Season Preview 2019 Welcome Contents

Following the publication of our Specsavers County Championship and Royal London One- Page 3 2018 Overview Day Cup previews back in April, we are delighted to share with you OptaPro’s preview to the Page 4 2018 Venue Insights 2019 Vitality Blast. Page 5 Key Performances Using our innovative professional analytics tool, ProVision, we look back on last year’s Blast Page 6 Key Performances with bespoke statistics and metrics to identify key performances and trends, both at individual player and team level, which can inform tactics during this summer’s campaign. Page 7 Powerplay batting Page 8-9 Powerplay bowling We hope you enjoy extracting some interesting insights from this review and if you would like to discuss any of the content or ProVision further please contact us at [email protected] Page 10 Contact details

Ben Mackriell Francois Vainker EVP, Head of OptaPro Commercial Manager,

Glossary of terms Batting Bowling

• AVG – Average runs scored per dismissal. • Runs per scoring shot – Average runs from • Balls per boundary – Average balls • Dot ball % -Percentage of deliveries with no • Balls per boundary – Average balls faced each scoring faced. delivered for each boundary conceded. runs conceded. for each boundary scored. • Strike rate – Runs scored per 100 balls. • Death balls – Total deliveries • Economy –Average runs conceded per • Balls per innings – Average number of balls bowled during overs 16-20. over. faced per innings. • Death balls per boundary –Average balls • Games played – Total games played in • Boundary run % - Percentage of total runs delivered for each boundary conceded 2018 Vitality Blast. scored in boundaries. during overs 16-20. • Runs conceded – Average runs conceded • Chances per innings – A metric calculated • Death dot ball % -Percentage of deliveries per innings. from multiple events, including edges, play with no runs conceded during overs 16-20. • Strike rate – Balls delivered per . and misses, false shots, uncontrolled aerial • Death runs conceded (PI) – Average runs • – Total wickets taken. shots and dropped catches resulting from conceded per innings during overs 16-20. deliveries faced. • Death wickets – Total wickets taken during • Dot ball % - Percentage of deliveries with overs 16-20. no runs scored.

2 2018 Overview

Average winning Average Power Average score Balls per boundary score batting first Play total 165 186 52 5.6

Teams that Games won won the toss Catch percentage by the side that Runs per game elected to won the toss 85.7% bowl first 322 59% 44%

3 2018 Venue Insights

Highest Highest average Lowest average Most average average balls total batting first: total batting first: runs per innings: per boundary: Wantage Road Ageas Bowl Wantage Road Riverside 193.9 142 8.4 185.5

Most wickets Most dropped Most sixes: Most run-outs: taken by spin: catches: Wantage Road Grace Road Old Trafford Headingley 40 13 116 10

4 Key Batting Performances

Risk vs reward is the balance players need to strike and a number of different approaches were taken by batsmen Balls per Strike AVG Balls per Chances Dot Ball % Runs per inns Rate Boundary per inns Scoring Shot during the 2018 Blast. Ed Pollock 10 185.9 17.9 3.2 2.9 40 3.1 The top ten players in terms of runs per scoring shot all performed well above the league average in Strike Rate, Riki Wessels 13 163.3 21.9 3.7 3.5 46 3 Balls per Boundary, Dot ball % and Runs per Scoring Shot, but the risk that comes with this approach is evidenced by the 24 188.2 45.4 3.3 6.7 36 2.9 fact they all score well below league average in chances Miles Hammond 15 155.7 24.1 3.6 4.9 45 2.9 given per innings and balls faced per innings.

