Review of SL-WI Tests-1

The Test series between Sri-Lanka and the West Indies was won by the hosts 2-0. This meant that the West Indies was yet to win a Test (let alone a series) in Sri Lanka. This is summarized here:

This also means that Sri Lanka leads 11-4 in all Tests between these teams.

We look at individual figures in Batting:

Most runs (Minimum 400):

The most centuries are 5 by Lara and 3 by Sangakkara

The most 50+ scores are 8 each by Sangakkara and Sarwan.

Among current players, the most are by Karunaratne (568) closely followed by Brathwaite (563).

Highest innings (Minimum 125):

The highest scores in the current series were 155* by DM de Silva and 147 by FD Karunaratne.

Batting averages are not here since no one has 20 or more innings.

But we do have Batting strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced):

Headed by Lara and M Jayawardene. FD Karunaratne has the highest SR among current players.

To be continued.

Review of WI-Pakistan Test series.

After this Test series was drawn 1-1:

A total of 54 Tests have been played between these countries. Pakistan lead 21-18 with 15 draws.

In the West Indies: Of 28 Tests, WI lead Pakistan 13-8 with 7 draws.

In Pakistan: Of 21 Tests, Pakistan lead 9-4 with 8 draws.

In neutral venues: Of 5 Tests, Pakistan lead 4-1 with 0 draws.

Babar Azam has captained Pakistan in 6 Tests, with 5 wins and 1 loss.

Most runs: 1214 by Mohammad Yousuf. From recent players, 951 by Azhar Ali.

Highest innings: 365* by Gary Sobers in 1957-58. In recent years 302* by Azhar Ali in 2016-2017

Highest batting average: 57.43 by Wasim Raja. From recent players, 50.05 by Azhar Ali.

Most wickets: 80 by Imran Khan. From recent players, 46 by Yasir Shah.

Best innings bowling: 8-29 by Colin Croft in 1976-77

In recent years 8-49 by D Bishoo in 2016-17

Best match bowling: 12-100 by Fazal Mahmood in 1958-59

In recent years 10-94 by SS Afridi in 2021.

Best bowling average: 19.56 by Colin Croft

Best economy rate: 2.05 by Lance Gibbs

Best strike rate: 39.6 by Waqar Younis

Most dismissals: 29 by Franz Alexander

Most by non-keeper: 23 by Vivian Richards and Younis Khan.

Highest dismissal rate 0.821 by Younis Khan.

(No regular keeper had played the cutoff of 20 innings fielded)

Match all-round performance: 121 & 56, 5-28 & 3-69 by Mushtaq Mohammad in 1976-77.

Lord Mayers of Chattogram

The West Indies has had many levels of aristocracy, such as Baron Constantine and Sir Frank Worrell. And the calypso men such as Lord Kitchener, Lord Beginner and Lord Relator.

So the tabloids in Barbados may well refer to Kyle Mayers as Lord Mayers of Chattogram.

(They might also be interested in what their heroine Rihanna says about India 🙂 )

Also his partner Nkrumah Bonner whose parents must have named him after the Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/player/348056.html

https://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/player/314650.html

Both of them have been prominent in domestic cricket for a while, but would probably not been on this tour if not for Covid.

Here are some of the records set during the chase of 395:

Most runs on debut (innings scores):

5th position here among the 6 who scored 200+

Most runs in a match on debut:

4th among the 12 who have made 200 in their debut match. Yasir Hameed did not score a century after making two on debut. Others such as Foster, Umar Akmal and Kuruppu did not last long, and Rowe somewhat under-performed though he played Tests up to 1980. He did make 302 against England in 1974.

Most runs in 4th innings on debut:

Mayers does top this list, surpassing India’s AA Baig who had provided a small silver lining to the 5-0 sweep in 1959. None of the other debutants except Yasir Hameed figured in successful chases.

Highest partnerships in successful chases (not only for debutants):

6th in this all-time list. No other instance where both were debutants. Gilchrist was playing his 2nd Test.

Most runs in unbeaten innings in successful run chase:

Here too Mayers is far ahead of the rest. No one else scored a century under these conditions. Next in line is a recent player Bancroft who was part of the Smith-Warner axis and probably will not play again.

This list also includes Lloyd, Lewis and Gimblett against India, besides Gavaskar for India against the West Indies. Maybe in some cases they hit the winning runs, but we need to check accounts of the match or commentary transcripts if available. It can be seen that Mayers did hit the winning run (a single).

