PEAK PERFORMANCE AGE: A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF TEST BATSMEN Imran Abbass

ABSTRACT The study intended to explore the relationship of age and performance of test batsmen to know at what age they achieved the peak performance while playing test . Qualitative data was collected through interviews and Secondary data sources were used of different ICC (International Cricket Council) websites and magazines. Sample comprised of top 12 test players of Pakistan from past and present era, who played for Pakistan with distinction. Time series and regression analysis was executed to find the significance of the relationship between their age and performance ( average).The findings of the study revealed a parabolic trajectory relationship between age and their performance, positive relationship at the start and then a plateau and then a negative relationship between age and performance. The rise and decline pattern varied and majority of the cricket players touched the peak between the ages of 28 to 34 years. The current study will provide solid grounds to account the role of age in producing expert performance and strongly suggested through the evidence of data analysis that to achieve the expert performance of the enrolled test batsmen, patience is required until and unless the cricket players meet a specific age limit.

Key Words: Cricket, Test Batsmen, Peak Performance, Age

INTRODUCTION score of 23, Aamer nicked one to

On a bright sunny morning of the Bacher in the slips and in 1997-98 winters, stage was set to adding four runs Pakistan top topple the mighty South Africans four batsman were gone to the at eastern shores. South Africans pavilion. After that no batsman were under tremendous pressure appeared to show any guts to and a target of 146 was given to tackle the mighty Africans fero- Pakistan to win the 3rd test match cious attack and bowled and also the series by 1-0 at out at 92 in just 37.3 overs and . Ali and Aamer star- lost the test series 1-0 to South ted the with confidence Africa. Chugtai (2001) stated that and things were under control Pakistan had repeated this un- and triumph was certain. At the predictability on number of

Peak performance Age times on scrutinized it was found at the sight of our batsmen that fourteen of Pakistan’s sixth struggling to barely clear the in- seven defeats were due to their field. Time and again, their batsmen inability to reach the ta- technical deficiencies and mental rget score. Successful chase de- frailties are exposed, their poor pends on high degree of strategic show punished by dropping planning in terms of solid start them from the side, only for the form the opening batsmen, main- same batsmen to return after a taining the required rate and brief hiatus, but with little sign of sustained aggression (Qazi, 2015) improvement in their game”. Former Test Pakistan’s batting is going thro- admitted after the defeat ugh a deep crisis but there seems in the ICC world T20 final the te- to be no answer to this predi- am’s major concern is chasing cament. Perhaps, it is time to abilities and this can be over- give hitherto untested players a come through shear hard work chance instead of repeatedly rel- and perseverance (Gulf news. ying on the same set of players” com). Ramiz Raja former execu- (The Express Tribune, 2013). tive PCB said “ Batting has been team Achilles heel, the situation Over the years Pakistan bow- is not going to change unless ling has been the main contri- Pakistan introduce drastic chan- butor in teat victories. Record ges in batting structure, team showed Pakistan’s win/lose ratio simply lacked skills which is in tests dropped down to 1.117 why “we have been flogging from 2.532 in recent years which dead horse ”. “Batting line sho- is quite ordinary as compere to uld have revamp as it has been other top teams. World’s cricket failing to perform in the world data base revealed that seventy event where it is supposed to out of one hundred and twenty perform full. As far as bowling is six triumph were attained by bo- concerned “we always find good wling potential and rest of fifty bowlers” (Nafis, 2013). Pakistan’s five by batting potential. (Cri- current Test captain Misbah-Ul- cinfo.com, 2015). There are num- Haq said “the consistent batting ber of question raised from these failures are worrying” (AFP, stats first is the team not getting 2012). “Team is now left to wince appropriate and right batting

