin
Captain
We have to consider which of the following players has been the best captain in order to pick a captain for this team. We'll list those available by Win/Loss ratio:
Player
Matches
W
L
D
W/L
Williamson
30
16
8
6
2.00
Smith
34
18
10
6
1.80
Cook
59
24
22
13
1.09
Sangakkara
7
1
1
5
1.00
Shakib
13
2
11
0
0.18
Hence, from those selected, Williamson and Cook shall be the captains depending on fraction of matches required. Smith is not eligible for captaincy until March next year, and I'll keep that in mind even for this list.
Final Lineups
We can then construct the final lineups, ordering players 4-11 by batting average, to get the final lineups:
Number
1/5
2/5
3/5
1
Warner
Warner
Warner
2
Cook*
Cook*
Cook
3
Sangakkara
Sangakkara
Williamson*
4
Smith
Smith
Smith
5
Chanderpaul
Chanderpaul
de Villiers
6
Watling†
Watling†
Shakib
7
Jadeja
Jadeja
Watling†
8
Ashwin
Ashwin
Ashwin
9
Cummins
Steyn
Philander
10
Steyn
Rabada
Steyn
11
Rabada
Anderson
Anderson
Player of the Decade
Finally, we can use the z-scores to determine a top 10, and hence a best player of the decade. Only their best z-score will be given, as well as their role and fraction of matches played. Note, this will be a bit biased against openers, as they tend to average less than the rest of the batting order, but are being compared on the same terms.
Rank
Player
Available
Matches
Fraction
Role
z-score
1
KC Sangakkara (SL)
95
44
46.3%
No 3
2.909
2
SPD Smith (AUS)
112
72
64.3%
Batter
2.636
3
RA Jadeja (INDIA)
107
48
44.9%
Allround
2.521
4
Shakib Al Hasan (BDESH)
56
42
75.0%
Allround
2.476
5
S Chanderpaul (WI)
83
41
49.4%
Batter
2.352
6
JH Kallis (SA)
90
33
36.7%
Batter
2.148
7
R Ashwin (INDIA)
107
70
65.4%
Allround
2.065
8
AB de Villiers (SA)
90
60
66.7%
Batter
2.028
9
PJ Cummins (AUS)
112
29
25.9%
Bowler
1.857
10
V Kohli (INDIA)
107
84
78.5%
Batter
1.743
Which would make our player of the decade Kumar Sangakkara, if we're going with 1/5 or 2/5 standards that is. Otherwise, it's Steve Smith. All the numbers of here if you want to have a go at your own lists. The full lists are included on a comment to this post.
I created an All-time XII with one player from each test team. Try it yourself in the comments.
[I don’t know if this has been done before on here; I’ve been around a while and I can’t remember, so I did a search, but nothing came up; sorry in advance if this is well-trodden ground.] Despite seeming like a simple task, this was actually harder than it looks; I realised right-off-the-bat that I couldn’t simply pick whomever I think were the best players from each test-playing board, because I would probably end up with a team which didn’t have players filling all the appropriate positions (e.g. too many number 3s/4s, not enough openers, no wicket-keeper, not a very good bowling composition). After taking this into consideration, I had to ensure that I balanced filling rolls with picking players that represented their nation as genuine world-class players. I ended up with something that I am pretty happy with (although I am still unsure of some of it), and I wanted to share this with you guys, as I know you all have very strong opinions, and I really want to read your views; and it would be interesting to see if people from other countries (I’m English), think about players very differently. Anyway, I’ve given my reasoning for selecting the players, just in case you’re interested. 1) SUNIL GAVASKAR (India): One of the greatest openers the world has ever seen, and in my opinion the best batsman that India has ever produced. I don’t know how he is viewed in India, but from an English perspective, this guy is criminally underrated. Personally, I would say that he is a tiny bit better than Tendulkar, given how much harder it is opening the batting, the fact that Sunny G played against some of the best bowling attacks of all-time (Looking at you, West Indies), and had fewer minnows to beat-up. I know Tendulkar is beloved in India, and this is not disrespect to a great player, so please don’t hurt me. 2) HERBERT SUTCLIFFE (England): As an Englishman, I must admit that it would be tricky to pick any player that I have ever watched as all-time great. Certainly, Pietersen and Cook were great batsmen, but they don’t belong here; Anderson as a bowler, maybe, but I still think he pales in comparison to the West-Indian pacers of the 70s and 80s. However, when talking with older members of my family, it becomes clear that players like Sutcliffe, Hobbs, and Hammond were phenomenal cricket players. I can only look at statistics, but they certainly back them up. From doing research it seems clear to me that Sutcliffe may have been the best opener in history, so as an Englishman, I’ll take that. 3) DON BRADMAN (Australia): Who else? Probably the easiest pick of the lot. The only issue is that Hayden, Smith, Warne, Gilchrist, McGrath, and many others that have tormented my country for so long must be omitted. Aussies, you don’t know how lucky you are. 4) KUMAR SANGAKKARA, Captain (Sri Lanka): It was a toss-up between choosing Murali and Williamson, or Hadlee and Sanga. I went with the latter because I find it hard to choose a current player from a team with so much history, and because I think Sangakkara was the best batsman of his era, pure and simple. It was a pleasure to watch him bat, every shot effortless and elegant, and the runs just kept coming. A magnificent player and a fine captain, during what was a golden era of cricket in Sri Lanka. Even now, in his early-forties, I reckon he could still put on his cricket whites and destroy the worlds best bowling attacks. I’ve chosen him as captain, because unlike many players, the captaincy did not burden him, if anything it made him even better. “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown”, unless they’re Kumar Sangakkara. 