Finally, we look at the cases of unbeaten 100+ scores in successful run chases (all instances, not only debutants):

Here Mayers is second only to Greenidge. India has Tendulkar and VVS near the bottom. There are also Haynes, Richards and Mark Taylor against India. But the next highest debutant after Mayers is Bancroft, as described above.

Tail piece: The WI captain Kraigg Brathwaite recorded his first win. His first 5 Tests as captain were losses.

More on cricketing knights (Sep 2019)

Geoff Boycott and Andrew Strauss are the latest additions to the cricketing knights of England:

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/49641823

Which was not without controversy in Boycott’s case.

More on this topic in my earlier post in 2017:

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2017/08/23/sir-geoffrey-and-the-real-knights/

When the tail wagged (Aug 2019)

In the ongoing Test at Kingston, India registered a somewhat rare triumph of a fifty at No 9 along with a century partnership.

Fifty plus by No 9 batsmen from India:

Ishant Sharma’s 57 is a little below the middle. There are several Indians above him, led by J Yadav who vanished as quickly as he got into the team. Even a century at no 9 does not help.

Century partnership for the 8th wicket by India:

Again, the partnership of 112 by Vihari and Ishant is a little below the middle. There is one against WI a little higher (120* by Dravid and Sarandeep in 2002).

For the sake of comparison, we also look at:

Fifty plus at No 9 against the West Indies:

Here, too, Ishant is a bit lower than the middle. The highest for India is 79 by Kunderan in 1966-67. The highest for India in the West Indies is 68 by BS Sandhu. Oddly enough, Sandhu’s 71 against Pakistan in 1982-83 is the best on debut by a No 9 in all Tests.

Century partnerships for the 8th wicket against the West Indies:

The Vihari – Sharma partnership is the 8th highest here, while the 120* by Dravid and Sarandeep is the 6th highest. The highest partnership of 217 was part of one of the more remarkable comebacks in all Tests, when Brian Close captained for the first time:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/17312/scorecard/62995/england-vs-west-indies-5th-test-west-indies-tour-of-england-1966

This involved a recovery from 166/7 to 527 and fifty-plus from the No 9, 10 and 11 batsmen (Murray, Higgs and Snow).

 

 

 

Review of West Indies-England Tests-2

Hope that you have read Part 1.

Continuing with individual performances:

Bowling:

Most wickets (30 and more):

The most fivers were by Ambrose (8) and Gibbs (7). And the most tenners were 2 by Ambrose, Gibbs and Trueman.

The contemporaries Ambrose and Walsh have the most wickets, with Trueman’s 86 for England far behind. Among current players there are Anderson (82), Broad (57) and Roach (42).

Best innings bowling (including all 7wi and above):

RL Chase’s freakish 8-60 in this series is the best for a WI spinner against England, surpassing Valentine’s 8-104 back in 1950. No other major performance in this series, though Anderson and Stokes combined at Lord’s in 2017. Note ARC Fraser’s efforts in 1994 and 1998.

Best match bowling (including all 10wm and above):

No outstanding performance in this series, while there is one by Anderson in 2017.

CS Marriott is the only one in all Tests to take a tenner in his only Test. Greig’s 13-wicket performance was his only 10-for and the best for England in these matches.

Best bowling average (Minimum 2000 balls, all instances):

Garner and Ambrose at the top, Anderson, Roach and Broad from the present.

Ramadhin and Valentine are together in this table.

While Garner and Ambrose have the best average, Valentine and Ramadhin have the best economy rate while Marshall and Holding have the best strike rate.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (20 and above):

DL Murray and Dujon are far ahead of the others. Ames of the 1930s has the most stumpings, Murray the most catches by a keeper and Lara the most by a non-keeper.

Best innings fielding (5 dismissals and above):

The best by a non-keeper is 4.

Best match fielding (7 dismissals and above):

The most stumpings are 3 by the occasional keeper Walcott, the most catches by a keeper are 9 by Browne and the most catches by a non-keeper are 6 by Cowdrey, Sobers and Adams.

Best dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.600):

Here Jacobs and Dujon have the best rate, while Hammond has the best by a non-keeper.

All-round performance (see criteria in table):

It is not surprising to see Sobers at the top, but Holding at no 2 is surprising. He seems to have reserved his best batting and bowling efforts for England. No one from recent years.

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

The best performances here would be by Sobers, Greig and Boyce. Here we do have Chase from this series and Stokes from the previous one. Sadly, Boyce and Marshall died young.