Jack Taylor 10 199.2 30.9 3.2 2 26 2.7 An all-out attack approach or targeting boundaries (and as a result a high runs per scoring shot) instead of focusing Philip Salt 15 172.3 25.4 3.7 3.8 37 2.7 on rotating the strike – can run the risk of a ‘boom or bust’ scenario of a boundary or a dot ball. 21 175.8 41.8 3.5 4.8 33 2.6

By plotting dot ball percentage against balls per boundary, Lewis Gregory 10 202.5 46.9 3.5 2.6 23 2.6 we can see that Lewis Gregory and Jack Taylor were Ben Raine 15 168.5 25.5 3.9 4.2 35 2.6 particularly effective in their approach, while Miles Hammond’s high RPSS figure of 2.9 came with a relatively Colin de 11 170.5 36.3 4.3 2.7 33 2.5 high dot ball % of 45%. However a strike rate of 155.7 suggests Grandhomme that the costs of not scoring off nearly half the deliveries he Players who faced a minimum of 100 deliveries included faced was outweighed by his return of regular boundaries in the aim of getting his side off to a fast start. Highest Ranked Lowest Ranked

5 Key Bowling Performances

The performance of Worcestershire’s two leading seamers, Games Death Balls Death Runs Death Death Dot Death Patrick Brown and Wayne Parnell, at the end of an innings Played Bowled Conceded Balls per ball % Wickets (PI) boundary was key to the county’s triumph in the Blast. Patrick Brown 15 110 8.6 6.9 37.3 14 Brown was the competition’s leading taker overall and ranked joint first for wickets at the death with Jerome Taylor, Jerome Taylor 10 108 13.2 6 30.6 14 albeit at a better economy compared to the Jamaican. Jofra Archer 13 94 9.5 5.2 34 12

Brown and Parnell adopted different death tactics, with James Faulkner 13 101 11.1 5.9 25.2 12 Brown looking to bowl on a length or back of a length, whilst Nathan Parnell looked to bowl fuller, frequently targeting the . 14 107 13.1 4 34.5 12 Rimmington Despite the different approaches they ranked first and second for death dot ball % of the leading wicket takers. Harry Gurney 15 89 8.4 8.1 29.7 10

Looking at the competition as a whole, it is worth noting Chris Wood 12 91 10.3 6.1 25.8 10 that four of the top eight death wicket takers were left- arm seamers, with two averaging fewer than 10 death Wayne Parnell 9 70 9.4 7 38.6 9 runs conceded per innings. This suggests that the change Oliver Hannon- 8 68 13.8 5.2 27.1 9 of angle provided by left armers could be a useful death Dalby tactic in the 2019 Blast. Jamie Overton 14 54 5.4 4.5 31.7 8

James Fuller 13 55 8.8 2.9 21.1 8

Tom Curran 6 62 12.8 4.4 28.1 8

The Death period incorporates overs Highest Ranked Lowest Ranked 16-20 at the end of an innings

6 Powerplay Batting Team AVG Strike Rate Boundary Balls per Dot Ball % Runs per Run % Boundary Scoring Shot Surrey had a powerful top order on paper and so it proved Surrey 50.3 180.7 71.4 3.5 37.8 2.9 on the grass as well. They consistently got off to strong starts, ranking first in average powerplay runs per wicket (50.3), Glamorgan 34.8 161.7 69 4.1 42.5 2.8 powerplay strike rate (180.7) and runs per scoring shot (2.9). Nottinghamshire 24.6 145 71.2 4.3 46.9 2.7

Sussex 31.4 145.6 68.1 4.4 45 2.6 Kent had the lowest runs per scoring shot (2.3) but the Spitfires made up for this by having the lowest dot ball percentage Middlesex 29.6 151.9 72.5 4 42.4 2.6 (33.3%), suggesting an emphasis on rotating the strike rather Worcestershire 40.1 150.5 71.2 4 42.7 2.6 than looking for big shots during the powerplay. Somerset 24 144.6 66.8 4.4 45 2.6