5) JACQUES KALLIS (South Africa): Batting, fielding, bowling; this man had it all in spades. Perhaps the greatest cricket player of the modern era, and an all-rounder beyond compare, apart from the great Sir Garfield Sobers. He won many games for South Africa, it wasn’t always pretty, but he did it consistently. With a better batting average than Tendulkar and Ponting, and a better bowling average than Vettori and Zaheer Khan, how could I not include this colossus of South African cricket? 6) SHAKIB AL-HASAN (Bangladesh): At the time of writing, Shakib has the 3rd-most test runs for Bangladesh, and 3rd-most test wickets, although he has been higher for both. That isn’t really that important; the simple fact of the matter is that, for me, he IS Bangladeshi Cricket. Even though it wasn’t test cricket, the world cup served to cement that fact that he is undoubtedly a superstar of world cricket, and a player of the highest calibre. Well played Shakib. 7) ANDY FLOWER, wicket-keeper (Zimbabwe): The only world-class player to ever come from Zimbabwe, and with The Don removing Gilchrist from the equation, this decision was only made simpler. When people talk about great wicket-keepers, I don’t think this man gets enough of a mention. He was also a pretty good coach for England, so there’s that too. 8) Sir RICHARD HADLEE (New Zealand): Until Kane Williamson came along, there was not doubt that this man was the greatest cricketer New Zealand has ever produced, and he belongs on this list ahead of everyone’s favourite Kiwi on the basis that his incredible bowling ability carried New Zealand through more than an entire decade of test matches. He was also pretty handy with the bat. The first player to reach 400 test wickets, I think he certainly belongs here. 9) WASIM AKRAM (Pakistan): He was once described to me as the best left-arm fast bowler of all-time, and I would’ve been hard-pressed to disagree. He had every trick in the book; he could swing it both ways, he could bowl a vicious bouncer, send down an excellent deceptive slower delivery, and utilise reverse swing to its fullest. He was also capable of holding a bat. There are plenty of good players who could have represented Pakistan, but I don’t think any quite have what Wasim Akram has. He was a player who just had that special something that you only see in players that will go down in history as the best at what they do. Make no mistake, he has. 10) RASHID KHAN (Afghanistan): I had to choose between benching my Irish representative and my representative from Afghanistan. It was difficult, but Rashid’s star power is unquestionable; an all-format player whose spinning can make the best batsmen look average; and I wouldn’t have had a spin bowler after choosing Sangakkara over Muralitharan. So, in the end I went for Rashid Khan. He can bowl, he can bat, he can captain. The only thing I’m not sure of is his age. 11) MALCOLM MARSHALL (West Indies): He could well be the greatest pace bowler that the world has ever seen, and definitely one of the scariest. If I’m being fair, it was very hard to pick my West Indian player; even the fast bowlers (Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh, Holder, Garner, Bishop) could all make a solid claim for being one of the greatest of all time. That’s discounting players of other disciplines, such as Lara, Richards, Sobers, Greenidge, Walcott, and Chanderpaul. In truth, I could have gone with any of them, and it’s for such a reason that I controversially believe that a West-Indian all-time XI would beat any other all-time XI from any other team, never mind being the scariest. In the end, I went with Marshall, who probably was the best of the Caribbean quicks, but it’s a difficult one either way. 12) KEVIN O’BRIEN (Ireland): Dear Ireland, I am very sorry. One team had to be on the bench, and it ended up being you. Hopefully in a few decades time we will be speaking about an Irish player in the same manner as we speak about Tendulkar or Kallis; until then you’ll have to bring out the drinks. It’s also not the worst thing we English have done to you. It could only be one man, to tell the truth. Not only is he Ireland’s only test centurion, but his exploits in limited overs cricket, especially against us (What a great innings that was), suggest that, had Ireland become a test team sooner, he may have been Ireland’s Andy Flower, and that’s no mean feat. (I reposted this because I messed up the formatting, because I'm an idiot)
Test Cricket Batting: Sangakkara, Dravid, Lara retired on a high. Tendulkar, Clarke, Kallis overstayed their welcome.
