Park cricketer
Club Legend
- Nov 29, 2018
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- 2,367
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
Felt bored, so decided to do some stats searching in cricinfo. First a few pointers to explain before going into the thread:
1. I have completely ignored the home stats and only taken the stats away from home into consideration. In this era of massive home track bullying and playing on home designer pitches, it makes sense to take the stats of teams when they travel outside their home to get a meaningful view of the quality of teams.
2. I have taken a 4 year timeframe for my stats. Initially I wanted to take a 3 year period as it was neither too small or a too long timeframe. But some teams like New Zealand who play fewer amount of tests, let alone away tests, got shortchanged in that 3 year filter with too small a sample size. So I increased it to a four year period since most teams tour every four years to a particular country.
3. Batting and bowling averages are used for comparing the batting and bowling abilities of each team.
4. I have excluded stats against Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland in the comparison as they're weak.
5. Comparing the stats of teams in asia in "away" conditions in cricinfo excluded the results in the UAE as all the series that happen in the UAE are filed under "neutral venue" category for both Pakistan and the touring team. But Pakistan has been playing so long in the UAE that it's practically the home for them. So I excluded Pakistan from the table for the stats in asia and overall as it will include their results in the UAE and calculated their stats outside the UAE in asia and overall separately and mentioned below the table.
I will compare the batting and bowling ability of teams separately:
BATTING:
Batting stats of teams away from home:
Pakistan - Matches played: 22, Won: 8, Lost: 13, W/L ratio: 0.615, Batting avg.: 29.53
India having a clear edge in the batting stats, but that's largely down to their sheer dominance in asia where their batsmen are hard to tie down.
Two interesting bits of information in the table there - England, despite getting fire from all corners for its batting, has been the 2nd best batting side in the last four years. South Africa has been the 2nd worst batting side in the given time period, and that's largely down to their struggles against the turning ball in asia.
Batting stats of teams away from their home, outside asia:
This will give more context on the batting ability of teams on quick and bouncy wickets and against the swinging ball.
New Zealand, despite playing very few test matches in comparison to the other top teams, still leads the chart in terms of batting performance outside asia away from their home comfort. And that was a lot down to their impressive series draw in England where the NZ side under McCullum, played an attacking brand of cricket. Australia are the 2nd best performing team outside asia away from Australia, and it showed in their dominance against NZ in NZ.
The Asian teams expectedly tank in the stats when it comes to performances outside asia. India, still the best of the Asian teams when it comes to batting performances outside asia and Sri Lanka is the worst of all teams in world cricket outside asia and that was reflected in their struggles in series outside asia last year.
Batting stats of teams in asia, away from their home:
Pakistan - Matches played: 5, Won: 3, Lost: 1, W/L ratio: 3.000, Batting avg.: 44.07
Pakistan leads the table in the batting department in asia, but is just ahead of India by a few decimal points. Since India and Pakistan don't play each other, their respective series against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka played a big role in this dominance.
The western teams predictably have not faired great in asian conditions with the bat. England and Australia are the best teams among the western teams, England's stats are laudable given they're even ahead of Sri Lanka with the bat in asian conditions, and that was underlined in their series win in Sri Lanka last year. But one thing that stands out stark in that table is the performance of South Africa with the bat in asia. It has been the worst team with the bat in asian conditions, worse than Sri Lanka's performance in overseas conditions. Ironic given how South Africa were by far the best touring team in asia for the most part of this century.
BOWLING:
Bowling stats of teams away from home:
Pakistan - Matches played: 22, Won: 8, Lost: 13, W/L ratio: 0.615, Bowling avg.: 34.68
India has been the best bowling team across the world in the last four years, and India, South Africa and Australia have been the top 3 attacks in the world in that time period. Interesting to note that New Zealand, despite their dominance with the bat, has been one of the weakest bowling teams in the last four years while touring, only better than West Indies and Bangladesh's attacks.
Bowling stats of teams away from their home, outside asia:
This is the most interesting table given India leads the list still outside asia. India having struggled to put together a competent fast bowling attack for the best part of their test playing time, has finally stumbled upon a bunch of talented fast bowlers and have been the best bowling team outside asia despite their struggles with the bat in those same conditions. South Africa, predictably are the 2nd best bowling attack outside asia and Australia the 3rd best in the said timeframe.