13 THE SKY-IJPEHSAS, Vol. 01, 2017 talent which can absorb the backs have broader peak bet- pressure of ? Second, ween 25 -35 (Schultz & Curnow, are the batsmen getting picked 1988). In majority of the sports for the national side not mature the peak attained between the enough to cater the demand of age of 22 to 30. The age at which test cricket? Are there adminis- performance tends to peak across trative, managerial, environme- sports seems to depend on the ntal and cultural issues that are physiological and psychological not conducive for the develop- demands of the sports, explosive ment of expertise in batsmen? sports peaking earlier as com- Past Literature showed athlete’s pere to cognitive skill based sp- career follows a parabolic trajec- ort. There are also some sports tory: there is elevation as the which depends on the combina- body matures and skills are tion of explosive physical and hone, than a plateau and then cognitive abilities (Peterson, decline phase starts as the ability 2015). Chopra (2009) argued that fades. These ups and downs successful exhibition of cricket depend on the physiological and skills such as batting, bowling psychological attributes of per- and fielding depends on the hi- formance. The rise-peak-decline ghly competent psychological pattern varies in sports. Num- skills. “Psychological state of a erous studies on baseball pegged cricket players could change in a peak age between 27 -29, Tennis short spell of play from being an explosive sports pegged peak highly confident to a state of age between 20-25 years. Basket- utter diffidence. This distingue- ball pegged peak age 27 on all ishes skilled players from the less position, Track and field’s events skilled, not so much due to raw peaking age between twenty to talent but, relatively, to work twenty five and endurance eve- ethic, and a focused state of nts peak after mid-twenties, Gol- mind”. “Cricket successful bow- fer have higher peak age bet- lers and batsmen are the ones ween 25 to 35 and slower decline, who can apply the correct type of Football running backs and attentional focus to the task at receivers peak around 27, with hand allowing them to harmo- running backs showing sharpen nies the emotional, physical and fall off than receivers, quarter mental strands of the situation”.

14 Peak performance Age

Owens (2008) argued that “It is Peak performance age will the cricket player’s ability to con- provide the solid base to account centrate on task-relevant cues the role of ageing process in and adapt attentional focus to the producing the expert performa- ever-changing game context and nce and will also help to broaden to continuously employ effective the life span of test batsmen by personal coping resources”. This stoppage in ruining prematurely study was aimed to investigate in early phase of their careers the relationship of age and per- due to ordinary performance. formance of the successful test Understanding of Peak perform- batsmen of present and past eras. ance age could provide informa- Age was measured in years as tion about long term athlete dev- batsmen ageing through playing elopment program, Event selec- test cricket and on the other hand tion, decision regarding resource performance was measured in allocation and team building for terms of batting average / year future events. (Allen et al., 2015). .The study intended to find out the peak performance age of test Materials and Methods batsmen. Study found that Pak- The study adopted qualita- istan’s greats of games touched tive and quantitative approach to the pinnacle of their batting per- collect the data from secondary formance at a different ages, dep- sources including websites, new- end on their natural physio- spapers and journals. Retrospe- logical and cognitive maturation ctives study design was executed age while competing at test level. to scrutinize the batting perfor- The findings of the study will be mances (Averages) of Test bats- beneficial for players, players men. Lewis (2005) argued that support personnel’s, Selectors “The effects of outstanding or and cricket board’s management poor, single performances are and administration in number of smoothed over the larger num- ways .First ,to understand how ber of games”. Averages are sui- the growing age contributes table frame work to analyze the towards peak performance seco- performance trends because it nd, what is the peak performance reflects the individual perfor- age. mances across a series of matches (Bracewell et al., 2009). The

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Theoretical frame work develo- ped for this study comprises age as independent variable and per- formance (Average) as a depen- dent variable. Time series and regression Analyses was conduc- ted to see the performance trends of top twelve successful test bats- men who played for Pakistan with distinctions. There are other Figure-2 variables that can affect the rela- Career tionship of age and performance Polynomial Trend line such as , location of the innings, quality of opposition Mohsin Khan had played as and consistent participation but opening batsmen in Pakistan due to limitations these variables cricket team and played 48 test were kept constant because ave- matches and scored 2709 with rage/year reflect overall perfor- the average of 37.10 in his test mance trend of cricket players. career (Cricinfo.com, 2015). He made his test debut at a mature Data Analysis age of 23 years and played 8 ye- ars of test cricket and considered Figure-1 to be the stylish opening bats- Mohsin Khan Career Progression men. After 2 years of test cricket he sat on to gain the peak and at the age of 27 he scored 1029 runs at the average of 73.50 (See figure 1). His regression analysis (R2 0.6) value is very high which str- ongly represents that the age had brought 60%variation in his per- formance and he retired at the right time because his performa- nce was at the lowest of his overall all test career (see figure 2).

