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Joshi & Raizada (2020): Comparative analysis of top test batsmen Nov 2020 Vol. 23 Issue 17

Comparative analysis of top Test batsmen before and after 20th

Pushkar Joshi1 and Shiny Raizada2*

1Student, MBA, 2Assistant Professor,Symbiosis School of Sports Sciences, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, Maharashtra,

*Corresponding author: [email protected] (Raizada)

Abstract Background:This research paper derives that which generation of top batsmen (before 20th century and after 20th century) are best when compared on certain parameters.Methods: The authorcompared both generation top batsmen on parameters such as overall average, average away from home, of not outs and outs during that particular batsman’s career (weighted average). Conclusion: This research concludes that the top batsmen after 20th century have an edge top batsmen before 20th century.

Keywords: Average, Cricket, Overall , Weighted Batting Average,

How to cite this article: Joshi P, Raizada S (2020): Comparative analysis of top test batsmen before and after 20th century, Ann Trop Med & Public Health; 23(S17): SP231738. DOI: http://doi.org/10.36295/ASRO.2020.231738

1. Introduction:

Cricket as a game has evolved as an intense competition after its invention in early 17th century. Truth be told, a progression of Codes of Law has administered this game for more than 250 years. Much the same as baseball (which could be called cricket's cousin in light of their likenesses), cricket's fundamental element is the technique in question and that is the primary motivation behind why cricket fans love the game to such an extent. From an analyst's perspective, cricket is an extraordinary game since the finite number of results and balls makes it favourable for displaying (1).

The game of cricket is considered as one of the significant universal games in which there is a lot of media involvement. Today, this game is played in three unique arrangements, i.e. Test, One-day (ODI) and Twenty-Twenty (T20) at the world level. But is the most seasoned design among the three. It has additionally the longest structure in the realm of sports and is universally acclaimed because of its most elevated playing standard. In Test cricket, two groups comprising of 11 players in each play a four- coordinate, which may last as long as five days.

The history of Test cricket started right back in 1877 when team played against the cricket team. Then after, South African cricket team became the third ever Test-playing nation in 1888-89, when they played against the England side. After the evolution of these three sides, there has been an addition of 9 Test-playing nations in the cricketing world. The teams that are added are India, , , Sri – Lanka, West Indies, , and . Moreover, in the year 2017 and Ireland also gained Test recognition(2).

Annals of Tropical Medicine & Public Health http://doi.org/10.36295/ASRO.2020.231738

Joshi & Raizada (2020): Comparative analysis of top test batsmen Nov 2020 Vol. 23 Issue 17

In Test cricket format it is always important to consider parameters other than batting average while evaluating any batsman’s performance (3). There are many other parameters such as , number of times batsmen scored centuries, the number of not outs and many other factors through which a Test batsman can be assessed.

Moreover, the evolution of technology has made the game of cricket clearer, as now the batsmen can use the DRS system, which eventually saves any batsmen from wrong decisions by the umpire (4). With these, batsmen averages improved after the evolution of the technology in the game of cricket. Moreover, bowlers also improved their bowling averages and their -taking abilities, due to gigantic improvement in technology.

Also, the performance of a batsman differs at home and away conditions on the particular matchday. Talking on the performance analysis perspective, the batsmen performance in different conditions matter a lot, and also mentality plays a huge role in a batsman’s performance (5).

Batting average is something which also depends on unrealistic parametric assumption (6). Furthermore, batting performance of a batsman in Test cricket depends on parameters such as average of a particular batsman, batsmen performance at home or away and it also depends on physical parameters such as height and batting style of the batsmen (7). Also, batsmen scoring a century in match where his team score is 600 is less important than a batsman scoring a century when the team total is 200(8). Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis (SMAA) can also be used to assess the efficiency of batsmen, in which number of balls and runs scored is an important factor (9). Usage of discretionary and non- discretionary variables is also crucial and it also helps to derive the final of SMAA – DEA model. Performance analysis of cricket players which is always an important aspect because of the evolution of the game. It was analysed through principle component analysis and ranking methods. It was proven that through statistical science, ranking matrix is created and through these various results can be obtained (10).

Adding onto this, the author’s research was conclusive as it covered batting average, batting average away from home, with primary focus on weighted batting average (WBA) for the comparative analysis of top batsmen from both the generations. Also, top fast bowlers from both the eras were included in the research which was inculcated in order to have

The objective of the research was to analyse the top Test batsmen before and after 20th century.

2. Material & methods:

Selection of subjects:

The subject for the study was top 5 batsmen from both the eras according to WBA followed by top 5 bowlers from both the eras according to bowling averages and wickets taken.