Edit: Not sure if the image was posted. Link to stats at bottom. With not having much to do on a lazy Sunday, I decided to see which batsmen retired on top of their game when it comes to Test Cricket. Each person’s time frame can be different, so I have chosen four categories:
Last Test Match
Last Test Series
Year Prior to Last Match
Last 15 Tests of Career
I have picked 19 test batsmen who have played majority of their cricket in the 20 years. The cut off is 8000 test runs. Unfortunately, the likes of Langer, Bell, Ganguly, Fleming, etc. have not made the list having scored less than 8000 test runs. Some of these players may have well finished off better than the cricketers involved in this query, however for simplicity sake, I have left them out. The one and only stat that will be compared is their career test average. It makes it simple and easy for everyone to understand without getting too complicated. The average in the four categories mentioned above will be compared against their career average. These stats are raw and have not been manipulated in anyway. And yes, it doesn’t tell you the complete story, but it gives you an overall idea. Found a few surprises here and there. Kumar Sangakkara averaged a whopping 62.34 in his last 15 Tests, however in his last six, only averaged 34.33. So he scored approximately 1400 runs in only nine matches which included eight 50s and four 100s (319, 221, 147 and 105). This included a tour to England where he averaged 85.80 against Anderson and Broad. Despite averaging an embarrassing 24.25 on his last tour to Australia, Rahul Dravid end up with an impressive average of 51.04 in his last 14 tests. Dravid was the leading run scorer in all three series for India prior to the Australia tour, averaging 50.20, 76.83 and 63.80, including a Player of the Series performance in England. He certainly did take it ‘one series at a time’. The less said about the next two, the better. At the other end of the table we have Michael Clarke. The poor bloke who couldn’t do anything right in his last 15 matches. Had a disappointing Ashes series, and an average tour against the WI where he averaged 39.50. And of course any batting list would be incomplete without mentioning Tendulkar, but this time he would wish it was quite the opposite. He failed to average above 42.00 in his last five test series, perhaps he pursued his 100th 100 for too long even though he ultimately did get there. Discuss. https://i.redd.it/e4vtq80tr6g31.jpg
33rd Test Century courtesy of overthrows! Alastair Cook stats: 1) 1 of 5 men to score a century on debut and last test, both against India. 2) 1 of 3 men to score a 50 in both innings of debut and last test. 3) 5th highest test run scorer of ALL time overtaking the great Kumar Sangakkara today. Highest scoring left hander and opener. 4) Bowling average of 7 - Rooty please let Chef bowl! 5) 15 second innings test centuries - more than any other batsman. Well in Chef you absolute legend!
What is the 'best' hat-trick ever taken? In terms of the cumulative average of the 3 batsmen dismissed?
For instance Peter Siddle's vs England included: Alastair Cook, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad. Whose total average was: 46.35+40.83+20.67=107.85 or Stuart Broad's vs Sri Lanka included: Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Shaminda Eranga. Whose total average was: 57.40+43.75+12.86=114.01 Irfan Pathan's vs Pakistan was the highest I found (for tests in recent times), he dismissed Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf: 30.46+52.05+52.29=134.8.
Welcome to what will most probably be my last 69 related stats piece, I’ve had some fun, but I think, just like Alastair Cook walking off into the sunset, it’s time to say goodbye. This is a continuation of my previous piece, which I strongly recommend you read before this one, or not... do whatever you want I’m not your mother. There have been 152 players who have played at least 69 test matches, and as I went through each scorecard, before any proper analysis, I assigned the player a rough score out of 5 for their performance in their 69th test.
Preliminary score out of 5
No. Players
1
79 (52%)
2
46 (30.3%)
3
14 (9.2%)
4
11 (7.2%)
5
2 (1.3%)
As I suspected, in any given test, no how matter good you are, the player is more likely to fail than succeed. In the previous post I gave my bottom 5, so now I will give my top 10, and there is no better place to start than… number 3. So, let’s get star-… What? You think that any logical person should start at 10 and work down to 1? Well alright then, here’s number 10.
Graeme Smith (SA). Test 1883 vs England in 2008. Score: 7 and 154*.
Graeme Smith was last in England in 2003, where he hit back-to-back double tons, and so had a lot of expectation on his name and his very impressive side, coming into the series. He was dismissed for 7, by Flintoff, and so after Paul Collingwood’s century in the third innings, South Africa needed to chase 281 to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Enter Graeme Smith with an incredible 154*, guiding his team from a very difficult place of 93-4. The next best was Mark Boucher’s 45* and they were going up against a strong England bowling line up that had a collective average of 31.21.
Sir Richard Hadlee (NZ). Test 1072 vs West Indies in 1987. Score: 25*, Wickets: 6/50, 3/101
To say that the West Indies v New Zealand in 1987 was David v Goliath is an insult to the West Indies. They expected to come to Christchurch, smash the Kiwis and take the series 2-0. Cue 100 all out against a combined top6 average of 43.23, thanks to exceptional bowling by Hadlee and Chatfield. Hadlee the aggressor with 6 wickets at 4rpo, while Chatfield kept it tight and pounced the odd wicket here and there with 4 wickets at 1.66rpo. Hadlee also followed this up with a breezy 25*, before taking 3 scalps including Greenidge, Richardson and Marshall (the top scorer) in the second innings, as New Zealand squared the series 1-1.