16 Peak performance Age

career at the age of 21 and expe- rienced early setbacks and then started settling down after cou- ple years’ experience. He gain his peak at the age of 29 where he scored highest number of runs 1090 with the average of 60.55 (see figure 3). His regression ana- lysis showed (R2 0.40), which tells that the age brought 40%

variation in his performance (See Figure-3: figure 4). He retired at the right Inzimam ul Haq Career time because his average was at Progression the lowest (30 average) of his career.

Fig 4: Fig-5: Inzimam ul Haq Poly nomial Career Trend line progression

Inzimam Ul Haq was one of the greats who played for Pakis- tan from 1992 to 2007.He started his career as top order and then shifted to middle order after early setbacks. He played 120 test matches and scored 8830 runs with average of 49.60 (Cricinfo. com, 2015). He started his test

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Fig-6: Javed Miandad Career Poly Figure-7: nominal Trend line Younus Khan Career progression Javed Minadad is considered to be the greatest batsmen Pak- istan ever produced. He played in 124 tests and scored 8832 with the average of 52.57 (Cricinfo. com, 2015).He stared his career at the age of 19 years with success- sful start and average 95 in his first year after that he gone thr- ough a lean patch and then at the Figure-8: age of 32 he regain his peak and Younus Khan Binomial averaged 95 (see figure 5). Reg- Trend line ression analysis showed (R2 0.23) Younus Khan is one of Pakis- tells that age brought 23% varia- tan’s modern greats. He played tion in his performance (See 118 tests and scored 10099 runs figure 6). He should have retired at the average of 52.05 (Cricinfo. at the age of 33 because his per- com, 2015).He started his career formance was on the lowest but at the age of 21 with a hundred he continued on playing 3 more on the debut test. He had set years with the average of 31, 23, back in his early days and dro- 42, and 31 till 36th years of his pped from the side number of career (See figure 5 & 6). times. Time series analysis dem- onstrated that he gradually buil- ding up his performance with the age and at the age of 28 & 29 he touched his peak by scoring 899 and 1179 runs with the average of 65and 64 (See figure 7).His regression analysis showed the after the year of 29 his perfor- mance declined up to 35 years

18 Peak performance Age but he fought hard and able to in his career and scored 7530 get on incline in his batting runs at the average 0f 52.29 average. R2 value (0.51) indi- (Cricinfo.com, 2015). He started cated that the age brought 51% his career at the age of 24 years variation in his batting average which is quite late as compared (see figure 8). to other greats of the game. On the basis of these stats we can say that Yousaf had started his test career at a mature age (24 years). Graphs showed that he had a stable and consistent start by averaging 41, 30, 49 and 72 (See figure 8 &9) but he gained the peak at the age of 31 and 32 where he managed to produce the world record by equalizing Figure-9: the record of Sir Vivain Alxander Mohammad Yousaf career Richards (West Indies) (Most progression runs in a year) By averaging 100 runs / Innings. His regression trends (R2 value 0.52) showed that age brought 52% variation in his performance.

