Test batting performances of 2016

These tables cover all Test matches in the calendar year 2016.

This post concentrates on batting.

Most runs (500 and above):

As many as 7 with over 1000 runs (including 4 from England). Root just edged out Bairstow.

4 centuries each by V Kohli, S Smith and MM Ali.

The most scores of 50+ are 13 by JE Root and 11 by JM Bairstow. Three others have 9.

Highest innings scores (140 and above):

Headed by a newcomer KK Nair and a relative veteran in Azhar Ali. This was Nair’s maiden Test century. V Kohli had three scores of 200 and above. BA Stokes’s 258 was the highest by any No 6 batsman in Tests, surpassing KD Walters’s 250 in 1976-77.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 15 innings, 20.00 and above):

Also note the highest strike rates for a minimum of 15 innings: Warner (86.87), Sarfraz (70.33) and Stokes (66.76).

To be continued

High scores at No 11

In the general batting mayhem of the 3rd ODI between England and Pakistan at Nottingham, it did not go unnoticed that Mohammad Amir on the losing side scored 58 at No 11 which was the first 50 by a No 11 in an ODI. The previous record was 43 by Shoaib Akhtar in the 2003 World Cup.

As we can see from the scorecard , Amir was joint top scorer in the innings with Sharjeel.

We take this occasion to look more closely at scores by No 10 and 11 batsmen in all 3 formats.

Tests:

45 and above at No 11:

Note that the top 4 scores have come after 2000.

There is even a listing of No 11s who have top scored in the innings:

The highest score of 98 here was made by AC Agar on his debut. The lowest (14) also came in recent years, when Australia moved from 21/9 to 47.

At No 10, there have been 4 centuries and a ninety:

And there are numerous centuries at No 9. The highest is 173 by IDS Smith for NZ v Ind in 1989-90, followed by 169 by SC Broad in this famous Test. The highest for India is 90 by FM Engineer vs NZ in 1964-65.

We now move to ODIs:

Highest by No 11 (30 and above):

Highest score by No 10 (50 and above):

Note that Amir also held this record for over two years before Rampaul took it.

At No 9, the highest is 92* by AD Russell for WI vs Ind in 2011. For India, it is 69 by Jai P. Yadav in the same match as IK Pathan (above).

As we will see, tailender scores are considerably lower in T20Is.

Top scores by No 11 (in double figures):

Only 4 No 11s have crossed double figures. The highest for India is 5* by Ishant Sharma v SL in 2009-10

Top scores by No 10 (20 and above):

The highest for India is 19* by S Sreesanth v NZ in the 2007 World Championship.

At No 9, the highest is 46 by Anwar Ali for Pak v SL in 2015. For India, it is 33* by IK Pathan v SL in 2008-09.

 

 

 

Making the most of limited chances-batting

There are many unfortunates who got a chance to play exactly one Test (or ODI or T20I). Some of them did well enough to deserve more chances but somehow this never happened. We look at the batsmen who made the most of their chances in limited Test opportunities, and then in ODIs and T20Is.

Scoring at least one fifty in their only Test:

Of these, only Redmond scored a hundred and a fifty, and Ganteaume scored a hundred. SC Cook played his only Test so far in 2016 and should get off this list soon. Ronchi is the only one to score over 100 runs without a century, while three others scored over 90.

There are various reasons why they did not play again. Eyesight issues were the main reason for Rodney Redmond not playing again. His son Aaron Redmond played 8 Tests in recent years with a top score of 83.

Zulqarnain Haider stopped playing for Pakistan under peculiar circumstances. Cook and (perhaps) Ronchi should play again. India’s sole representative the Yuvraj of Patiala (also known as Yadavindra Singh) dropped out of cricket to concentrate on politics, though he might well have captained India in the 1936 tour of England where he would certainly done better than Vizzy. His son Amarinder Singh is still active in the politics of Punjab state.

Now we look at

Scoring at least 50 runs in their only Test:

This includes a few others who made 50 or more runs without a fifty. The highest total among these is JK Moss with 60. There is also Humayun Farhat, who did score 54 runs in his only Test but also became the only wicket keeper who did not make a single dismissal in his career. (There are some other keepers who did not make any dismissal on their debut).

Scoring at least fifty in their only Test innings:

Ganteaume and Stollmeyer lead here. Albie Morkel probably deserved to play a few more Tests, but is now unlikely to get another chance. And McGirr played his only  innings in his 2nd and last Test, as he did not get to bat on his debut. Law is the only one in these tables to remain unbeaten in his short Test career. His fellow Australian debutant RT Ponting went on to bigger things.

