Cricket Statistics
Organized cricket lends itself
to statistics to a greater degree than many other sports. Each play is discrete
and has a relatively small number of possible outcomes. At the professional
level, statistics for Test cricket, one-day internationals, and first-class cricket
are recorded separately. However, since Test matches are a form of first-class
cricket, a player's first-class statistics will include his Test match
statistics – but not vice versa. The Guide to
Cricketers was a
cricket annual edited by Fred Lillywhite between 1849 and his death in 1866. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack was founded in 1864 by the English cricketer John Wisden (1826–1884) as a competitor to The Guide to Cricketers. Its
annual publication has continued uninterrupted to the present day, making it
the longest running sports annual in history.
Certain traditional statistics
are familiar to most cricket fans. The basic batting statistics include:
·
Innings (I): The number of innings in which the batsman actually
batted.
·
Not
outs (NO): The number of times the batsman was not out at the
conclusion of an innings they batted in.
·
Runs (R): The number of runs scored.
·
Highest score (HS/Best): The highest score ever made by the
batsman.
·
Batting
average (Ave): The total number of runs divided by the total number
of innings in which the batsman was out. Ave = Runs/[I – NO] (also Avge or
Avg.)
·
Centuries (100): The number of innings in which the batsman scored
one hundred runs or more.
·
Half-centuries (50): The number of innings in which the batsman
scored fifty to ninety-nine runs (centuries do not count as half-centuries as
well).
·
Balls faced (BF): The total number of balls received, including
no balls but not including wides.
·
Strike
rate (SR): The number of runs scored per 100 balls faced. (SR
= [100 * Runs]/BF)
·
Run
rate (RR): Is the number of runs a batsman (or the batting
side) scores in an over of six balls.
The basic bowling statistics
include:
·
Overs (O): The number of overs bowled.
·
Balls (B): The number of balls bowled. Overs is more
traditional, but balls is a more useful statistic because the number of balls
per over has varied historically.
·
Maiden overs (M): The number of maiden overs (overs in which the
bowler conceded zero runs) bowled.
·
Runs (R): The number of runs conceded.
·
Wickets (W): The number of wickets taken.
·
No
balls (Nb): The number of no balls bowled.
·
Wides (Wd): The number of wides bowled.
·
Bowling
average (Ave): The average number of runs conceded per wicket.
(Ave = Runs/W)
·
Strike
rate (SR): The average number of balls bowled per wicket. (SR
= Balls/W)
·
Economy rate (Econ): The average number of runs conceded per over. (Econ =
Runs/overs bowled).
Scorecards
A match's statistics are summarized
on a scorecard. Prior to the popularization of scorecards, most scoring was
done by men sitting on vantage points cuttings notches on tally sticks. The
earliest known scorecards were printed in 1776 by Pratt, scorer to the Sevenoaks Vine Cricket Club, but it was many years
before his invention was widely adopted. Scorecards were printed and sold at Lord's for the first time in 1846.
The introduction of scoreboards
revolutionized cricket by allowing spectators to keep track of the day's play.
In 1848, Fred Lillywhite used a portable printing press at grounds to print
updated scorecards. In 1858, the Kennington
Oval introduced the first mobile
score box, "a house on rollers with figures for telegraphing on each
side". In 1881, the Melbourne
Cricket Ground erected the first cricket scoreboard. The scoreboard,
located at the western end of the ground, gave the batsman's name and method of
dismissal.
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