Figure-10: Mohammad Yousaf Binomial Trendline

Mohammad Yousaf one of Pakistan’s great middle order ba- tsmen. He played 90 test matches

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Figure-11: Hanif Muhammad batting progression

Figure-13: Batting progression

Figure-12: Binomial Trend line

Hanif Mohammad was kno- wn as “little Master” He started his test career at the age of 17 years. He played 55 test and Figure-14: scored 3915 runs at the average Majid Khan Binomial of 43.98 in 55 test matches Trend line Cricinfo.com, 2015). Time series analysis showed that he achieved Majid khan was known as a the peak at the age of 23 after graceful driver and hooker of the spending 6 years at test level. He ball. He played in 63 tests and remained consistent after the age scored 3931 runs at the average 23 till the age of 31 where he hit of 38.92 (Cricinfo.com, 2015).He the bottom and ended up at 34 started his career at the age of 19 years (see figure 11). His regres- years. He had an ordinary start sion analysis R2 value (0.51) of his test career with a high showed that the age had brought degree of fluctuation till the age 51% variation in his performance of 26 years where he started (see figure 12). building peaks but the highest

20 Peak performance Age peak he touched in the year of 31 Figure-16: and 32 years where he scored 715 Muddasar Nazar Binomial at the average of 55 (See figure Trend line 11). His decline started after 33 years where his performance gra- started his dually starting moving down- test career at the age of 21. He wards and touched the bottom at scored 4114 runs at the average the year 38. These figures also of 38 in 76 test matches (Cricinfo. indicated that he retired at the com, 2015). He started his career right time. His regression ana- in an ordinary fashion with cou- lysis showed R2 value (0.51) ple of good performances at the which indicated that age brought age of 23 and 24. He was lucky 51% variation in his performance enough to get consistent runs of (see figure 12). opportunities from the start of his career but after spending 7 years he managed to achieve the peak performance at the age of 28 years where he scored 858 runs at the average of 66 (See fi- gure 15). His decline started after the age of 28 and then gradually came down and ended up at the age of 34. (R2 0.77) showed that age had brought 77% variation in Figure-15: his performance (see figure 16). Mudassar Nazir Batting Progression

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Figure-17: also verified that age had brou- batting ght 54 % variation in his perfor- Progression mance which is significant as compere to other( see figure 14) .

Figure-18: Saeed Anwar binomial Figure-19: Trend line Salim Malik Batting Progression Saeed Anwar was known as the greatest timer of the ball. He also stated his career at the age 23 years similarly as Mohammad Yousef. He played 55 tests for Pakistan and scored 4052 runs at the average of 45.52 (Cricinfo. com, 2015).Time series analysis showed that he had a very ordi- nary start of his test career and was dropped from the test squad Figure-20: after scoring two zeros in his first Salim Malik Binomial Trend Line outing at test match level. After 3 years of break he regain his spot started his test at the test level with a bang and career at early age of 20 years .He averaged 60 runs /innings in the played 103 test and scored 5768 8 test matches. He got his peak at with average of 43.69 (Cricinfo. the age of 29 where he averaged com,2015).Times series analysis 64 runs / innings (see figure showed that he had a stable and 13).Regression analysis ( R2 0.54) consistent start of his test career,

22 Peak performance Age starting from averaging 30, 35 in 60 tests and scored 3315 runs 62,24 and 45 in his first 5 years. at 37.67 (Avg) (Cricinfo.com, He got the peak after spending 9 2015). He was one those batsmen years at test level at the age of 29 who made multiple comebacks (See figure 15) which is quite late in the test team stating form as compared to other middle or- 1987. His early career progress- der batsmen. His regression tre- sion line showed an ordinary nds (R2 0.29) showed that age br- starts of his test career started ought 29% Variation in his per- form 19 years to 23 years and formance which quite moderate then he came back in the side (See figure 16). after couple of years break at the age of 25 and then he gained the peak of his performance at the age of 27 till 31 years (See figure 17), where he averaged 45 and then the slump started at the age of 32 and then dropped from the

team at the age of 34. His regre-

ssion analysis showed R2 value

Figure-21: (0.83) which indicated that age Ijaz Ahmad Batting Progression had brought 83% variation in his performance (See figure 17). He retired at the right time be-cause the binomial trend line showed vertical dip in his career at the age of 32.