India, South Africa and Australia are again the top 3 bowling attacks and then there's a gap between the rest outside asia. One interesting bit of information in the table is that England's attack is the most economical of all attacks in world cricket with the only attack having a RPO (run per over) rate of < 3. This means they bowl very few bad balls and bowl tight lines but aren't penetrative enough when compared to the top 3 attacks in the world because of the obvious elephant in the room, their attack is one paced and lacks an express pacer like Rabada, Bumrah, Cummins or Starc in their ranks.
Bowling stats of teams in asia, away from their home:
Pakistan - Matches played: 5, Won: 3, Lost: 1, W/L ratio: 3.000, Bowling avg.: 33.05
India leading the table for bowling stats in asia is not surprising given the array of spinners in their squad. South Africa has the 2nd best bowling stats after India in asian conditions and that's partly due to the difficult conditions they had to face while touring asia. Australia has been the 3rd best bowling team in asian conditions, even better than Pakistan away from the UAE and that's largely due to their spin attack led by a brilliant Lyon and also due to Starc's excellence in Sri Lanka.
Also interesting to note that Bangladesh have been very strong in their own home with the ball but has struggled to replicate the same performance in other asian countries.
SUMMARY:
1. India has been the best batting team in the last four years but that's largely down to their impeccable dominance in asian conditions where they're near invincible and have lost only two test matches in the last four years, one at Galle against Sri Lanka and the other at Pune against Australia.
2. New Zealand has been the best batting team and the most attacking team with the bat outside asia away from their home and the asian teams predictably fall behind the western teams in batting outside asian conditions.
3. Pakistan are the best batting team in asian conditions in the last four years. England are one of the best performing sides with the bat in asian conditions, even ahead of Sri Lanka while other western teams have struggled in asia with the bat, South Africa being the worst side in the world in that aspect.
4. India are the best bowling team across the world, underlined by their dominance with the ball both inside and outside asia. And that's probably down to their well rounded attack in possessing both a top fast bowling and a top spin attack.
5. India, South Africa and Australia are the top 3 attacks in the world across all conditions, while England's attack has struggled to be effective outside of England due to the lack of penetration in their attack.
5. The western teams have performed better than Sri Lanka and Bangladesh outside their home with the ball in asian conditions, and Bangladesh are yet to replicate their performances with the ball inside Bangladesh in other asian countries.
1. I have completely ignored the home stats and only taken the stats away from home into consideration. In this era of massive home track bullying and playing on home designer pitches, it makes sense to take the stats of teams when they travel outside their home to get a meaningful view of the quality of teams.
2. I have taken a 4 year timeframe for my stats. Initially I wanted to take a 3 year period as it was neither too small or a too long timeframe. But some teams like New Zealand who play fewer amount of tests, let alone away tests, got shortchanged in that 3 year filter with too small a sample size. So I increased it to a four year period since most teams tour every four years to a particular country.
3. Batting and bowling averages are used for comparing the batting and bowling abilities of each team.
4. I have excluded stats against Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland in the comparison as they're weak.
5. Comparing the stats of teams in asia in "away" conditions in cricinfo excluded the results in the UAE as all the series that happen in the UAE are filed under "neutral venue" category for both Pakistan and the touring team. But Pakistan has been playing so long in the UAE that it's practically the home for them. So I excluded Pakistan from the table for the stats in asia and overall as it will include their results in the UAE and calculated their stats outside the UAE in asia and overall separately and mentioned below the table.
I will compare the batting and bowling ability of teams separately:
BATTING:
Batting stats of teams away from home:
Pakistan - Matches played: 22, Won: 8, Lost: 13, W/L ratio: 0.615, Batting avg.: 29.53
India having a clear edge in the batting stats, but that's largely down to their sheer dominance in asia where their batsmen are hard to tie down.
Two interesting bits of information in the table there - England, despite getting fire from all corners for its batting, has been the 2nd best batting side in the last four years. South Africa has been the 2nd worst batting side in the given time period, and that's largely down to their struggles against the turning ball in asia.
Batting stats of teams away from their home, outside asia:
This will give more context on the batting ability of teams on quick and bouncy wickets and against the swinging ball.
New Zealand, despite playing very few test matches in comparison to the other top teams, still leads the chart in terms of batting performance outside asia away from their home comfort. And that was a lot down to their impressive series draw in England where the NZ side under McCullum, played an attacking brand of cricket. Australia are the 2nd best performing team outside asia away from Australia, and it showed in their dominance against NZ in NZ.