Martin Crowe (NZ). Test 1261 vs England in 1994. Score: 142 and 9
The early 90s was a strange period for New Zealand, it was after the great Sir Richard Hadlee had departed and before Stephen Fleming would take the captaincy and mould a very good side, but they still had Martin Crowe, and how. In the second test at Lord’s after going 1-0 down, Crowe stamped his authority in a majestic 142, which he later regarded as his purest. Very high praise for one of the most aesthetically pleasing batsmen the game has ever seen. He took his side to 461 against a reasonable English attack but could only contribute 9 in the second innings as the match was drawn. Nash took the MOTM for his 11 wickets, but Crowe’s masterpiece presented at the Home of Cricket that lived long in the memory.
Carl Hooper (WI). Test 1398 vs England in 1998. Score: 1 and 94*, Wickets: 1/14, 0/33.
West Indies in 1998 had some great players, but they were not a great team. After their loss against Australia in 1995, they became a shadow of their former self, and players like Hooper; a man who could kind of bat and kind of bowl was one of their senior men. He was bowled for just 1 in the first innings, as West Indies crashed to 191, and later England set West Indies 282 in the fourth innings, in a game where the highest score was 258… by England. Hooper was dogged in his 94* and took West Indies over the line with Kenny Benjamin for company 7 wickets down against a good bowling line up with a collective average of 31.12. Hooper sneaks into 7th with his unrelenting tight bowling, he had match figures of 28-11-47-1.
Ramnaresh Sarwan (WI). Test 1872 vs Sri Lanka in 2008. Score: 57 and 102.
West Indies were not a great side at this time either, and Sarwan top scored in both innings to make up for it and take the win. He made 57 in a WI total of 294 in the second innings, and then chasing 253 in the fourth innings, he made a mockery of the target in the company of Chanderpaul. He was up against two greats in Murali and Vaas and the collective bowling average for the SL side was a stupendous 25.67. For a man who averaged below 40 at that point, this was a serious achievement.
Virat Kohli (Ind). Test 2316 vs England in 2018. Score: 97 and 103.
I think all of Cricket could tell you how this one went. After being battered by the smiling assassin Chris Woakes at Lords, India were 2-0 down after 2, but their captain was showing some form. In the first innings, he made 97 and set up India’s total of 329, alas a hundred was not to be. No, no, Virat Kohli doesn’t score fifties… he scores hundreds and in the third innings after Hardik skittled England, Kohli scored 103, his second hundred of the tour. India won and Kohli took the richly deserved MOTM award, especially considering he scored 200 match runs against Anderson, Broad and Woakes in their pump on green seaming pitches. Bravo Sir, bravo.
Greg Chappell (Aus). Test 910 vs Pakistan in 1981. Score: 201, Wickets: 1/6
Before Imran Khan’s captaincy, Pakistan were not a great side. They only scored 291 in the first innings were Chappell gave himself what can only be described as a cheeky 3 over spell and managed to knock over opener Mohsin Khan. In the second innings he scored an imperious 201, where no one else managed over 75 against a bowling line up that averaged a very decent 31.56, and Australia won the test by 10 wickets. Pakistan were there to be beaten, but Chappell well and truly conquered them, as Australia took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Kumar Sangakkara (SL). Test 1851 vs England in 2007. Score: 92 and 152.
Why Kumar, why oh why did you hold onto the gloves for so long. A year or so after relinquishing wicketkeeping responsibilities for good, Sanga played a gem of an innings in compiling 92, in a total of 188, where after HAPW Jayawardene’s 51, the next best was just 12 by Chaminda Vaas. In the third innings, Sri Lanka were battling against nearly a three-figure deficit, when Sanga played another incredible innings. If the 1st innings was a gem, this was a diamond, taking Sri Lanka to an incredible position, where again the next best score was only 78. Sri Lanka had no right to win that test, but then again Kumar Sangakkara had no right to be that good.
Sir Ian Botham. Test 990 vs West indies in 1984. Score: 30 and 81, Wickets: 8/103 and 0/117
Botham is rightly attributed with Legend status, but if you look at his career numbers: Batting and Bowling average of 33.54 and 28.40, they’re good but not legendary. Sir Ian was a shadow of himself in the latter half of the 1980s, and this series and match against West Indies was probably his last Hoorah... but what a match it was. He scored 30 in the first innings, as England compiled 286 and then scythed through against arguably the greatest batting line up in history with a combined top6 average of 46.59 at the time, taking all the top 6 wickets in an incredible 8/103. But Beefy didn’t stop there and against a seriously excellent bowling line up (combined average of 26.21) scored 81 with a SR above 70. I won’t go into the fourth innings, but I will say if it wasn’t for Greenidge, this would sit on top of the tree with Headingly 81. Talk to anyone about Sir Ian, and they will always say the same thing “He was so much more than just his stats”.
Nathan Lyon (Aus). Test 2273 vs Bangladesh in 2017. Wickets: 7/94, 6/60.
