The Test debutants of 2018

The last of a series of reviews of Test cricket in 2018. Here we identify the good performances on Test debut.

Batting:

40 runs or more in an innings:

3 centuries headed by PP Shaw, and numerous other 50s.

There are several instances of 40+ in both innings, with Fakhar Zaman with 50+ in both innings. This will be seen more clearly here:

80 runs or more in match:

Fakhar Zaman’s 160 shares the second place among those who made two scores between 50 and 99 on debut.

The most is by the lesser-known BM Laird with 167 (Aus v WI, 1979-80) followed by CH Lloyd with 160 (WI v Ind, 1966-67).

Bowling:

3 or more wickets in an innings:

5 instances of fivers, led by Bilal Asif and L Ngidi. Vihari and Bumrah took 3-fors for India. Ireland has TJ Murtagh and SR Thompson in their debut Test, while Yamin Ahmadzai represents Afghanistan on their debut.

6 or more wickets in match:

Dananjaya’s 8-44 is the best for Sri Lanka on debut. The previous record was 8-132 by BAW Mendis (SL v Ind, 2008). Ireland has TJ Murtagh in their debut Test. Bilal Asif took 6 in the first innings and none in the second.

Fielding:

2 or more dismissals in an innings:

RR Pant leads here. His 5 dismissals equaled the record for India, though Yajurvindra Singh was a non-keeper. 3 Indian keepers made 4 dismissals in an innings on debut, all in the 1950s.

3 or more dismissals in a match:

RR Pant leads again with 7 dismissals. No one else has more than 3. MA Agarwal is one of those who took 3 as a non-keeper

Pant’s 7 dismissals equaled the Indian record with non-keeper Yajurvindra Singh. Several Indian keepers took 5 on debut, along with non-keepers RR Singh (only Test) and SS Das.

All-round performances:

30 runs and 3 wickets in match:

3 instances, with probably SR Thompson’s being the best.

30 runs and 3 dismissals:

3 instances, with Foakes being the only keeper and MA Agarwal having the best by a non-keeper. Also note MS Harris’s 26 and 26.

Test statistics for 2018-2

Now for bowling:

Most wickets in 2018 (25 or more):

JJ Bumrah took 48 wickets in the calendar year of his debut, coming 3rd after Alderman (54 in 1981) and Ambrose (49 in 1988). The previous record for India was 40 by Doshi in 1979. A Dananjaya took 27 wickets in his debut calendar year.

The most fivers were 4 by Taijul and Miraz of Bangladesh and Holder of the West Indies. No one took more than one tenner.

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

The best effort by Maharaj was in a losing cause.

Best match bowling (including all instances of 9wm and above):

Maharaj also figures here with a 12-wicket haul when his side lost. Yasir Shah’s 14-wicket haul was the best in the UAE. He and Imran Khan are the only Pakistani bowlers to have taken 14 wickets in a match.

Bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls, all instances):

Bumrah has the best average and strike rate, while Anderson has the best economy.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (15 or more):

de Kock and Paine lead, although Dickwella has the most stumpings. Kusal Mendis has the most catches by a non-keeper.

Most innings dismissals (5 or more):

Newcomer Pant is the only one with 6 dismissals. SPD Smith has the most catches by a non-fielder, making him one of several to share this record in all Tests. Saha took 5 catches in each innings of a match.

Most match dismissals (6 or more):

Pant with 11 dismissals shared the world record with Russell and de Villiers. Earlier in the year Saha had an Indian record with 10 dismissals.

The most by a non-keeper was 7 by Rahul, in the only Test which India won on that series. Smith made 6 catches before being disgraced.

Dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.500):

de Kock and Paine at the top, leading the others by a large margin. Kusal Mendis has the best by a non-keeper.

All-round performance:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Not a good year for all-rounders, as Cummins is the only one to make the cut with these relatively modest standards.

Match (50 and 5wi):

More good performances, with Cummins’ last-gasp performance at the end. Holder also has two entries here.

 

Test statistics for 2018-1

Summarizing the team performances of 2018

Ranked by W/L ratio:

And the ICC ranking tables at the end of the year:

Note that the rankings are quite different, as the ICC rankings cover a longer period and are supposed to take the opponent’s strength into account.

Note the close bunching for 2nd to 4th position by England, New Zealand and South Africa. Also 6th and 7th (Pakistan and Sri Lanka) and for 8th and 9th (West Indies and Bangladesh).

Now we go on to individual performances.

Batting:

Most runs: 500 and above:

Virat Kohli has the most centuries (5). He also has the most scores above 50 (10).

Highest innings (110 and above):

The top score of 264* by Tom Latham was the highest by anyone carrying his bat through an innings, surpassing the 244* by Alastair Cook less than a year earlier. Here is a live link of all those who carried their bat through an innings, in chronological order.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283149.html

Curiously, it was the first instance of anyone scoring 264 or 264* in a Test. The lowest score which has never been made is 229/229*  (but there is also an outlier at 140*).

KJ O’Brien is here for Ireland’s first Test century, while Afghanistan still has no score above 50.

Highest batting average (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):

Kohli and the hitherto unheralded Kusal Mendis are on top here, as in the listing of most runs. Others from India can also be seen here.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced, all instances):

Here it is Buttler and Mominul  who have the highest strike rates. Pujara is near the bottom as we may expect. Kohli and Rahane are also here.

To be continued:

ODIs of 2018-1

The ODIs of the year are over, and we review team and individual performances here:

First, the ICC rankings at the end of the year:

It can be seen that the 10 teams participating in the 2019 World Cup are the top 10 here.

This table includes matches in the past 2-3 years. Nepal has ODI status but has not played enough matches to get a ranking.

Here we look at W/L ratios. This and all subsequent tables refer to performances in the calendar year 2018.

Teams ranked by W/L ratio

Guess who finished last 🙂

And guess who played the most matches.

Of course, this table does not mean much as it does not take into account the opponent’s strength, which the ICC rankings are supposed to.

We now move to individual performances, starting with

Batting:

500 or more runs:

Also note that Kohli (6) and RG Sharma (5) have the most centuries, while Kohli (9) also has the most fifties followed by RG Sharma, Root and Fakhar Zaman with 8.

Innings scores of 125 or more:

Batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):

You might expect Kohli, Sharma and a few others to be here but they did not play enough innings. However, they appear below:

Highest strike rates (Minimum 80.00 for a minimum of 500 balls faced):

Note that England has the two top spots, while India also has a few with strike rates above 100.

To be continued.

IPL 2018-Looking forward to the playoffs

First the 2018 league table:

And the corresponding tables of 2015, 2016 and 2017 (in that order):

Note that the 2018 table shows a slight departure from the past. From 2015 to 2017, 16 points was a clear demarcator for qualifying for the playoff rounds. In 2018 RR has qualified with 14 points.

Does the position in the league table give a clear indication of the final winner?

In 2015: Winner MI (2nd in league), runners-up CSK (1st)

In 2016: Winner RCB (2nd), runners-up SRH (3rd)

In 2017: Winner MI (1st), runners-up RPS (2nd)

We see that in recent history the 2nd-ranked team in the league has slightly better chances – so CSK can be said to be the favourite (if one is superstitious).