The Test debutants of 2016-2

We complete this review with a look at the fielding and all-round performances of those who made their Test debut in 2016.

Of the 44 debutants, only one, PJ Moor of Zimbabwe, was a wicket-keeper. He took precisely one catch on debut. So whatever we have here is applicable to non-keepers.

Most dismissals in an innings (2 or more):

Most dismissals in a match (4 or more):

Hameed and Raval have the best performances here, as well as in batting and fielding (see below). The South Asian diaspora seems to be coming along well.

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

All-round performances (at least 30 runs and 3 dismissals in match):

 

The Test debutants of 2016-1

A total of 44 players made their Test debut during the calendar year 2016. Here we take a look at their performances in their debut matches and briefly look at their progress until February 2017.

Innings scores of 40 and above:

and match totals of 50 and above:

12 instances of 50+ on debut, including centuries by SC Cook and KK Jennings. 3 others (J Yadav, Dhananjaya de Silva and KS Maharaj) also scored at least 50 runs in the match. H Hameed scored over 100 in his debut match without a century. Jennings became one of only 4 to score a century and duck on debut; GR Viswanath was the first to do so.

Cook has so far made 3 centuries and Dhananjaya  and Handscomb 2 apiece, while others including Gunaratne and Yadav have also scored centuries. Most of those listed above have made steady progress as batsmen (and in some cases as bowlers).

Looking at bowling performances on debut;

4 wickets in an innings:

6 wickets in a match:

The best innings and match performances were by Zimbabwe-born C de Grandhomme. MH Miraz did almost as well, conceding a few more runs. Miraz went on to take two 6-fors in his second Test and was instrumental in Bangladesh’s first Test victory over England. He has also displayed some batting ability in his last few Tests, as has de Grandhomme.

To be continued:

 

 

Test all-round performances of 2016

This refers to all Tests in the calendar year 2016.

Overall all-round performance (see criteria below):

Ashwin deservedly leads this list, followed closely by Stokes.

All-round performance in matches (at least one fifty and one five-for):

The list of 6 instances includes 2 by Ashwin and 2 by Jadeja. Chase made a match-saving century and took a fiver in his 2nd Test. Dilruwan Perera and Jadeja performed the less common double of a fifty and 10 wickets in a match. Jadeja was the only one of the 20-odd of these players (who took 50/10wm) to take more than 2 catches.

Over to 2017.

Test bowling performances of 2016

This applies to all Tests during the calendar year 2016.

Most wickets taken (20 and above):

Ashwin is far ahead of the runner-up Herath. Ashwin also has the most fivers (8) followed by Herath (5). Ashwin yet again has the most tenners (3) followed by Herath and Yasir Shah with 2 apiece.

Best bowling (innings): All instances of 6 or more wickets.

Bishoo has the best innings figures for the year but his side lost that Test. Interestingly, RA Jadeja has the best innings figures for India.

Best bowling (match): All instances of 8 or more wickets

Ashwin’s and Herath’s names keep recurring here.

Bowling averages: (Minimum 1500 balls):

Herath tops this list followed by the less heralded Wagner and then Starc.

Jadeja has the  best economy rate of 2.27, followed by Anderson (2.46) and Herath (2.61)

The best strike rate is by Rabada (36.6) followed by Starc (39.0) and Herath (43.4)

Though Ashwin took the most wickets, he did not score very well on these parameters.

To be continued.

 

 

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

Review of cricket team performance in 2016

Here we look at the ICC rankings in all three formats as on Dec 31, 2016 as well as the wins and losses during the calendar year.

There will not be a direct correlation between the ICC ranking and wins/losses as the ICC rankings take into account a longer period.

Tests:

ODIs:

T20Is:

It can be seen that both table toppers are the same for Tests and T20Is, but not in ODIs.