Batting Greatness

Thanks to Homer for posting the new cricket videos site. Here are four modern masters – the result in each case a boundary…..

Power
Care
Confidence
Class

There is something inherently beautiful about watching a master in action. I posted the 5th video (below) because i want you to watch the catch Mark Waugh takes at second slip of VVS Laxman’s edge. Waugh in my view was the greatest catcher i have ever seen. His magic lay not in his catching technique, but in his anticipation – which makes everything else – balance, reception of the ball, everything else look ridiculously easy.

The Natural

When you actually think about it, Power, Care, Confidence and Class – as qualities which describe batting greatness, are in truth, merely the symptoms of greatness. Greatness lies in the ability to anticipate and to prepare well enough to execute plans and skills close to perfection. Everybody knows that you need to have decisive footwork to counter a good length outswinger, or that you need to keep a still head when you play an expansive aggressive stroke, or that you need to get to the pitch of the ball to be able to play against the break on a turning wicket. Some just execute this more often and better than others. Some times it is called class, at other times – greatness. ‘Class’ is an aristocratic term – signifying superiority more purely than any other word in common usage. In this event, i don’t think anyone will complain about the division it creates.

The common quality amongst all great actions, is that they seem obvious and almost ridiculously simple. We can’t all be great, but we can surely try and develop the ability to identify it when we see it.

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ODI Runs and their relationship with Match Results……

This thread has its roots in Kumar Sangakkara’s comment on Cricinfo about the relationship between Sanath Jayasurya making runs and Sri Lanka winning ODI games. For a long time, there has been a perception that Tendulkar hasn’t always had that match winning touch – and on the face of it, this appears to be true. 4 of Tendulkars 5 ODI centuries against Pakistan have resulted in defeats (contrast this with two other innings of 98 and 95 resulting in wins). These instances are anecdotal at best. The following table shows a comparison of the top ODI batsmen in the world – Tendulkar, Jayasurya, Lara, Ponting, Gilchrist, Kallis, Yousuf and Dravid – all having played over 200 ODI games. It seeks to describe the following:

1. How consistent are these players?
2. How does the number of runs they make affect the outcome?
3. Is there a difference in the way an openers runs affect the outcome, when compared to a middle order player?

(Please click on the table to see a bigger view)

The table compares the improvement in win % when each batsman makes more than 30, more than 50, more than 70 and more than 100, with the base win % for that batsman in all the games that he has played in. The Consistency field gives the percentage of total innings played in which a scored in excess of 30, 50, 70 or 100 was achieved.

The results show that opening the batting is not that different from batting in the middle order when it comes to influencing results. Tendulkar as opener has been the most consistent batsman in ODI cricket, for the longest period of time. In terms of a non-failure with the bat (scoring more than 30) affecting the outcome, Gilchrist, Ponting, Inzamam and Kallis have the minimum impact on the result, while Lara has the maximum impact on the result. Kallis’s runs don’t seem to matter very much, because South Africa win less often when he makes atleast 50 than they do when hes in the side. This is characteristic, as South Africa’s great strength has been the depth and quality in the lower middle order. The Australians are a strong outfit, and hence Ponting and Gilchrist’s runs matter less to Australia than Lara’s runs matter to West Indies or Tendulkar’s runs matter to India. Big runs from the openers seem to have a more telling impact on the game than big runs from the middle order – Tendulkar, Gilchrist, Jayasurya all affect the outcome more positively when they make hundreds than when they make 50’s. Lara and Dravid do so as well, but both Lara and Dravid have played in net unsuccessful teams (teams which have lost more than they have won). The batting position probably matters less than the general strength of the side in which the batsman plays.

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