Also, to calculate WBA following formula was used: career overall score/ (no of innings in which he is dismissed) + (no of innings in which he remained not-out and has scored above his average score) + (sum of innings in which he has scored less than his average score/his total average score)

Annals of Tropical Medicine & Public Health http://doi.org/10.36295/ASRO.2020.231738

Joshi & Raizada (2020): Comparative analysis of top test batsmen Nov 2020 Vol. 23 Issue 17

Batsmen selected according to WBA’s are as follows:

Table 1: Top 5 batsmen from both the centuries Batsmen before 20th century Batsmen after 20th century (WBA = 99) (WBA = 111) (WBA = 95) (WBA = 107) Alec Stewart (WBA = 93) (WBA = 103) (WBA = 91), (WBA = 101) (WBA = 89) (WBA = 96)

Top 5 bowlers selected on the basis of best followed by wickets taken from both the generations:

Table 2: Top 5 bowlers from both the centuries Bowlers before 20th century Bowlers after 20th century James Anderson (West Indies) (England) (New Zealand) (England) Curtley Ambrose MakhayaNtini (West Indies) () Malcom Marshall Glen McGrath (West Indies) () WasimAkram (Pakistan) (South Africa)

Selection of variables:

Variables: WBA (Weighted Batting Average), batsmen overall average and average away from home, an average of the ratio of bowling average to wickets.

Data collection:

The research was quantitative because it involved numerical data.The research was based on Correlational approach, where work was done on Secondary data.The data i.e. batting average, WBA, bowling averages and wickets have been taken from ESPN Cricinfo and ICC’s official website.

3. Results and Discussion:

Table 3: Average of top batsmen before 20th century Batsmen before 20th Century Overall Batting average Batting Average away from home Mark Waugh (Australia) 41.81 40.5 Allan Border (Australia) 50.56 56.57 Alec Stewart (England) 39.34 38.93 Michael Atherton (England) 37.69 35.85 David Gower (England) 44.25 46.06

Annals of Tropical Medicine & Public Health http://doi.org/10.36295/ASRO.2020.231738

Joshi & Raizada (2020): Comparative analysis of top test batsmen Nov 2020 Vol. 23 Issue 17

Table 4: Average of top batsmen after 20th century Batsmen after 20th Century Overall Batting average Batting Average away from home Alastair Cook (England) 45.35 46.48 Ricky Ponting (Australia) 51.85 46.40 Rahul Dravid (India) 52.35 53.03 Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 55.37 53.91 Matthew Hayden (Australia) 50.73 42.68

Table 3&4 reflects overall average and batting average away from home of top 5 batsmen from both the eras.

Average Average away from home Weighted batting average

120

100

80

60

40

20

0 MARK WAUGH ALLAN BORDER ALEC STEWART MICHAEL DAVID GOWER A T H E R T O N

Figure 1: Graph of top batsmen before 20th century which depicts WBA, Overall average, Average away from home.

Average Average away from home Weighted batting average

120

100

80

60

40

20

0 A COOK R PONTING R DRAVID KALLIS HAYDEN

Figure 2: Graph of top batsmen after 20th century which depicts WBA, Overall average, Average away from home.

Annals of Tropical Medicine & Public Health http://doi.org/10.36295/ASRO.2020.231738

Joshi & Raizada (2020): Comparative analysis of top test batsmen Nov 2020 Vol. 23 Issue 17

From figure 1 & 2 it is clear that batsmen after 20th century have an edge over batsmen before 20thcentury. Also, it can be clearly seen from figure 2 that batsmen after 20th century are much more accurate in terms of WBA, Overall average, and Overall average away from home.

Table 5: Rounded off values of WBA, overall Average, average away from home of top batsmen of both the eras. WBA (Average Batsmen overall Batsmen Average rounded off) Average (rounded away from home off) (rounded off) Batsmen before 20th 93 40 41 Century Batsmen after 20th 104 51 49 Century

From Table 5 it can be seen that in terms of rounded off average values and rounded off Average WBA of top 5 batsmen, batsmen after 20th century are way ahead than that of batsmen before 20th century.

Table 6 : The Rating part (1 point has been awarded to that generation of batsmen who have turned out best in terms of WBA and average) WBA Batsmen Batsmen Overall (Rating) overall average average away result (Rating) from home (Rating) (Rating) Batsmen before 20th 0 0 0 0 Century Batsmen after 20th 1 1 1 3 Century

Table 6 reflects the rating given by the author to top batsmen after 20th century, as the top batsmen after 20th century have better WBA and overall average when compared to batsmen before 20th century.

Table 7: Top bowlers before 20th century in terms of bowling average and wickets Bowlers before 20th Bowling average Wickets Ratio of average Century to wickets Courtney Walsh 24.4 519 0.04701348 (West Indies) Richard Hadlee 20.94 431 0.05171693 (New Zealand)

Curtley Ambrose 20.99 404 0.05182716 (West Indies)

Malcom Marshall 20.94 376 0.05569148 (West Indies)

WasimAkram 23.62 414 0.05705314 (Pakistan) Average of ratio of bowling average to wickets 0.05266043

Annals of Tropical Medicine & Public Health http://doi.org/10.36295/ASRO.2020.231738

Joshi & Raizada (2020): Comparative analysis of top test batsmen Nov 2020 Vol. 23 Issue 17

Table 8: Top bowlers after 20th century in terms of bowling average and wickets Bowlers after 20th Bowling average Wickets Ratio of average Century to wickets James Anderson 26.83 584 0.04594178 (England) Stuart Broad 28.5 485 0.05876288 (England) MakhayaNtini 28.82 390 0.07389743 (South Africa) Glen McGrath 21.64 563 0.03843694 (Australia) Dale Steyn 22.95 439 0.05227790 (South Africa) Average of ratio of bowling average to wickets 0.0538633

From Table 7&8 it can be seen that average of ratio of bowling average to wickets is better for top bowlers before 20th century as the ratios are more tending towards the zero value.