 

 

 

Review of West Indies-England Tests-1

The 3-Test series was won 2-1 by the West Indies, with all three matches ending in decisive results. West Indies won their first series against England since early 2009. They have not won a series in England since 1988, and did not win a Test in England between 2000 and 2017.

The overall results are:

The West Indies still enjoy an overall lead and at home, while England leads them in matches played in England.

We now come to individual performances:

Batting:

Most runs (1000 runs and more):

A long list without much contribution from recent years. The only name from the past few years is AN Cook.

The most centuries are 10 by Sobers and 8 by Richards and Headley. The most from England is 6 by several players. The most scores of 50+ are 23 by Richards and Sobers, followed by 21 by Chanderpaul. The most by England is 20 by Boycott.

Highest innings scores (175 and above):

This list is led by Lara’s world records and is followed by Sandham’s score which was the first Test triple century. The only such score from this series is captain Holder’s 202*, while Cook scored 243 in the last series in 2017.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings and 35.00):

Yet again, Cook is the only representative in recent years with his 57.96. Hutton and Headley are far ahead of others, and they both played their last Test in this series in 1954.

Highest strike rate (Minimum 1000 balls faced, 50.00):

Here we have the recent player MJ Prior at the top, followed by Richards and Pietersen. Root is the only recent player here.

To be continued.

Bangladesh cricket hits a new low

Only a few days ago we noticed that Bangladesh had finally got a Test ranking (8th) higher than that of the West Indies (9th). It was therefore hoped that Bangladesh would be competitive in the 2-Test series in the West Indies starting on July 4.

That did not happen, as Bangladesh was dismissed for 43 before lunch on the first day of the series at North Point. The main wrecker was Kemar Roach (5-1-8-5 with an injured knee).

In the following tables I have considered 9 or 10 wickets down, to cover cases where teams batted one man short.

This is the lowest score by Bangladesh in all Tests:

It also has the lowest number of balls in any Test innings by Bangladesh (112), the next lowest being 152 for their 62-run effort in 2007.

It is also the lowest Test score by any side since 2000 ( the list shows scores below 75)

However, they lasted for 112 balls which is higher than that for Australia (108 balls for 47 in 2011) and 111 balls for 60 in 2015).

And you can see that 43 all out is fairly low down in the all-time Test lows (below 50). India was dismissed for 42 (one man absent) in 1974.

We also look at the all-time Test lows by balls faced (less than 120 balls):

The all-time low is 75 balls by SA for 30 all out in 1924. The NZ team which made 26 all out did survive for 162 balls and thus does not appear here. India’s record low of 102 balls for 42 can be seen here.

The Bangladesh team’s 112 balls is one more than Australia’s 111 balls for 60 in 2015 and 108 balls in 2011, which are the lowest in recent years.

Finally we look at the lowest scores in the first innings of the match (below 60);

Bangladesh’s 43 today is the 3rd lowest here, and the lowest since 1946.

Also note that England won after being dismissed for 45 in 1887.

And the lowest number of balls faced in the first innings of the match (below 120):

Here Bangladesh has survived for one ball more than Australia’s famous 60 in 2015, which is the record.

And the 43 is the lowest Test score in the West Indies:

Records of Pak-WI T20I on April 1, 2018

Here are the records which were set in this match, which was one of the most one-sided T20I matches ever. First, the scorecard:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/18597/scorecard/1140069/pakistan-vs-west-indies-1st-t20i-wi-in-pakistan-2018/ 

All figures are correct on April 1, 2018.

Lowest-ever T20I scores (85 and below):

Live link: http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283172.html

We see that WI’s total is among the lowest in all T20Is, but still ahead of the record of 39 all out by Netherlands in 2014, in the course of the T20I World Championships. Their previous lowest was 79/7 against Zimbabwe in 2010, which you can see in the above total. The previous lowest all-out total was 101 against Sri Lanka in 2009, in the course of the T20I World Championship.

Pakistan recorded its joint-highest T20I total, as it had also made 203/5 against Bangladesh at Karachi in 2008. This is however not too high in the all-time list of high T20I scores, which is headed by Australia’s 263/6 against Sri Lanka in 2016.

Highest T20I totals by Pakistan:

And Pakistan also recorded its highest margin of victory:

It can be seen that it is the second-highest margin (by runs) in all T20Is, surpassed only by Sri Lanka’s demolition of Kenya in the first T20I World Championship. It is also the largest victory margin in matches between full members. Pakistan’s previous record was 103 runs against New Zealand in 2010.