Middlesex were one of several counties who averaged Hampshire 21.8 150.3 67.6 4.4 42.1 2.6 fewer than 30 powerplay runs per wicket, but having signed Northamptonshire 28.1 137.8 69 4.5 46.7 2.6 AB de Villiers for this year’s Blast the club will be hoping to improve their scoring output during the early stages of an Gloucestershire 43.5 143.6 67.5 4.5 44.1 2.6 innings. Batting predominantly at 3 during the 2019 IPL, the Lancashire 43.4 157.1 67.4 4.2 38.7 2.6 former South African enjoyed an overall strike rate of 154, scoring 34 runs per innings. Birmingham 27.5 141.9 65.5 4.8 44.5 2.6 Yorkshire 37.6 146.3 68.1 4.6 42 2.5

Durham 41.7 131.6 61.2 5.2 46 2.4

Derbyshire 22.8 123.5 64.8 5.2 49.2 2.4

Essex 36.7 150.1 63.3 4.7 37.8 2.4

Leicestershire 21.6 122.7 61.7 5.7 47.8 2.4

Kent 47.5 153.6 60.2 4.6 33.3 2.3

Highest Ranked Lowest Ranked

7 Powerplay Bowling Team Runs Wickets Strike Rate Economy Balls per Dot Ball % Conceded Boundary Winners Worcestershire had the highest dot ball percentage, Worcestershire 45.9 25 22.2 7.9 4.6 48.9 with nearly half their deliveries in the powerplay not being scored off. Derbyshire 45.2 21 22 7.6 5.1 46.6

Yorkshire 45.9 21 23 8 4.6 46.5 Durham ranked top in average powerplay runs conceded (41.5), powerplay economy (6.9) and balls per boundary Durham 41.5 26 19.4 6.9 6 46 (6). Birmingham 50.9 20 25.2 8.5 4.2 45.1

Glamorgan 46.6 22 21 7.9 5 43.6 Middlesex’s bowlers struggled in the powerplay, ranking last in powerplay runs conceded (62.9), economy (10.5), balls Hampshire 44.8 22 21.1 7.5 5.5 42.2 per boundary conceded (3.3) and dot ball percentage Lancashire 46.7 25 21.2 7.9 4.9 42.2 (33). Essex 57.3 18 22 9.6 3.6 41.2

Somerset’s performance is also noteworthy. No other team Surrey 48.3 21 21 8.6 4.4 40.9 took more wickets during the opening six overs of an innings, Kent 52.7 19 22.7 8.8 4.2 40.5 with seamers Jamie Overton and Lewis Gregory claiming 13 scalps between them. However the county also recorded Northamptonshire 47.5 18 26.9 8.2 4.6 40.3 the sixth lowest economy rate, with Overton and Gregory Nottinghamshire 49.2 22 24 8.4 4.5 39.8 seeing more than 25% of all their powerplay deliveries going Leicestershire 54.1 19 24.6 9 3.9 39.7 to the boundary. Sussex 51.8 17 29.6 8.6 4.3 38.6

This suggests that the cider men adopted a conscious Somerset 49 29 18.7 8.7 4.4 37.4 strategy of valuing wickets over economy – an aggressive strategy which served them well on their run to Finals Day. Gloucestershire 51.7 22 22.2 8.9 4.2 37.4 Middlesex 62.9 22 22.9 10.5 3.3 33

Highest Ranked Lowest Ranked

8 Powerplay Bowling

The contrasting performances of Middlesex and Durham’s bowlers 50 during last season’s power play is highlighted in this scatter chart, with the Jets conceding on average just a single boundary per over and a high volume of dots. Another of Middlesex’s signings for this season, Afghanistan spinner 46 , bowled tidily during the power play for Brisbane in the BBL, posting an economy rate of 5.8 and claiming four wickets. The 2008 winners will be hoping he will be able to replicate his form, from both T20 cricket and more recently at the ODI World Cup, into their 2019 Blast season. 42 Dot Ball % 38

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30 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5

Balls per boundary

9 If you’d like any further information on what you’ve read here, or would E: [email protected] like to understand more about any of these metrics, please get in touch. W: optasportspro.com @OptaPro