A brief statistical overview - Australias top 10 batsmen

[Smokey_22]

So how have our batsmen really been going in the past year or so?

Scores count back: last 20 test innings or all of 09-10 shield innings. No one day scores are included.

1, Katich: 122, 48, 6, 46, 26, 0, 50, 43, 92, 80, 21, 99, 10, 98, 2, 11, 100, 79, 18*, 88. AVG: 54.6

2, Watson: 5, 62, 53, 51, 34, 40, 0, 96, 48, 89, 30, 93, 120*, 6, 97, 29, 1, 12, 65. AVG: 49

3, Ponting: 38, 38, 5, 78, 8, 66, 55, 36, 20, 23*, 2, 57, 12, 0, 11, 209, 89, 41, 22, 6. AVG: 42.9

4, Hussey: 51, 27, 0, 64, 10, 0, 121, 66, 41, 29, 82, 17, 82, 4, 28, 134*, 6, 13*, 4, 22. AVG: 44.5

5, Clarke: 83, 1, 136, 29, 103, 93, 3, 0, 41, 71, 61*, 11, 25, 28*, 37, 3, 21, 166, 168, 28. AVG: 65.2.

6, North: 38, 0, 125*, 0, 6, 12, 96, 110, 8, 10, 79, 16, 2, 68, 1, 8, 10, 2, 21, 112*, 9. AVG: 40.7
Shield form 09/10: 29, 4, 23, 15, 20, 3, 8, 0. AVG: 12.75

The rest in no particular order:

7, Hughes: 0, 75, 115, 160, 33, 32, 36, 4, 17, 0, 37, 20, 86*. AVG: 51.25
Shield form 09/10: 32, 12, 79, 58, 0, 75, 3, 122, 7, 26, 25, 14, 149, 192, 58, 84, 17. AVG: 56.05

8, Smith (shield form 09/10): 90, 28*, 17*, 6, 8*, 102*, 24, 1, 49, 15, 4, 124, 177, 36, 100. AVG: 77.2

9, White (shield form 09/10): 74, 10*, 27, 17, 82*, 14, 6, 10, 89. AVG: 47

10, Klinger (shield form 09/10): 3, 15*, 4, 20, 84, 92*, 32, 207, 29, 109, 60, 74, 3, 63, 5, 11, 37, 29, 9. AVG: 63.28

What do these statistics suggest?

- The top 6 all have reasonably solid form
- Marcus Norths hundred in the first test against NZ has very much saved his career
- Perhaps it might be time for Clarke to bat at number 4 instead of Hussey
- White has had limited opportunities in the longer version of the game, and probably needs bigger scores.
- Klinger finished the shield season poorly.

Coming soon: Our top bowlers

[Selective Retention]

The openers have been very consistent and got us off to reasonable starts but neither have made any big scores. Along with Clarke you would say that the trio have performed above expectations. Ponting is slowing down and Hussey and North despite an upturn in form haven't convinced for the medium term and looking ahead to the ashes.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Clarke averaging 65, incredible. Rated the 2nd best bat in the world now behind Sehwag, it's great to see how much his game has progressed.

[Ill Chicken]

Clarke averaging 65, incredible. Rated the 2nd best bat in the world now behind Sehwag, it's great to see how much his game has progressed.

He has progressed but to continue, he needs to move to four.

[courtjester]

Great stats mate. Good work. Very interesting read. Geez, Smith's had a good run, averaging 77. A few not outs there, but I suspect thats ok seeing he bats high in the order, he must be finishing or they're declaring. Good hundreds too. Same as Hughes, he is making some big hundreds.
Next two cabs off the rank.

[JimDocker]

Clearly shows Carke to be a soft front runner ! :D

[Damon_3388]

His average looks good, but is anyone else not that impressed by Klinger's innings-by-innings scores? The way some people talk him up, you'd think he'd been tonning up every second innings this summer. 12 out of 19 innings where he's failed to score above 40 doesn't exactly scream "give him a Test berth" to me.

[DIG]

Good analysis!

I agree Clarke should move to 4 now, even though they like breaking up the left-handers and right handers through the order.

[Smokey_22]

http://www.cricinfo.com/nzvaus2010/content/current/story/454237.html

Maybe the journo was reading this thread.

[Bomber Bears]

Good analysis!

I agree Clarke should move to 4 now, even though they like breaking up the left-handers and right handers through the order.Why? I think Clarkes the perfect Number 5 in the current Australian team. Now that North performed again (and is no chance of being dropped for a year) I cant see them changing the balance too much. Would prefer Hussey at 6 and Watson/Katfish at 4 with hughes to open but I think it's pretty safe to say the lineup from the 2nd test against NZ will be the lineup at the Gabba next year (someone different in for Harris with the ball, hopefully Hilfenhuas).

[DeadlyAkkuret]

I don't see the obsession with him being moved to number 4. It's one spot, he'd come in when we're 2 down instead of 3. Unless we're really short on quality batsmen then I say leave him where he is.

[DIG]

When Punter moves on, Clarke will move to 4, maybe even 3 as our best bat. Why not get him used to batting at 4 in tests now, instead of adjusting to both the captaincy and the new position at the same time?

[Doodlesweaver]

The top list makes it all look like things are hunky dory. If so, why do the Aussies collapse so frequently? It seems like they make hay together or fall in a heap together. I have seen some great stats rundowns at Knotted Paths which showed exactly that.

[Smokey_22]

The top list makes it all look like things are hunky dory. If so, why do the Aussies collapse so frequently? It seems like they make hay together or fall in a heap together. I have seen some great stats rundowns at Knotted Paths which showed exactly that.

One thing you can notice (also in the bowling statistics thread) is the lack of match-winning innings from our top liners. i.e. hundreds and 5-fors.

It seems this was a major reason why we lost the last ashes.