I was lucky to have caught most of an incredible game between Australia & South Africa. 47 / 10 I suspect is going to haunt the Aussies for quite some time. What the game did though was open up debate. Is the quality of cricket today as good as it used to be? Admittedly, the wicket assisted fast bowling and bowlers from both sides exploited the conditions quite nicely. But it was certainly not a 21 / 9 wicket. Have players today lost the art of batting time?
I've never believed that statistics are the only criteria when it comes to judging a player. Nevertheless, most people will agree that statistics generally tell you most of the story if not all of it. For instance, a batsman averaging in the thirties cannot be considered a great player. A player needs to achieve a certain benchmark statistically in order to be considered a great player. That benchmark for batsman is usually an average of 50 or more. This brings me to the point of this article. In the aftermath of the Cape Town test, a lot of people have suggested that averages today are inflated. This is possibly true, although it is impossible to prove this one way or the to other. They have also suggested that sub-continental players are luckier than players from other parts of the world as conditions in the subcontinent tend to favor batsman.
To test this theory, I looked at the statistics of some of the highest achieving batsman over the last 15 years, both from the subcontinent and away. From the subcontinent, I have included Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Kumar Sangakkara & Mahela Jayawardene. The non subcontinental batsman include Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara & Mathew Hayden. For subcontinental batsman, I have looked at their figures in England, Australia & South Africa, the 3 toughest places for Asian batsman to tour. For the non-subcontinental players, I have looked at their away performances in England, Australia, South Africa & India. For instance, in evaluating Ricky Ponting, I have looked at his performances against South Africa away, India away & England away.
Ricky Ponting
Against Mat Runs Avg 100's
England 18 1323 44.10 4
India 14 662 26.48 1
South Africa 10 875 48.61 3
Overall 42 2860 39.73 8
Jacques Kallis
Against Mat Runs Avg 100's
Australia 12 915 45.75 2
India 9 760 58.46 3
England 12 586 29.30 1
Overall 33 2261 44.50 6
Brian Lara
Against Mat Runs Avg 100's
Australia 19 1469 41.97 4
South Africa 9 841 46.72 2
England 15 1268 48.76 4
India 3 198 33.00 0
Overall 46 3776 42.61 10
Mathew Hayden
Against Mat Runs Avg 100's
England 10 552 34.50 1
India 11 1027 51.35 2
South Africa 10 624 34.66 2
Overall 31 2203 40.17 5
Kumar Sangakkara
Against Mat Runs Avg 100's
Australia 3 391 65.16 1
England 9 520 30.58 1
South Africa 5 392 39.20 0
Overall 17 1303 44.98 2
Mahela Jayawardene
Against Mat Runs Avg 100's
Australia 4 274 34.25 1
England 10 614 34.11 2
South Africa 5 314 31.40 0
Overall 19 1202 33.25 3
Rahul Dravid
Against Mat Runs Avg 100's
Australia 12 972 48.60 1
England 13 1376 68.80 6
South Africa 11 624 29.71 1
Overall 36 2972 49.03 8
Sachin Tendulkar
Against Mat Runs Avg 100's
Australia 16 1522 58.53 6
England 17 1575 54.31 4
South Africa 15 1161 46.44 5
Overall 48 4258 53.09 15
If not anything else, the above table certainly highlights the quality of Sachin Tendulkar & Rahul Dravid. Amongst all the batsman evaluated, Tendulkar & Dravid average the highest away from home. Sangakkara & Jayawardene's struggles outside the sub-continent have been well documented and the statistics just vindicate that. It is difficult to rate the Sri Lankan duo as highly as some of the other greats mentioned on this list for that reason alone. However, this does not mean that Sangakkara & Jayawardene are not fine players. If batting in the subcontinent was as easy as people make it out to be, then players from all over the world must enjoy batting there. This is not always the case as Ponting's figures show.
Ricky Ponting's below par average is probably the biggest surprise. Admittedly, his struggles in India have contributed greatly to a mediocre average. However, given his ability to dominate fast bowling, his average record in England and South Africa is a little surprising. Ultimately what is probably true is that a majority of cricketers will perform better in their own conditions.
Ricky Ponting's below par average is probably the biggest surprise. Admittedly, his struggles in India have contributed greatly to a mediocre average. However, given his ability to dominate fast bowling, his average record in England and South Africa is a little surprising. Ultimately what is probably true is that a majority of cricketers will perform better in their own conditions.
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