Now for ODI matches:

30 or more runs in their only ODI:

Barnett and Woodcock are the only ones to score fifties, though there are several others close behind. Some of them were moderately successful in Tests, such as AV Mankad.

30 or more runs in their only ODI innings:

We get exactly the same list as above.

Now for T20Is:

20 or more runs in only T20I:

India’s lesser-known S Badrinath has the highest score here. Dinesh Mongia’s only T20I was India’s first. Some prominent Test and ODI players such as Dravid, Ganga, Gillespie and North find a place here, along with the hapless Reifer who was once asked by journalists “Are you smoking something which sounds like your name?”. This was at that the time he captained a West Indies C Team which gave Bangladesh its first two Test victories away from home.

20 or more runs in only T20I innings:

We get exactly the same result.

To be continued with bowling, fielding and all-round performance in their only match or innings.

 

 

Summary statistics of T20 2016 World Championship

 

For 2016 alone:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=3;filter=advanced;orderby=matches;size=200;spanmin1=24+Feb+2016;spanval1=span;template=results;trophy=89;type=allround

For all matches in this World Championship since 2007:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=3;filter=advanced;orderby=matches;size=200;template=results;trophy=89;type=allround

Those who are familiar with Statsguru should be able to extract various parameters such as total runs, batting averages, strike rates etc. from the output of these links.

Cricket odds and ends-1

(From 2015 and not updated)

Normal service seems to have resumed at Lord’s, complete with attritional batting by England. Here are a few odds and ends from Test cricket: (These do not include the current Test at Lord’s, or the Aus v ICC XI Test in 2005).

Most runs by a player who never scored 300:

15921 by SR Tendulkar (HS 248*)

13278 by RT Ponting (HS 257)

13265 by RS Dravid (HS 270)

Most runs by a player who never scored 200:

8463 by AJ Stewart (HS 190)

8029 by ME Waugh (HS 153*)

7728 by MA Atherton (HS 185)

Most runs by a player who never scored 100:

3142 by SK Warne (HS 99)

2084 by CPS Chauhan (HS 97)

1993 by DL Murray (HS 91)

Most runs by a player who never scored 50:

1010 by Waqar Younis (HS 45)

981 by FS Trueman (HS 39*)

940 by CS McDermott (HS 42*)

Most runs by a player who never scored double figures:

45 by BJ Arnel (HS 8*)

34 by M Mbangwa (HS 8)

31 by Arshad Khan (HS 9*)

31 by GB Studd (HS 9)

Now the converse of these:

Least runs by a player who scored a triple century:

879 by A Sandham (HS 325)

2047 by LG Rowe (HS 302)

2061 by RM Cowper (HS 307)

Least runs by a player who scored a double century:

320 by DBSP Kuruppu (HS 201*)

501 by Taslim Arif (HS 210*)

503 by BJ Hodge (HS 203*)

Least runs by a player who scored a century:

112 by AG Ganteaume (HS 112)

130 by KL Rahul (HS 110)

144 by W Place (HS 107)

Least runs by a player who scored a fifty:

51 by HM McGirr (HS 51)

52 by KL Wishart (HS 52)

54 by SG Law (HS 54*)

Least runs by a player who scored double figures:

10 by several players

An unusual record-same score in both innings in debut

There was much fine batting on display in the recent Test between Bangladesh and Pakistan at Khulna, as we can see here:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/bangladesh-v-pakistan-2015/engine/match/858493.html

A minor point of interest was Soumya Sarkar getting 33 in both innings on debut. One would wonder if this is the highest such instance. It is not, though it has come close to the Test record of 36 by the little-known Dan Taylor of South Africa: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/47533.html

He did have a famous brother in Herb Taylor who captained South Africa.

Here is the full list of batsmen making the same score in both innings on debut. The list is surprisingly long, mostly populated by pairs of zeroes and other low scores. After Dan Taylor, S. Abid Ali and Soumya Sarkar follow with 33 in both innings. Abid Ali also took 6-55 and a total of 7 wickets in the match.

If you look at scores above 50, the nearest approach is 65 and 67* by SM Gavaskar (1971) and 59 and 57 by Dilawar Hussain (1934). A few others are separated by 4 or 5 runs, the highest being 82 and 78* by CH Lloyd (1966).

Also note the numerous batsmen of note who failed to score in their first test, such as Ramchand, Gooch, Rutherford, Atapattu, Saeed Anwar as well as other prominent players such as Valentine, Wasim Akram, Allan Donald and Malinga.