Summary of Bangladesh-Sri Lanka Tests-2 (after May 2022 series):

Hope you have seen Part 1.

We now proceed to

Bowling:

Most wickets (12 and above):

Muralidaran has 89 wickets, far ahead of the others. Next are Herath and Shakib. Also note AM Fernando’s 13 wickets in 2 Tests in this series.

Best innings bowling (including all 6wi and above):

Led by Herath, with the next three by Muralidaran.

Nayeem Hasan’s 6-105 was the best by BD against SL, surpassing Shakib’s 5-70 in 2008. Also note AM Fernando’s 6-51 in this series.

Best match bowling (Including all 9wm and above):

Headed by Muralidaran and Herath. None from Bangladesh here. AM Fernando took 10-144 during this series.

Best bowling average (Minimum 2000 balls bowled):

Includes Shakib and Taijul from this series.

Muralidaran has the best bowling average, economy rate and strike rate.

Now for

Fielding:

Most dismissals (10 and above):

Led by P Jayawardene with Dickwella and Sangakkara close behind.

Mushfiqur Rahim has the most dismissals from BD

P Jayawardene has the most stumpings (8) and M Jayawardene the most catches by a fielder (17).

Dickwella has the most catches by a keeper (24).

Most dismissals in an innings (4 and above):

Mushfiqur and Dickwella have made 5 dismissals in an innings, but not in this series. However Dickwella took 4 catches twice in this series.

Sangakkara and S Sarkar have taken 4 as a fielder.

Most dismissals in a match (5 and above):

Again headed by P Jayawardene with 7.

M Jayawardene and S Sarkar have taken 5 catches as fielders.

Dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.600)

Headed by Sangakkara, with M Jayawardene heading the fielders.

Finally,

All-round performance

Overall (see criteria below):

Shakib (611 runs and 38 wickets) is the only one who qualifies.

Match (50 and 5wi):

All the instances are by Shakib.

The “double” of a fifty+ and 10wm in the same Test.

Hope you have read the related piece https://abn397.wordpress.com/2021/02/19/the-double-of-a-century-and-5wi-in-the-same-test/

We now look at the converse: a fifty-plus and ten wickets in an innings in the same match.

This is a little rarer than the earlier case. It has occurred 30 times, compared to 33 times for the earlier case.

Multibaggers are rarer here. We have 3 instances by Sir Richard Hadlee and 2 by Shakib Al Hasan. That’s all. Botham is here, but only for one instance. Ashwin, Sobers and Mushtaq are not here. But there are others such as Bevan and Border who would not usually be considered to be all-rounders.

The most recent instance was by Stuart Broad during one of the Covid Tests of 2020.

Earlier we saw that Bruce Taylor was the only one to score a century and take 5wi on debut. That was against India in 1965.

There is only instance of someone scoring a 50+ and taking 10 wickets on debut. This was John Lever for England v India in 1976. What is even stranger is that India’s S Venkataraghavan appeared in both of these Tests.

Among current and recent players there are MM Ali, SCJ Broad, RA Jadeja, Dilruwan Perera, Rashid Khan, Shakib Al Hasan and DW Steyn. The only other player from India is Kapil Dev (who never made a century and 5wi together).

Also note AK Davidson, who scored 44 and 80 and took 11 wickets in the tied Test in 1960. He was the first to score over 100 runs and 10 wickets in a match. He had this record to himself until Botham scored a century and took 13 wickets against India in early 1980. Imran Khan and Shakib later followed with a century and 10 wickets in 1983 (against India, who else?) and 2014 (against Zimbabwe).

Analyzing Test captaincies – 4

Here we look at captains with no wins, no losses and no draws.

No Wins:

These are captains in 4 or more Tests with no wins.

Headed by M Ashraful of Bangladesh with 13 (12 losses and 1 draw). The next (IT Botham) is more surprising. Another Bangladeshi Khaled Mashud also has 12.

In recent years there are AG Cremer (8) and KC Brathwaite (5).

From India there are MH Mankad (6), S Venkataraghavan (5) and others with 4.

No losses:

These are captains in 2 or more Tests with no losses.