Nathan Lyon. Garry. When he is on form, he is on form, ask anyone and in 2017 he was at his pinnacle. Everything he touched turned to gold. Bangladesh in 2017 at home were a seriously good side, make no mistake and their combined top6 average of 37.38 proves that. They beat Australia for the first time ever in the first test and were looking to take the second as well. Garry took the first four wickets all LBW in the first innings and then removed the two set batsmen in Rahim and Rahmann as well. Australia managed to eke out a 72-run lead, and Garry got to work again, taking 6/60 and routing Bangladesh for 157, leaving only 87 to chase. 13 wickets in the match… Nice Garry. It was always going to be Garry. I wanted it to be Botham or Sanga or Chappell, but no it was always going to be Garry. He doesn’t have the reputation of the others, but he has something else, a cult following that would make Elvis Presley turn in his grave, a knack to meme himself to the top, Garry always finds a way, and there was no way he wouldn’t be my number 1, his performance was just too good. So congratulations, you are the 69 champion, but more importantly, the people's champion. There you have my top 10, please feel free to let me know why I’m wrong in the comments, and thanks for reading, not only this piece, but all my ‘69’ pieces, I am very grateful.
Match thread: Pepsi Indian Premier League, Eliminator: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings
Mistake in title - team names should be reversed as game is being played in Ranchi (CSK Home Ground) Toss: CSK won the toss and chose to field Cricinfo Ball-by-ball Coverage Livestream Wiki Umpires - AK Chaudhary and CB Gaffaney (New Zealand) TV umpire - C Shamshuddin Match referee - RS Mahanama (Sri Lanka) Reserve umpire - K Srinath Some pre-match comments: MS Dhoni: We are worried about the dew factor. We have had the chance of playing that extra game. We are playing the same team. A lot at stake now. But it will be the small things which will matter. It is quite dry and there will be some dew. Again he is on national duty to play a Test match. Hussey can anchor the innings. Virat Kohli: I would have liked to bat first to be honest. It is a big game and we are playing with the same XI. I am relaxed right now. Another exciting game to look forward. It has been a ground where I have enjoyed my cricket. The pitch looks dry as MS said as well. It may have had grass, it is drier than before. DJ Bravo: The loss to Mumbai Indians was bad. We have another chance. We are trying to focus on this game tonight. It is going to be another tough game. We do miss him [Baz]. He is replaced by Hussey, who is just as good. Hopefully, we get a better start. Teams: RCB Team: CH Gayle, V Kohli*, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, KD Karthik†, SN Khan, D Wiese, MA Starc, HV Patel, YS Chahal, S Aravind CSK Team: DR Smith, MEK Hussey, F du Plessis, SK Raina, MS Dhoni*†, DJ Bravo, RA Jadeja, P Negi, R Ashwin, MM Sharma, A Nehra Form (last five matches, most recent first): Chennai Super Kings - LWLWL Royal Challengers Bangalore - WWLWW Head-to-head: CSK 11 - 7 RCB Pitch and conditions: The pitch appeared pretty dry on the eve of the game. The average first-innings score in IPL games in Ranchi is 150, suggesting a surface more to Super Kings' liking than Royal Challengers'. The city is expected to sizzle at a maximum of 41 degrees but conditions will not be so extreme in the night. No rain is forecast. Stats and trivia:
Royal Challengers beat Super Kings by five wickets in the only game between the two sides in Ranchi, in 2014
Virat Kohli has scored the most runs in IPL games between the two teams - 694 with six half-centuries at an average of 46.26 and a strike-rate of 126.87
Dinesh Karthik has 17 dismissals in IPL 2015. The season record is 19 by Kumar Sangakkara in 2011
Let's take you back to the 2007 World Cup in the Carribean. It's England vs West Indies in what was Brian Lara's final ever match for his country. He's on 18 when suddenly he is run out by none other than the great KP. 18 for a guy who averaged over 50? How can that be? Well actually as this post will show most of the greats spectacularly failed to end their career on a high. We all know about the most famous duck in cricket history so let's take a quick look at some of the others. Don Bradman(avg 99.94): 0 Brian Lara(avg 40.48 ODI): 18 Viv Richards(avg 50): 60 Sachin Tendulkar(avg 53.4): 74 Ricky Ponting(avg 51.8): 8 Inzamam(avg 49.6): 3 Garry Sobers(avg 57.7): 20 Rahul Dravid(avg 52.3): 25 Graeme Smith(avg 48.2): 3 Kumar Sangakkara(avg 57.4): 18 Shivnarine Chanderpaul(avg51.3): 0 And last but definitely not least: KP(avg 47.28): 6 So as we can see apart from a select few more often than not even the greats can't overcome the emotions of their final test innings. Of course this is for those who knew it was gonna be their last match, not for those who haven't been picked since. I once heard somebody say Bradman missed the ball as he had tears in his eyes. What do you think has caused so many greats to fail miserably in their final ever bat?
