Bowling fails in ODIs

This continues the theme of the earlier post:

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2017/02/13/bowling-fails-in-t20i-matches/

Here we look at poor performances in ODI matches. Data is correct as on 4th March 2017.

Matches involving the ICC, Asia and Africa teams are not considered.

Most runs conceded without taking a wicket (100 runs and above):

The list includes a number of players who have played a few Tests, including the “leader” MAR Samarasekara who played 4 Tests and took a few wickets in them but was singularly unfortunate in this format. KV Sharma and VRV Singh represent India here, though they did slightly better in Tests.

Most balls bowled without taking a wicket (90  balls and above):

Samarasekara again heads this list, and many of those on the first list are here as well. A couple of bowlers from East Africa’s World Cup team of 1975 are here, including DJ Pringle, father of England player Derek Pringle.

Most innings bowled without taking a wicket (4 and above):

Samarasekara yet again! We may as well learn more about him:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/India/content/player/50421.html

A few prominent batsmen who bowled a bit can be found here, such as David Boon, Salman Butt and VVS Laxman. They were probably called upon to bowl a few overs in a few ODIs.

Most matches without taking a wicket (150 and above):

As one may expect, the higher positions are mainly occupied by wicket-keepers (Sangakkara, Boucher and Gilchrist) who rarely bowled, although there are also some non-keepers who rarely bowled. From the above list we can see Atapattu, Gibbs and Rhodes near the top. It is worthwhile to draw up this list again for non-keepers:

Most matches without taking a wicket (100 and above) for non-keepers:

Quite a number of prominent batsmen here. A special mention for Gibbs, Tharanga and Morgan who never bowled a single ball in their long ODI careers.

And finally, we look at the best economy rates of these bowlers.

Best economy rates for those who never took a wicket and bowled 90 or more balls:

This is headed by JM Patel (the same initials as those of Jasu Patel!) of Canada and includes largely unknown players, some of whom played a few Tests. The names of Samarasekara, KV Sharma and Abul Hasan should be familiar by now.

A similar analysis of Test bowlers will follow soon.