WW Armstrong with 10 heads this list, with 8 wins and 2 draws.

Next are DB Close and FG Mann with 7.

In recent years there is only AM Rahane with 2; both of these wins were when he was standing in for Kohli.

From India we also have Srikkanth with 4 (all draws).

No draws:

These are captains in 3 or more Tests with no draws.

Headed by Waqar Younis (17, 10 wins and 7 losses). The next is Shakib with 14 (3 wins and 11 losses).

Others from recent times (other than Shakib) include R Herath, KC Brathwaite and RAS Lakmal with 5.

Brathwaite has 5 losses out of 5.

From India there is DK Gaekwad with 4 (all losses). He is presently India’s oldest living Test player.

The other double: 50 + 10 wkts in a match

Most of those who follow Test cricket know about the double of a century and 5wi in a match. This has been done 32 times, with the last occasion being the present WI player Roston Chase in 2016.

The lesser-known double is that of 50 and 10wm, which is slightly rarer and has been done on 30 occasions. Stuart Broad joined this list in the 3rd Test against West Indies in 2020.

This seems to be a little harder to achieve compared to the other double. Sir Richard Hadlee is the only one to do it 3 times and Shakib Al Hasan the only one to do it twice. Kapil, Botham and Imran duly appear here. “Sir” Jadeja is the only other player from India here.

In a mirror of Bruce Taylor’s 100 + 5wi against India on his debut in 1965, only one player John Lever has  managed 50 + 10 wm also against India in 1976. Oddly enough S Venkataraghavan was in India’s team on both occasions.

There are some odd cases here involving players who were not generally considered all-rounders, such as Qadir, Border, Bevan and Steyn. And others who had short careers such as Lever, Nash and Craig. But most of the big names of the past few decades are there.

The elite group with a century and 10-for includes Botham, Imran, Shakib and honorary member Davidson with 100 runs and 10-for.

Broad achieved this in the nick of time, taking the last wicket of the match to complete his tenner.

Review of Bangladesh-Zimbabwe Tests (2020)-2

Hope that you have read Part 1

We now look at bowling records:

Most wickets (15 and above):

Taijul is far ahead of others.

He also has the most fivers (4) followed by Shakib and Enamul with 3. No one has more than one tenner.

Best innings bowling (6wi and above):

Taijul again leads this table. However there was no haul of 6wi or more in this match.

Best match bowling (8wm and above):

Enamul’s 12-wicket haul was instrumental in Bangladesh’s first-ever Test win in 2005.

Shakib’s 10-for in 2014 was accompanied by a century. He is only the third player in all Tests to score a century and take a 10-for in the same match, after Botham and Imran.

Also note Nayeem Hasan’s 9-for in this match.

Fielding records:

Most dismissals (10 and above):

Led by Mushfiqur, while Masakadza has the most by a non-keeper.

Most dismissals in an innings (4 and above):

Chakabva took 5 catches in this Test to equal the record. No non-keeper has taken 4 or more catches.

Most dismissals in a match (5 and above):

The record of 7 was set long ago. Chakabva took 5 in this match.

Best dismissal rate (Min 15 innings, all instances):

Mushfiqur leads here, far ahead of the others.

All-round performance (Overall, see criteria in table):

Shakib leads, followed by Chigumbura at a distance.

All-round match performance (50 and 5wi):

Shakib’s century and 10wm has pride of place.

Performances in CWC 2019

Batting:

Most runs (400 runs and above):

Note 5 centuries by RG Sharma, while Shakib Al Hasan has 7 scores of 50+.

Only 1 run separates the leader RG Sharma (648) and runner up DA Warner (647).

Highest innings (95 and above):

Not as high-scoring as the 2015 WC, which had scores of 215 and 237.

Bowling:

Most wickets (12 and above):

Note that MA Starc has 4 hauls of 4wi and above, followed by M Shami with 3.

Best innings bowling (includes all cases of 4wi and better):

Fielding:

Most dismissals (8 and above):

JE Root has the most catches (13) by a non-keeper.