Hey everyone, thought it'd be a good idea to have a wee chat about how England are going to line up on Thursday. Would be cool if people could submit what they want and what they think, but either or is fine. Was going to do another score prediction thread but since I'd backed James Vince to be England's top run scorer in the ODI series' thought I'd best not embarrass myself anymore. Anyway, launching right in I think there are eight guaranteed starts for Thursday; Cook, Root, Stokes, Bairstow, Broad, Woakes, Ali and Rashid. That leaves eight players fighting for three places, however I think based on Paul Farbrace's comments we can safely rule out Jos Buttler. Which leaves seven (3 batsmen and 4 bowlers): Haseeb Hameed (opener): 19 year old who had the traditionalists melting this year with his high elbow and low strike rate. 27 innings, 1198 runs, 4 centuries and 7 halves in the County Championship. Youngest Lancastrian to cross the 1000 run barrier and be given his county cap. Anyone paying close attention to the English youth setup has known about this guy for 2/3 years and it was almost a guarantee he would play test cricket for England. Some will argue that it's a bit soon whereas others will point out England's struggles to select a regular opener in four years and the possibility of a ready made player waiting. There has been a lot of time and money invested in Hameed and that alone guarantees he will receive his chance at some point (plus more than likely a few more should he fail), the question is; is an away tour to the SC the best place to blood him? Ben Duckett (openemiddle order): Both PCA player and young player of the year. 24 innings, 1338 runs, 4 centuries and 5 halves in the County Championship last year. Once crossing the big ton he continued until at least 150 each time and crossed the double twice, and was only denied a certain triple by a two day rain washout. He hammered a double against Sri Lanka A for the Lions too and crossed over 2000 runs in all formats last year. All done at a strike rate never dipping below 75%. His appetite for runs seems insatiable, so surely he must be picked? Weirdly he seems the most likely to miss out. Up until the end of last year he batted 5 and kept wicket for Northamptonshire before being shoved up to open due to a shortness of players. He batted 3 for England in the ODI series and it appears the pressing issue for Duckett is an uncertainty on where to play him. Gary Ballance (middle order): Ah, Gaz. It's not been a fun 18 months for Ballance. In the last calendar year he recorded 32 innings, 975 runs, 2 centuries and 5 halves in all first class cricket. Not a great return for the man who as recent as 2014 was hailed as the future of England's batting order. Ballance's troubles last summer have been well documented and bear little going over again, but perhaps here we can focus briefly on his talents. His hand-eye co-ordination is insanely good, he is patient, gritty and plays excellently off the back foot. All qualities which are pretty necessary for playing spin. Questions over his technique are abundant and relevant. The man who endured a meteoric rise in test cricket, averaging over 50 by the end of summer 2014, was seemingly the answer to England's great Jonathan Trott question. Since then he has floundered, flustered and had his stance picked apart more than any other English batsman. His test average has since dropped to 43 and the runs are not coming freely anymore. It seems for Gary England may be arriving at a very pivotal stick or twist point in his career. Steven Finn (rafm): A struggling year for Finn. Started 2016 as comfortably England's third choice paceman behind Jimmy and Broad but ends it perhaps only being fourth because of Mark Wood's injury troubles. On his day he is a bowler of menace, intimidation, swing, bounce and (that elusive English skill) pace. Off his day though he is awkward, erratic and expensive. Finn has endured a wildly back and forth test career, ranging from being labelled unselectable to unplayable in 18 months. Steven is undoubtedly a confidence player, when he's firing he's arguably England's most dangerous bowler but when the wickets aren't coming and the runs are leaking his head goes down and you can visibly observe the belief leaving him. At the moment the problem for England is he is somewhere in the middle. He had a decidedly average FC record last year of 423 overs for 1461 runs and only 43 wickets. Jake Ball (rafm): 2016 will be remembered as Ball's breakout year undoubtedly. Spent the winter with the Lions and added a decent 4/5mph to his bowling which, along with his already prodigious ability to swing the ball both ways and use the seam to get the ball moving off the pitch, made him the best bowler (according to the great man himself) that Kumar Sangakkara faced last year in the County Championship. His return of 378 FC overs bowled for 1221 runs and 50 wickets is mightily impressive and he went well in his debut test on a flat Lords' pitch, even if his numbers may not back that up. He has certainly done his chances the world of good after his match winning performance in the first ODI, becoming the only English player to land a five-for on debut. The next two players chances will come down to England's likelihood to play three spinners. England traditionally tour the SC with four seamers (one or two all-rounders) and two spinners. They tried three spinners last year in the third Pakistan test and were destroyed. Do they do it again here remembering the risk and the likelihood of being outplayed by pitting average or inexperienced spinners against batsmen who have grew up on dustbowls? Or do they show faith in those to deliver when they are given favourable circumstances (the buzz word for spinners this year). Let's take a look at the two choices to join Moeen and Rashid. Zafar Ansari (lao): 237 overs bowled for 691 runs and 22 wickets. Endured an unlucky end to the 2015 season when directly upon hearing of his callup to the test team for the tour of Pakistan injured himself fielding at mid-off and found himself missing not only the tail end of last year but the start of this season too. One thing I'm anticipating reading in the comments is Ansari's use as an allrounder but feel it's worth pointing out that the player himself has admitted to struggling more with his batting than his bowling since his return. He scored only 2 halves in 17 innings this year and registed less than 500 runs. If he plays he should, and surely will, bat below Woakes at 8/9. As a left hander he obviously offers the bonus of turning the ball away from the batsman too. He has fairly tended to take his wickets in clumps this year and has shown enough control to be inexpensive. Gareth Batty (raob): Must admit, when I first had the idea to write this thread I wasn't even going to include Batty until I read cricinfo's piece this afternoon. He last played test cricket for England in 2005, a year before I started watching so my experience of him is limited. He averages 66 and only claimed 11 wickets in 232 overs but since then according to certain sources, not least Ian Bell and (I think) George Dobell, has gone on to become England's best turner of the ball. Last year he bowled 444 County Championship overs for 1325 runs and 41 wickets. The player himself is not short of confidence and claims he has continued to improve over the years and is currently bowling as good as he ever did. Selected surely as much for his experience and leadership as his talent with the ball, Batty has been immeasurably influential leading Surrey from Division 2 champions in 2015 to Division 1 safety this year, plus earning tremendous plaudits and respect for the way he guided the young players through the death of youth talent Tom Maynard. Anyway, that's the players. Get your fill in and let me know what you think. For my thoughts I want England to lineup:
Stat Analysis - How many players have scored test centuries against every Test nation IN every Test nation?
