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The Perfect ODI Team?Batting The first thing to take into account is that there are 50 overs of batting (maximum). So clearly we need to utilise them efficiently. The goal is to get the highest strike rate possible, while being bowled out before the end. So the strike rate is important, but the batsman's average is a little more misleading. Clearly a high average means that a batsman will get a lot of runs before being out. If he has a poor strike rate though, the teams total will be lower. To take the extreme example, if the opening batsman scores 1 run per over on the last ball of each over, the team total is 50. This is clearly a very low score (the lowest ODI score was 35 by Zimbabwe). However, that does not mean that strike rate is a perfect measurement. Taking the extreme example again, each batsman could score a 6 before getting out, the team total would be 60 (or 66 if the 11th batsman got his 6 in too). So the statistics that we are given are not perfect, but still give an indication. The answer probably lies somewhere between those two statistics. By factoring in the time, we can evaluate the usefulness of a batsmen better. For example if we calculate the expected number of runs a batsman will score in a set period. If a batsman gets out after a smaller number of balls than the length of the period, then its equal to his average. Should the batsman have an average time at the crease longer than the period, then its equal to the period multiplied by his strike rate. Setting the period is done by evaluating how many batsmen are going to bat (or hopefully will bat). At the very least this is the kind of statistically manipulation that is needed, to get a better view of who the best are. Bowling Again the number of overs is important. The objective of the bowling side is to keep the score down for the 50 overs. This is different from test or 4 day matches, where the objective is to get the other team. It is a small difference, but an important one. Obviously getting all 10 wickets stops the innings earlier and a wicket can slow scoring down. Essentially though the most important statistic must be the economy rate. A team could get all 10 wickets within the 50 overs, but if their economy rate is poor, then they will have conceded a high score. So in other words, while a low economy rate always indicates less runs have been conceded, a high strike rate does not always mean the same. The Perfect Team Using the above considerations and the last two years of ODIs (15/02/09 to 15/02/11), here is one example of a "perfect team" using the top 9 sides: S Afridi V Sehwag AB de Villiers SR Tendulkar HM Amla TM Dilshan DL Vettori GP Swann DE Bollinger S Ajmal LL Tsotsobe What would your perfect team be? Why not discuss it at http://www.crickkit.co.uk/forum/ |