Figure-22: Ijaz Ahmad Binomial Trend Line

Ijaz Ahmad started his career at the age of 19 years. He played

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Figure-23: Results

Zaheer Abbas Batting The Time Series analysis sho- Progression wed that among Pakistani test batsmen the age matters a lot for boosting their performance. Fi- gures (1 to 23) showed that age contributed immensely towards performance of test batsmen. Ma- jority of test batsmen peaked between the age of 28 and 32 ye- ars and after that they went into decline phase. Figs (2, 3, 7, 8, 11, 13, 17, 22 and 23) reflected the

particular effect of age on their Figure-24: performance. The result of the Binomial data helped to draw a conclusion Trend line regarding the decision to waist Zaheer Abbas is also known the talents or how much time is as Asian Bradman. He started his required for the maturation as an career at the age of 22 years. He expert. The results evidenced played in 78 test and scored 5062 that the Pakistani batsmen can runs at the average of 44.79 (Cri- perform better between the age cinfo.com, 2015). His career prog- group of 28-32 years. So, the cap- ression showed frequent high tains / and lows in his career till the age management need to utilize their 30 where he started to gain the talent until and unless their ages peak for 2 years (See figure 19) at meet up to 28 years in order to the age of 31 and 32 and then the get peak of their performance. slumped started with 4 good Figures (1 to 23) had illustrated years and a dip at the age of 38. better understanding of the rela- His regression analysis R2 value tionship between age and perfor- (0.28) showed that the age had mance of Pakistani test batsmen. brought just 38% variation in his performance and he retired at the Discussion right time because age of 38 his Cricket as we know is the performance was a rock bottom. most popular sports in Pakistan. 24 Peak performance Age

Cricket is being played in Pakis- and performance (Average) of tan on vast scale and considered cricket players at test level. to be a binding force that closes Second what is the age of peak the gap between the different cu- performance of test batsmen? ltures and ethnic groups of Pak- Findings revealed that age has istan. People heart beat fluctuates significant impact on batting per- with the performance of their na- formance. Majority of the bats- tional team. Over the years Pak- men touched the pinnacle of istan team had glories but in their performance between the patches. Winning the 1992 world age of 28 and 34 after spending a cup in and T20 world certain training time frame. The cup in 2009-10 were among the finding of the study were in line few highs in limited over cricket. with the deliberate practice the- On the other hand Pakistan team ory of Ericsson in 2000 which test performance is not different states that the expertise can be from one day and T20 competi- attained in any domain after tions. The best era Pakistan have spending certain time frame. He had was the early 90,s to 2001-02 further highlighted that the in which Pakistan Win / lose ra- difference in mediocre and ex- tio in tests was the highest 2.573 pert in particular domain depe- since the birth of Pakistan at nds on the training time frame world cricket. Surprisingly Pakis- spent on the skill and mediocre tan team has lowest number usually spend relatively less am- changes in batting and bowling ount of time in practice and trai- units in that era. Literature sho- ning skills. Ericsson also empha- wed that every athlete has its sized heavily on the role of indi- peak and decline which depends vidual difference in attaining on physiological and psycholo- expertise, which states that every gical maturation and its decline. individual is different form one Cricket is a team game but very another and time to attain exper- much depends on the individual tise can vary in individuals. Past performance. Literature showed Literature substantiated the role the age has significant effect on of talent, individual difference sport performance. This study and time spent in practice in atta- had two objectives first to anal- ining expert performance. As far yze the relationship between age as Pakistan cricket team perfor-

25 THE SKY-IJPEHSAS, Vol. 01, 2017 mance is concerned it is on dec- importantly causing inconsiste- line and its win/ lose ratio has ncy and unpredictability in te- dropped down to 1.117 from am’s batting performance. By 2.532 in recent years (Cricinfo. considering the findings of this com 2015). Cricinfo data base study it is suggested that follow- showed that there were 23 ing recommendation should be specialist batsmen tested by the consider in order to stabilize bat- Pakistan from 2000 to 2017 and ting performance and develop most of them tested repeatedly. expertise in test players.