Figure 3 : Graph of top bowlers before 20th century with Bowling average (x–axis) and Wickets (y-axis).

Figure 4 : Graph of top bowlers after 20th century with Bowling average (x–axis) and Wickets (y-axis).

Annals of Tropical Medicine & Public Health http://doi.org/10.36295/ASRO.2020.231738

Joshi & Raizada (2020): Comparative analysis of top test batsmen Nov 2020 Vol. 23 Issue 17

From Figure 3 & 4 it can be observed that bowlers before 20th century are much more accurate in terms of bowling average and wickets taken.

Hence, from WBA comparison and from Table 3, 4, 5 it can be clearly seen that top 5 Test batsmen after 20th century have an edge over top 5 batsmen before 20th century. Figure 1 and Figure 2 enlightens this point of comparative analysis, where it was seen through line graphs that top batsmen after 20th century are much more accurate than that of top batsmen before 20th century. Also, from Table 7 and 8 it can be observed that average of ratio of bowling average to wickets is better for top 5 bowlers before 20th century than top 5 fast bowlers after 20th century. Moreover, figure 3 and 4 throws light to this point by depicting the graph of bowling average to wickets with the likes of top 5 fast bowlers from both the generations.

So, in the section of average score, average score away from home and WBA, top batsmen after 20th century had the upper hand. The top batsmen after 20th century in the parameter of average score away from home (49), overall average (51) and WBA (104) certainly had a humongous lead over the top batsmen before 20th century. Moreover, this research of the author differed from cliché comparison of non-modern batsman and modern batsman where, Z transform and batting average were used to analyze batting perfomance(11). Hence WBA plays a crucial role in analyzing the batsmen perforamance. On similar track research was done and a hierarchical model was established, through which it was proved that batsmen performance majorly depends according to his performance in away series. With thisa new model of batting average was developed which suggested that Geometric distributions come into play and in which number of not outs also play a vital role.Inthe context of geometric distributions, batting consistency is also which mattered a lot while evaluating player performance (12). Moreover, to measure batsmen performance and consistency a new gaussian model was developed, which measured fluctuations between the innings played by a batsman in different matches(13). On the same lines, gaussian model which takes into consideration, was developed which was used to assess batsmen performance in the longest form of cricket i.e. Test cricket (14). Furthermore, ability indexing technique was developed in which ODI format was consideredwhilejudging a batsman’s performance (15). It was also proved that eye movement also plays a huge role in batting performance, which can be concluded using the ocular motility test. This test corelates batsman batting performance according to his eye movement (16).

Also, various articleswerepublished in which it was shown that how WBA plays a crucial role in evaluating batting performances of batsmen considering Test format and the eventual conclusion reflects that how it differs from normal comparative analysis where only parameters such as average, strike rate are used (17). Also, there was an article published considering ODI format where parameters such as WBA, quality of bowling faced, player performance in world cups and man of the match awards were considered to decide who is the greatest ODI player of all time (18). Also, to measure the quality of bowlers, an article was published where in it was shown that how bowler’s quality impacts any batsman’s performance and for this particular research top bowlers were taken into consideration (19). Moreover, evaluating batsmen performance using WBA and batting average in this research became a more descriptive sort of research and gave better eventual results rather than just using WBA as a comparative parameter. The other important factor which made thisresearch more analytical is the quality deciding factor of bowlers to judge batsmen performance. Hence, by this the research made by the author turned intriguing and detailed.

Annals of Tropical Medicine & Public Health http://doi.org/10.36295/ASRO.2020.231738

Joshi & Raizada (2020): Comparative analysis of top test batsmen Nov 2020 Vol. 23 Issue 17

4. Conclusion:

From the research it was concluded that top batsmen after 20th century are better than top batsmen before 20th century when compared according to parameters such as Overall average, average away from home, WBA. However, top batsmen before 20th century had to face more accurate bowling than that of top batsmen after 21st century, which gave them a point. With this Hypothesis H1 also holds true i.e. Top Batsmen after 20th century is better than Top batsmen before 20th century.

Ethical Clearance: Not applicable Source of Funding: Self-funded Conflict of Interest: There is no conflict of interest among the authors

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Annals of Tropical Medicine & Public Health http://doi.org/10.36295/ASRO.2020.231738

Joshi & Raizada (2020): Comparative analysis of top test batsmen Nov 2020 Vol. 23 Issue 17

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Annals of Tropical Medicine & Public Health http://doi.org/10.36295/ASRO.2020.231738