In the wake of Kane Williamson being the 13th man to score Test centuries against every Test nation, I decided to investigate a question posed by seekandknow:
I wonder how many other cricketers have scored centuries against all the other test playing nations while batting away from home? Will Kane be the first?
So I took the list of men to have scored Test centuries against every Test nation and investigated in a bit more depth:
Gary Kirsten - 13 centuries away, scored away centuries against every nation but Sri Lanka, and never played in Bangladesh. Enjoyed Pakistan and ZImbabwe (average of 88.16 and 82.50 respectively), but found Sri Lanka (21.83) and the West Indies (25.00) difficult.
Steve Waugh - Again, 13 centuries away, again, scored away centuries against every nation but Sri Lanka, and again, never played in Bangladesh. He struggled particularly against Sri Lanka, averaging only 17.33 there. However, he has seven centuries in England at 74.22, the most away centuries against a single nation by any of the players mentioned. Also has the highest overall away average (55.85) of all the listed batsmen.
Sachin Tendulkar - The highest number of centuries away, which is not surprising. 29 away centuries against everyone, except - astonishingly - Zimbabwe: 4 matches, 40 average, but only a high score of 74. Loved Bangladesh (136.66). Notably, the only player listed who averaged 40 or over in all countries.
Rahul Dravid - Finally! 21 centuries away, and at least one away century against every nation. Also scored 6 centuries in England at an average of 68.80, where Indian batsman have struggled traditionally. However, his away average against South Africa is poor - only 29.71. Particularly enjoyed Zimbabwe (79.16) and Pakistan (78.57).
Marvan Atapattu - 8 centuries away, and lacking centuries against both Pakistan and South Africa. Has the lowest overall and away averages (39.02 and 39.61 respectively) of the thirteen players mentioned, but enjoyed Zimbabwe (average of 114.00). Particularly struggled in Pakistan (19.00) and South Africa (21.92).
Brian Lara - 17 centuries away, with a century against every nation but India. India was his nadir (33.00), and he struggled somewhat in New Zealand (36.90); but, unlike most on this list, he loved Sri Lanka (100.85). Also has double centuries in four foreign countries, the most of any batsmen on this list.
Adam Gilchrist - 10 centuries away, with centuries in every country he played in - unfortunately, he never played in Pakistan or Zimbabwe. Despite 2 centuries in India, he struggled there with only 342 runs at an average of 28.50 - also the only country he never effected a stumping. Had a particular liking for New Zealand (81.16) and Bangladesh (78.00).
Ricky Ponting - 16 centuries away, with away centuries missing against Pakistan and Zimbabwe, where he played only one test each; high scores of 76* and 31 respectively. Struggled in India (26.48), but excelled in Bangladesh (95.50).
Kumar Sangakkara - 14 centuries away, with away centuries against everyone except the West Indies: 4 matches, but only an average of 34 with a high score of 75, remarkably similar to Tendulkar's record in Zimbabwe. Also struggled somewhat in South Africa (35.75) but liked Pakistan (86.87) and thumped Zimbabwe (140.50). Has the highest overall average of the players on this list (57.40).
Mahela Jayawardene - 10 centuries away, scored away centuries against every nation but South Africa. Got agonisingly close against South Africa (caught for 98). However, he traditionally found South Africa (27.81), New Zealand (27.71), and Australia (31.42) challenging. Also has the biggest drop between his overall average (49.81) and his away average (41.50) of the batsmen on this list. Excelled in Bangladesh (73.75).
Jacques Kallis - 20 centuries away, with centuries against everyone except Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Only managed a high score of 31 in two tests in Bangladesh, and 87 in five matches in Sri Lanka. Struggled in Bangladesh (31.50), but enjoyed Pakistan (83.14) and utterly squashed Zimbabwe (503.00). As expected, the only member of this list who has taken wickets in every country (with fifers in BAN, ENG, and WIN).
Younis Khan - 14 away centuries, with away centuries against every nation bar Australia (despite averaging 43.71 there) - however, he has the chance to collect this final trophy at the end of the year. Loves Bangladesh (100.66) and India (76.80), but has struggled in the West Indies (23.44).
