Review of England-West Indies Tests-2020-II

Hope that you have seen part 1 ( https://abn397.wordpress.com/2020/07/30/review-of-england-west-indies-tests-2020-i/ )

We now look at Bowling figures.

Most wickets (60 or more):

The top two were contemporaries at a time when WI were declining from their peak. Broad is the only current player.

The most 5-fors were by Ambrose (8) and Gibbs (7), while several (including Broad) had two 10-fors.

Most wickets in an innings (8wi and above):

The only one from recent years was Chase’s 8-60 in 2019.

Most wickets in a Test (11wm and above):

Broad’s 10-67 is the best in recent years.

Best bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls, maximum 30.00):

While Garner and Ambrose lead the averages, Valentine and Ramadhin have the best economy rates and Marshall and Holding the best strike rates. An equitable distribution of work.

Now for Fielding statistics:

Most dismissals (25 or more):

Buttler is the only current player here.

The most stumpings were by Ames (11), the most catches by a keeper by DL Murray (90) and the most by a non-keeper by Lara (45)  and Sobers (40).

Most dismissals in an innings (5 or more):

Most dismissals in a match (7 or more):

Best dismissal ratio (Minimum 20 innings and 0.750)

Only Root from recent times. The best by a non-keeper is 0.916 by Hammond and 0.863 by Constantine. Also see the figures for the “hybrids” Stewart and Walcott.

All-round performances (see criteria below):

Minimum 20 innings batted, 2000 balls, 3+ fifties, 3+ 4wi:

Sobers is far ahead of the others. Oddly enough Holding is in second place. Botham did not perform well against WI.

Match performances (Minimum one fifty and one 5wi):

Most of the famous names are here, with Stokes, Chase (2) and Broad in recent years.

The double of 100/5wi was reached by Sobers and Greig, while the double of 50/10 wm was reached by Boyce and Broad.

Review of England-West Indies Tests-2020-I

England won the series 2-1, leading to this points table for the WTC:

England gained 80 points and WI 40 points in this series.

The record for Tests between these countries:

England extended its lead for matches at home, although WI still lead overall.

We now look at Batting records:

Most runs-1200 and above:

The most centuries (10) are by Sobers, followed Richards and Headley  with 8.

The most scores above 50 are 23 by Richards and Sobers, followed by Chanderpaul with 21.

Note the absence of any current players in this list. The most recent is Cook.

Highest innings (200 or more):

Here the only score by a current player is at the bottom (202* by Holder). Note the 1-2 by Lara, both world records at the time.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, 40.00):

Hutton and Headley are far ahead of the others. Stokes and Cook are the only ones here from the past few years.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls, 55.00):

While No 2 is predictable, No 1 is not. He had scored a century on debut against WI.

Blackwood and Stokes represent the current players.

Continued in https://abn397.wordpress.com/2020/07/31/review-of-england-west-indies-tests-2020-ii/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More cricket calypsos

Many of you would be familiar with “Cricket, lovely cricket” first heard at Lord’s in 1950 and probably the one about Gavaskar after the 1971 series. There are, in fact, a number of other cricket-related calypsos which are summarised in the link below. Lord Kitchener was living in Britain through the 1950s and sang tributes to Alec Bedser (during the 1953 Ashes) and Frank Tyson (after the 1954-55 Ashes). All of these (besides the long version of “Rally Round the West Indies”) can be seen here:

https://silvertorch.com/cricketsongs.html

Background reading here:

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2002/jun/28/nottinghillcarnival2002.nottinghillcarnival

Personal note: My father came to Britain from India through the Tilbury Docks a few months before the SS “Empire Windrush” docked. On the evening of January 30, 1948 he heard the newspaper seller yelling “Extra! Read all about it! Gandy killed by Hindu gunman!”. Coincidentally his first grandchild was born exactly 39 years later.

The last time it happened

The last time the West Indies won a Test in England was at Birmingham on June 15, 2000.

On that date:

Hillary Clinton was in the White House-as First Lady.

Few outside the US had heard of Barack Obama. They had heard of an eccentric millionaire called Donald Trump.

Few outside Gujarat had heard of Narendra Modi. If they had heard his name, they assumed that it referred to Sushil Modi, then and now the main BJP leader in Bihar.

While most Indians knew of Manmohan Singh as a former finance minister, few would have imagined he would become Prime Minister for a decade.

But some things do not change. On that date Vladimir Putin was President. He still is. Mugabe was still President when this was first written in 2017. Even North Korea has seen a change of rulers, admittedly from the same dynasty.

But there are other records which were more durable. England never won a Test against the West Indies  between April 1974 and February 1990 (almost 16 years, a little less than the period mentioned above).

And they never won a Test against the West Indies at home between July 1969 and July 1991, a 22-year stretch.

A long stretch, from Nixon to Bush Sr. , and from Indira Gandhi to Narasimha Rao via Morarji Desai and others. But Queen Elizabeth was there throughout, for a small part of her ongoing 65-year reign*. So was Fidel Castro, who was undisputed leader of his country for 49 years.

* now 67 years