Live link: http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283283.html

 

Review of New Zealand-West Indies Tests-2

Continued.

Fielding

Most dismissals (15 and above):

The only current player is Ross Taylor, who has the most catches by a non-keeper.

Innings dismissals (4 and more):

Only Dowrich from the current series. Fleming and the Crowe brothers each took 4 catches as non-keepers.

Match dismissals (6 and more):

None from the current series. Fleming has the most dismissals for a non-keeper.

Dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.400):

Ramdin heads the list, though many keepers did not play enough Tests. Hence this table is dominated by non-keepers.

All-round performances:

Overall (see criteria below):

The modest criteria are met by two of the all-time greats.

Match performance (50 and 5wi):

Interestingly, the relatively rare feat of a fifty and 10 wickets in a match has been recorded three times here.

Review of West Indies-Zimbabwe Tests

West Indies won this series 1-0 with one draw, when the second Test was drawn. The last draw involving Zimbabwe was in January 2005, when a Test in Bangladesh was drawn. From then till now Zimbabwe played in 26 Tests, including 23 losses and 3 wins (2 against Bangladesh and one against Pakistan). However, Zimbabwe did not play any Tests between Sep 2005 and Aug 2011.

Some Zimbabwe players ended their all-loss Test record. Chakabva now has seen 11 losses and 1 draw, while Sikandar has seen 8 losses and 1 draw. SC Williams has seen losses in all his 7 Tests, though the overall Test record is held by Alok Kapali with 17.

Zimbabwe’s captain AG Cremer also came out of the all-loss group. His 7 Tests as captain now have 6 losses and 1 draw.

Here we have a summary of all 10 Tests between these teams:

WI leads 7-0 with 3 draws. They won all 4 Tests held in the West Indies and 3 out of 6 in Zimbabwe. All 3 draws were in Zimbabwe.

With this limited sample size there is no point in looking at averages, strike rates and the like. So we concentrate on overall tallies and innings and match performances.

Most runs (200 and above):

Gayle and H Masakadza scored 2 centuries apiece. These two players along with Sarwan are the only ones to make 3 scores of 50-plus. Gayle and Chanderpaul had played in all Tests between these teams except this series.

Highest individual scores (all centuries):

In this series H Masakadza made the highest score for Zim against WI. The previous record was 127* by Streak.

Also during this series WI’s no 8 and 9 batsmen (Holder and Dowrich) scored centuries. This was only the 2nd time this happened, after this one in the 1907-08 Ashes: http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/17646/scorecard/62493/Australia-vs-England-3rd-Test-the-ashes/

In that match a top-order batsman Clem Hill was batting at No 9 for some reason (probably an injury). So this instance is the only one involving “genuine” No 8 and No 9 batsmen.

Bowling: 10 or more wickets:

Price has the most wickets. He and S Shillingford are the only ones to have taken tenners. Shillingford is also the only one with 3 fivers. Several current players (led by Bishoo) are in the above table.

Best innings bowling (including all fivers):

Shillingford and Price lead again.

Best match bowling (including all cases of 8wm and above): The same pair again head the table.

Some current players (notably Bishoo) are in these tables.

Fielding records (5 or more dismissals):

Gayle has the most catches by a non-keeper.

Most dismissals in an innings (3 or more):

Ervine and A Flower have the most catches in an innings.

Most dismissals in a match (4 or more):

Interestingly a non-keeper Powell has the most dismissals.

All-round performances (overall):

Fittingly the only name here is that of Zimbabwe’s leading all-rounder.

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

In this series Sikandar Raza became only the second Test player to make two eighty-plus scores along with a fiver (see more about this in the previous post).

 

 

An unusual all-round feat

Test matches between the West Indies and Zimbabwe have generally been one-sided. So it is a welcome change to see a strong performance by a Zimbabwe player.

Sikandar Raza became only the 15th player in all Tests to score two fifty-plus scores and take a fiver in the same Test:

In fact, he and Kallis are the only ones to make two scores of 80+ and take a fiver.

This list include some well-known and not so well-known players. Mankad (256) and Umrigar (228) have scored the most runs here-but in both cases India lost. Faulkner is the only other one here to have scored over 200 runs (when his team won).

There are a few other instances where the player’s team lost. Bhuvaneswar Kumar was the last to achieve this all-round feat, which resulted in a draw.

Sikandar Raza is probably the only Zimbabwe player who was born in Pakistan.