These figures clearly indicates • It is suggested the expertise that Pakistan team has been ma- batting performance can be king frequent changes in player’s access between the ages of 28 selection and batting order on to 34 years because most of consistent bases. There are 110 the great players had achi- specialist test batsmen who had eved their peak performance represented the national side in between that age. from 1952 to 2017 and only 20% • It is suggested that in order to of them were able to exhibit their develop expertise in batsmen expertise at test match level, 80% one should be given a con- of them were wasted before the sistent run of opportunities maturation stage and not able to and exposure (4 to 6 years) at represent the country after a brief test level until they approach experience at elite level (Cricinfo. to age 28 to 34 years. com, 2015). These changes has effected the batting performance Conclusion by multiple ways first it is har- The study was conducted to ming the confidence of young analyze the relationship between batsmen as they are facing career age and performance of test play- threatening consequences after ers in order to find out their peak early setbacks in terms of batting performance age. The findings performance. Second, draining revealed that the majority of the out the young talent before the test batsmen achieved their peak maturation stage because most of performance between the age of the players were tested in early 28 and 34 years. Some of them twenties and discarded prema- touched their peak before 28 turely form the team. Third, most years because of their early start 26 Peak performance Age of their test career as compared • It is suggested to bring con- to others. Analysis showed that sistency in player’s selection the batsmen achieved their peak and playing opportunities es- after a good number of consistent pecially to young players in participation at test level. On the order to give them enough basis of these result we can con- time to stabilize themselves at clude that in order to achieve the test level. peak performance consistent op- • It is suggested to set a team portunities are required. Unfor- formation policy based on fu- tunately Pakistan cricket team is ture investment program, unable to provide the consistent where a specific number of opportunities to the batsmen in young batsmen should enroll recent years which is restricting to get exposure for extended its batsmen to reach its peak period of time at test level performance age and ultimately unless and until they reach resulting in fragile batting per- the age of 28 and 34 years formances in crunch situations. • It is suggested to develop pla- The study will be beneficial for yer’s pathway starting form the Pakistani Cricket Board and learning stage age (6-8 years) for the international and young to expert stage (20 -40 years) players in order to cope up with based on player’s age. the problem of utilizing the ta- • It is suggested to strengthen lent of batsmen at a specific age. and scrutinized selection poli- The figures (1 to 23) are the evi- cies at youth level in terms of dence of primary and secondary consistency in player’s selec- data resources that what should tion at youth level where be the waiting time for firing or player should enroll in player hiring of test and young batsmen pathway from development in order to get excellent results in stage to expert stage. test cricket. It is also suggested to estab- Recommendation lish a secondary resource in form Following recommendation of A TEAM at national level in are suggested in order to stabi- order to develop young talent lize and develop expertise in before its exposure to test cricket cricket performance and also a platform for rehabi- 27 THE SKY-IJPEHSAS, Vol. 01, 2017 litation in order to facilitate pla- that thousands of human genes are yer’s comeback after is prema- microRNA targets. cell, 120(1),15-20. ture exclusion from the national La Fauce, K. A., & Owens, L. (2009). side. RNA interference reduces Pmerg DNV expression and replication in References an in vivo cricket model. Journal of Allen SV, Hopkins WG ,2015Age of invertebrate pathology, 100(2), 111- peak competitive performance of 115. elite athlete: A systematic review Sports Med. 2015 Oct;45(10):1431- Schulz, R., & Heckhausen, J. (1996). A 41. doi: 10.1007/s40279-015-0354-3. life span model of successful aging. American psychologist, 51, 702-714. Bracewell, P. J., & Ruggiero, K. (2009). A parametric control chart for moni- Qazi(2015,feb06) opinion: well pitched. toring individual batting performa- Dawn. Retrieved from https://ww nces in cricket. Journal of Quanti- w.dawn.com/news/1161678 tative Analysis in Sports, 5(3), 1-19.

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