The Asian teams expectedly tank in the stats when it comes to performances outside asia. India, still the best of the Asian teams when it comes to batting performances outside asia and Sri Lanka is the worst of all teams in world cricket outside asia and that was reflected in their struggles in series outside asia last year.
Batting stats of teams in asia, away from their home:
Pakistan - Matches played: 5, Won: 3, Lost: 1, W/L ratio: 3.000, Batting avg.: 44.07
Pakistan leads the table in the batting department in asia, but is just ahead of India by a few decimal points. Since India and Pakistan don't play each other, their respective series against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka played a big role in this dominance.
The western teams predictably have not faired great in asian conditions with the bat. England and Australia are the best teams among the western teams, England's stats are laudable given they're even ahead of Sri Lanka with the bat in asian conditions, and that was underlined in their series win in Sri Lanka last year. But one thing that stands out stark in that table is the performance of South Africa with the bat in asia. It has been the worst team with the bat in asian conditions, worse than Sri Lanka's performance in overseas conditions. Ironic given how South Africa were by far the best touring team in asia for the most part of this century.
BOWLING:
Bowling stats of teams away from home:
Pakistan - Matches played: 22, Won: 8, Lost: 13, W/L ratio: 0.615, Bowling avg.: 34.68
India has been the best bowling team across the world in the last four years, and India, South Africa and Australia have been the top 3 attacks in the world in that time period. Interesting to note that New Zealand, despite their dominance with the bat, has been one of the weakest bowling teams in the last four years while touring, only better than West Indies and Bangladesh's attacks.
Bowling stats of teams away from their home, outside asia:
This is the most interesting table given India leads the list still outside asia. India having struggled to put together a competent fast bowling attack for the best part of their test playing time, has finally stumbled upon a bunch of talented fast bowlers and have been the best bowling team outside asia despite their struggles with the bat in those same conditions. South Africa, predictably are the 2nd best bowling attack outside asia and Australia the 3rd best in the said timeframe.
India, South Africa and Australia are again the top 3 bowling attacks and then there's a gap between the rest outside asia. One interesting bit of information in the table is that England's attack is the most economical of all attacks in world cricket with the only attack having a RPO (run per over) rate of < 3. This means they bowl very few bad balls and bowl tight lines but aren't penetrative enough when compared to the top 3 attacks in the world because of the obvious elephant in the room, their attack is one paced and lacks an express pacer like Rabada, Bumrah, Cummins or Starc in their ranks.
Bowling stats of teams in asia, away from their home:
Pakistan - Matches played: 5, Won: 3, Lost: 1, W/L ratio: 3.000, Bowling avg.: 33.05
India leading the table for bowling stats in asia is not surprising given the array of spinners in their squad. South Africa has the 2nd best bowling stats after India in asian conditions and that's partly due to the difficult conditions they had to face while touring asia. Australia has been the 3rd best bowling team in asian conditions, even better than Pakistan away from the UAE and that's largely due to their spin attack led by a brilliant Lyon and also due to Starc's excellence in Sri Lanka.
Also interesting to note that Bangladesh have been very strong in their own home with the ball but has struggled to replicate the same performance in other asian countries.
SUMMARY:
1. India has been the best batting team in the last four years but that's largely down to their impeccable dominance in asian conditions where they're near invincible and have lost only two test matches in the last four years, one at Galle against Sri Lanka and the other at Pune against Australia.
2. New Zealand has been the best batting team and the most attacking team with the bat outside asia away from their home and the asian teams predictably fall behind the western teams in batting outside asian conditions.
3. Pakistan are the best batting team in asian conditions in the last four years. England are one of the best performing sides with the bat in asian conditions, even ahead of Sri Lanka while other western teams have struggled in asia with the bat, South Africa being the worst side in the world in that aspect.
4. India are the best bowling team across the world, underlined by their dominance with the ball both inside and outside asia. And that's probably down to their well rounded attack in possessing both a top fast bowling and a top spin attack.
5. India, South Africa and Australia are the top 3 attacks in the world across all conditions, while England's attack has struggled to be effective outside of England due to the lack of penetration in their attack.
5. The western teams have performed better than Sri Lanka and Bangladesh outside their home with the ball in asian conditions, and Bangladesh are yet to replicate their performances with the ball inside Bangladesh in other asian countries.