Most innings dismissals (4 and above):

CR Woakes and JM Bairstow have the most catches by non-keepers (4) which equals the existing World Cup record held by several others.

All-round performance:

Overall:

Shakib Al Hasan with 606 runs and 11 wickets is clearly leading here, followed by the less expected all-rounder JDS Neesham.

Match performances (30 runs and 3 wickets):

Only these two. Shakib and Yuvraj Singh (vs Ireland in 2011) are the only two with 50/5wi in a World Cup match.

Man of the Series:  KS Williamson, presumably for his captaincy as well as being the 4th top scorer with 578 runs.

 

All-round match performances in the World Cup

Here is a list of all instances of 40+ runs and 4+ wickets in World Cup matches from 1975 up to June 24, 2019:

While some of these figures seem impressive, most of them have come against weak teams (if not minnows, teams which did not go beyond the first round). The exceptions are Flintoff (E v Ire), and Russell (WI v E). We already know that Afg will not be in the second round in 2019.

The only instances of 50/5wi are by Yuvraj Singh (I v Ire, 2011) and Shakib Al Hasan (BD v Afg, 2019).

Both of them have had impressive all-round performances throughout the tournament. Yuvraj was Man of the Series in 2011, when India won. Yuvraj had 362 runs and 15 wickets in 2011. Shakib has (at the time of writing on June 24) 471 runs and 10 wickets. He and David Warner (447 runs) seem to be main contenders for Man of the Series now.

In 1999, L Klusener had 281 runs and 17 wickets which earned him the Man of the Series award. His team lost narrowly in the semi-final.

 

ODIs of 2018-2

Continuing with the individual performances of the year:

Bowling:

20 or more wickets:

Innings bowling including all instances of 5wi:

Bowling averages: (all instances for 1000 or more balls bowled):

Rashid Khan has the best average and strike rate, while his teammmate Mujeeb has the best economy rate.

Fielding:

Most dismissals:

While Buttler has the most dismissals overall, his teammate Roy has the most catches as a non-keeper. Dhoni has the most stumpings.

Dismissal rate (20 innings or more):

Buttler and Roy again head these lists.

All-round performances (overall, see criteria in table):

All-round performances (match): 30 runs and 3 wickets:

While there are multiple instances by Shakib and Sikandar, they did not play enough to get into the above table.

T20Is of 2018

The Test cricket caravan for 2018 finally comes to an end on December 30.

Meanwhile we look at the T20Is of 2018, which had concluded earlier in the month.

Here are the ICC rankings at the end of the year:

And the teams arranged by win/loss ratio:

Here Afghanistan has a clean sweep, including minnows as well as regulars such as Bangladesh. Pakistan has a more valid claim to the top position, as they do in the ICC rankings.

Some statistics for individual performances are given below. As in the above table, the one match involving the ICC XI is not counted.

Most runs: 250 and above:

Shikhar Dhawan is far ahead of the rest.

Highest innings: 90 and above:

AJ Finch is far ahead of the rest.

Most wickets: 10 and above:

The lesser known AJ Tye has the most wickets.

Best innings bowling: includes all cases of 4wi and above:

Most dismissals: 10 and above:

Sarfraz and Finch head the lists for keepers and non-keepers respectively.

All-round match performances: 30 runs and 3 wickets:

GJ Maxwell and Shakib Al Hasan have the best performances here.

From 2019 onwards, all T20I matches will be considered official and there will be no select list of T20I countries as there is for ODIs. So matches including presently unranked teams will figure in these statistics, as it already does with women’s T20I matches.

 

The Lord’s triple honours list

You know about the honours boards at Lord’s: one for scoring a century, one for 5wi and one for 10wm. (Then there are separate boards for home, visitors and neutral players. Ignore that for now).

How many players do you think qualify to be on all three boards? One of them joined the club during this Test.

An elite group of all-rounders, with only one visitor (Miller) among them.

CR Woakes scored a century in this match. He had earlier taken 5wi and 10wm in 2016.

He really seems to like Lord’s, as we see from his record here:

Of those who appear on two or more boards. Vinoo Mankad and Ian Botham are the only ones to have taken a century and 5wi in the SAME match.