Kane Williamson - 9 centuries away, with away centuries against every team bar South Africa. He has only played two matches in South Africa, with a high score of 15 and an average of 10.75 - however, he has a chance to improve on that in under two weeks. Has also struggled in England (30.85). Currently enjoys slapping Bangladesh (83.33) and Zimbabwe (80.25) around. Of course, note his young age and career in comparison to the rest when viewing his numbers.
So, the only man with test centuries in every test playing country is Rahul Dravid. A few on this list were unable to play in every country for whatever reason, while others simply struggled in particular countries. Sri Lanka and South Africa are the most common bogey countries for those in this list. Williamson has a chance to join Rahul Dravid as the 2nd man to have scored away centuries against every country - Younis Khan does also when Pakistan travel to Australia in December. However it could be argued that Kane may never truly do so, if he never gets the chance to play in Pakistan. In saying that, he has 192 in the UAE against Pakistan, a place Dravid never played (for obvious reasons). Thanks for reading if you did, hopefully it is interesting. It was a bit thrown together, so apologies if it is a bit basic or messy.
This sub is usually spammed with posts of the fab four namely Joe Root, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli. You guys have a huge boner for all of them. But all of the them have got/had technical issues during their career. Virat Kohli has often been found wanting when the ball's swinging as was in England. Having watched Virat Kohli develop through the years, I credit his success more to his hard work than natural talent. He wasn't the most gifted to find the gaps or technically very correct when he came on to the scene. Steve Smith though effective has this very awkward technique. Joe Root and Kane Williamson look very solid but I still perceive them more on the level of Younis Khan or Sangakkara who have great numbers but their batting just doesn't give you that heightened pleasure. Now let me talk about Superman aka AB de Villiers. I know , I know his numbers though hugely impressive do not stack up as well to say Steve Smith who averages 60 in Test Cricket. When I first saw him in the latter parts of the past decade it was when a lightbulb lits up in your brain. Like this is the guy. The next Tendulkar, Lara or Ponting. How he effortlessly finds gaps out of nowhere. The dot ball percentage is so low. The sweet cover drives , the backfoot punches, and a good on-side play to match. There have been many cricketers in this generation with some great numbers Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara , Rahul Dravid, Damien Martyn. But none provided that intense thrill to me as watching Ricky Ponting's trademark pulls , Tendulkar's straight drives and Lara's cover drives. And now it is AB de Villiers my current favorite batsman and objectively(yeah I said it) the best of the current. I wish I could write as well as Rohit Brijnath(best sports writer). He would do justice to the talent that is AB.
Anyone know who the panel of judges were who decided the ICC awards this year. I know last year included Rahul Dravid, Kumar Sangakkara and Gary Kirsten. I agree with the list of awardees this year, but generally if it's just averages and wickets that are looked upon as criteria every year, do you actually need a panel of judges to decide who the ODI player or Test player is. won't a statistician be enough.
Highest Test cricket career batting averages achieved after 100 Tests played. Sangakkara moves up to number two of all time.
This is a table of all of the players who managed to achieve a career batting average of over 50 after having played their 100th Test match. They are ranked by the highest career average achieved at the conclusion of any Test match from 100 onward. The relevant match is listed, along with the date of the start of the match. Stats are completely up to date at the time of posting. Players who are still active are highlighted in bold.
Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara says farewell to Test career
Kumar Sangakkara 192 vs Australia 2nd test 2007 Hobart - Duration: 14:54. robelinda2 332,456 views. ... Average American 347,198 views. 6:18. Rashid Khan vs Marcus Trescothick ... virat Kohli Vs Chris Gayle Batting Comparison 2020 In All format.(TEST, ODI, T20 AND IPL) personal information (country, Born, Born place, Age, Batting style, Wife name) Test Batting career ... Aug 23, Colombo: Sri Lanka's prolific batsman Kumar Sangakkara today played his last Test match ending a 15-year career filled with many records and accolades. Sangakkara ended his international ... lets have Look Fir Top 10 Highest Team Total In Test Cricket History Highest Team Score in Inning by The Team TWITCH 🡆 https://www.twitch.tv/americanfromyoutube/ DON'T CLICK 🡆 http://bit.ly/tybfs2l Original Video 🡆 https://youtu.be/WGE2culBJa0 Patreon 🡆 http://bit ... Kumar Sangakkara gives an inspirational talk on "Cricket & Life" at Manthan. Kumar Sangakkara is one of the finest cricketers in the world. He is a very intelligent, thinking and articulate ... Do you want to know the performance of Rohit Sharma and David Warner in their last 100 ODI matches, just watch this video to know all the details like Runs, Average, Strike Rate, Double Centuries ... In this video i show kumar sangakara and m.s dhoni Test, Odi and T20 Batting and Keeping Career. I show both players batting average, runs, highest score, st... Sports News - Highest Career Batting Average - Top 10 Batsmen With Highest Batting Average in ODI CricketThanks For Watching Video#SportsNews#Top10Batsman#Hi... Virat Kohli vs Kumar Sangakkara Batting Comparison Who is the Best Who is the Best..? Cricket Statistics. If you like it ! Please share this video for...