No one has scored a century and taken 10wm in the same Test at Lord’s. This has been achieved only three times in all Tests, by Botham, Imran and Shakib.

As an afterthought, here are the only two who have scored a fifty and taken 10wm in the SAME Test at Lord’s:  they would be duly listed for their 5wi and 10wm, but not for their fifty.

A similar piece from Cricinfo: http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/24350452/chris-woakes-lord-love

Tail piece: Some readers seem to be unsure about the existence of the 10wm boards. Maybe they are a relatively recent innovation. However, we have some pictures to verify this:

Part of the 10wm board.

Also, when someone gets 10wm with two fivers, both fivers are mentioned on the fiver board. If he gets one fiver and another haul of less than 5 wickets in the match, both are mentioned (and marked) as you can see here:

And finally, one of the obscure boards for neutral Tests:

These were set up in 2010 and so far cover only two Tests, Aus v SA in 1912 and Aus v Pak in 2010.

 

 

When Test captains are sacked

The ill-starred Test at Cape Town might well be the first one in which a captain was dismissed in the middle of a match and a replacement named immediately. Statisticians will record Smith as captain  since he was “appointed captain” for the match even if he did not end the match as captain. There have been numerous cases when a captain was absent from part of the match due to injury or illness and someone else acted as captain for the remainder-perhaps as much as 4 days out of 5.

One such Test was this one in 2009: http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/13604/scorecard/401071/west-indies-vs-bangladesh-1st-test-bangladesh-tour-of-west-indies-2009

The appointed captain Mashrafe Mortaza missed over half the match due to injury, and Shakib al Hasan substituted for him. Admittedly this was a third XI of the West Indies, but this was still a landmark for Bangladesh as it was only their second Test win (and the first away from home). Shakib was the appointed captain for the second Test, which led to Bangladesh gaining their third Test victory as well as their first series win abroad.

Mortaza never captained Bangladesh in a Test again, and thus the tables show him with one Test as captain and a 100% success rate. Similar examples include Shastri and Rahane, though Rahane may again captain India soon if Kohli is absent for the proposed Test against Afghanistan. And one cannot help wondering if India’s Test performance in the late 80s and early 90s would have been better if Shastri had been the regular captain rather than his contemporaries Vengsarkar, Srikkanth and Azharuddin.

There have been captains sacked in the middle of a series (Gatting in 1988 for off-field activities, and Denness in 1975 for generally poor results capped by an alleged wrong decision after winning the toss at Birmingham). He was replaced by Greig who seemed to have done a better job in ensuring three draws in the next three Tests against Lillee and Thomson in their prime. Later, when Greig was firmly in place as captain he lost his position in early 1977 following the advent of World Series Cricket.

The 1988 home series against the West Indies saw England with four captains in five Tests (Gatting, Emburey, Emburey, Chris Cowdrey and Gooch). So did India in the 1958-59 home series against the West Indies although that story is more complicated.

Review of Bangladesh-Sri Lanka Tests in Feb 2018-2

Continuing our review of all Tests between these teams until now.

Fielding:

8 or more dismissals:

The lesser-known P Jayawardene has the most dismissals, most catches by a keeper and most stumpings. The better-known M Jayawardene has the most catches by a fielder. Mushfiqur is catching up.

Innings fielding (4 or more dismissals):

Dickwella equalled the record of 5 during this series. Sangakkara and Soumya have 4 catches as fielders.

Match fielding (5 or more dismissals):

P Jayawardene has the record of 7, while M Jayawardene and Soumya have 5 catches as  fielders. Dickwella has the best figures from the current series.

Dismissal rate (minimum 20 innings fielded, all cases):

Sangakkara has the highest here, as P Jayawardene did not play enough matches here. Mushfiqur has done almost as well as Sangakkara. Among non-keepers the highest rate is inevitably by M Jayawardene.

All-round performances

Overall-see criteria in table:

Shakib is the only all-rounder with respectable figures. Vaas did not play enough in these matches.

Match performances (50 and 5wi):

The one-man army Shakib Al Hasan again. His absence in this series must have hurt Bangladesh a lot.