This document is aimed at people who are (i) unfamiliar with the statistical compilations of cricket players, and/or the rules and vagaries if cricket itself. It describes the various statistical categories that you'll find on a typical printout of a player's international career.
| M | Matches | "Matches" is the number of times a player has appeared for his country, with separate tallies kept for Test, One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals - as they are for every other statistic. Even if a player does not bat or bowl during the course of the match, he is still credited with appearing in this match. However, if a player is 12th man (cricket's term for a substitute fielder), then he is not credited with that match in his official records, and will not debut until named in the first XI. |
| I | Innings | In a Test match, each side may bat in a maximum of two innings, wth the innings statistic tallying how many times a player has actually walked on to field to bat. It is rare for a batsman to have batted twice in every Test he has appeared. Quite often a team will only bat once, or a team's innings will close before the said player is given the opportunity to bat. On severely rain-affected matches, a batsman may not bat at all during a match. In a one-day international, there is only one innings for each team, |
| NO | Not Out | A batsman is not out if the innings finishes and he has not been dismissed. This includes being forced to retire hurt during an innings and not returning before its close. |
| R | Runs | A run is scored when a batsman strokes the ball and safely makes his ground at the other end of the pitch, exchanging places with the batsman at the other end of the pitch (the non-striker), who then faces the next delivery. A batsman can always attempt more than one run. If a strokes reaches the boundary fence, then 4 runs are scored. If the ball is lofted in the air and it clears the boundary, then 6 runs are scored. These runs are tallied over a batsman's career to give a total. Five batsmen have scored over 10,000 Test runs in a career, all in the last 20-25 years, while 7 batsmen have compiled 10,000 career ODI runs. |
| AVG | Batting Average | The batting average is essentially the expected number of runs scored between
dismissals, and (in the long term) provides a reasonably objective measure of
a batsman's ability. It is calculated like so: AVG = R / (I-NO)
Generally, a decent batsman in any modern Test side can expect an average of at least 40, while the game's legends boast career averages in excess of 50. Sir Donald Bradman of Australia, cricket's greatest ever batsman, had a Test average of 99.94. When comparing the averages of batsmen, one should always be aware of the context in which a batsman's runs were scored - quality of opposition, flatness of the pitch etc. This is why the batting average has its limitations, since these factors cannot be objectively measured (although many attempts have been made - the PriceWaterhouseCoopers ratings is probably the best one). Due to historical convention, all batting averages are truncated at the second decimal place - not rounded off. |
| 50 | Half- Centuries | A half-century is an innings where a batsman scores between 50 and 99 runs inclusive, regardless of whether he is dismissed. |
| 100 | Centuries | Once a batsman passes 100 runs, an innings becomes a century. Test double centuries are less common (one or two are generally scored per year), while triple centuries are a cause for celebration - only 21 have been scored in 130 years of Test cricket. The highest ever Test innings was 400 - by West Indian Brian Lara in 2004. The most prolific century scorer in Test history is Sachin Tendulkar with 37 (to the end of 2007). Don Bradman scored 29, and took less than half as many innings as Tendulkar. |
| HS | Highest Score |
This is simply a batsman's highest score in one innings, achieved whether or not he was dismissed. An asterisk (*) after the score signifies that this innings was not out. Also note that the date given for the highest score, best bowling (as well as debut and final matches) are the first day of the match, which may not match the actual day the record was set. At this point in time, I don't have access to the close of play scores that would allow me to specifiy the exact day a best performance was set. |
| Ct | Caught | These are catches taken while the player is acting as either a fielder or wicketkeeper. Catches taken by substitute fielders are not listed. Wicketkeepers gather many more catches than ordinary fieldsmen over the length of career: South African Mark Boucher holds the world record for most catches taken (387 at the end of 2007). The greatest fieldsman on the other hand is Mark Waugh, with 181. |
| St | Stumped | A wicketkeeper can also dismiss a batsman by stumping him - an option not available to fieldsmen. Stumpings are explained below. |
| M | Matches | In the records listing statistics against individual countries, home/away and most recent 10 Tests, "Tests" denoted the number of Tests in which the player actually bowled. These subtotals will not necessarily sum to the final figure, which shows the *total number* of Tests a cricketer played. |
| B | Balls Delivered | Each time a bowler legally delivers the ball to a batsman (i.e. it is not a no-ball,
or a wide - the most common infractions), it is credited as a delivery. If the ball is
called as a no-ball (due to the bowler overstepping the crease, or bouncing the ball
too high, or being judged to have thrown it), or a wide (the ball is delivered too wide
of the batsman), then the batting side (but not the batsman) is credited with
one run, and the bowler must deliver the ball again. In the modern era, a bowler must complete an over of 6 consecutive deliveries. Since the number of deliveries in an over has varied between 4 and 8 at various intervals in Test cricket history, I decided to list the total number of deliveries of a bowler, rather than the total overs he has sent down. |
| M | Maidens | A maiden is an over where no runs are conceded by a bowler, either by a batsman scoring them, or in no-balls and wides. |
| R | Runs conceded | A batsman's aim is to accumulate as many runs as possible, a bowler's aim (apart from taking wickets) is the opposite - to concede as few runs as possible to the opposition. Since 1978-79, the runs conceded by a bowler also includes a one-run penalty for delivering a no-ball or wide. If the batsman scores more than one run off a no-ball, then the runs are credited to the batsman, the bowler is debited correspondingly, and he must still deliver again. If a wide ball evades the wicket-keeper and reaches the boundary, the bowler is penalized four wides. |
| W | Wickets | A bowler is credited with a wicket if he dismisses the batsman in the following ways: bowled, LBW, caught in the field, stumped, hit wicket. The highest-ever wicket taker is Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan, with 723 (to the end of 2007). One of the game's rarities is to take a "hat trick" - 3 wickets in 3 consecutive deliveries. Only 35 hat-tricks have been claimed in Test cricket. |
| 5i | 5 wickets/ innings |
A bowler taking a "five-for" (at least 5 wickets during one innings) is roughly equivalent to a batsman scoring a century, when one compares total numbers of either quantity between Test cricket's greatest batsmen and bowlers. |
| 10w | 10 wickets/ match |
Claiming 10 wickets in a match (i.e. the total number of wickets taken in both innings) is far less common than taking five in an innings, and usually represents a memorable bowling performance. As well as the overall wicket-taking record, Muttiah Muralitharan has taken 10-wicket mathch hails a record 20 times. In fact, he holds the record for the record number of "five-fors" - 62. This particular statistic does not apply to ODIs or Twenty20. |
| AVG | Bowling Average | The bowling average measures a bowler's wicket taking ability in terms of runs
conceded per wicket (AVG = R / W). In the modern era (with covered pitches), the
best fast bowlers average 25 or less, while the best slow bowlers tend to average
in the high 20s or low 30s. Again Murali is the exception here, averaging only
21, while recently retired Shane Warne averaged 25.4 over a 15-year career.
As with the batting average, all bowling averages are truncated at the second decimal place. |
| S/R | Strike Rate | The strike rate is (to my mind) a purer measure of a bowler's effectiveness at his
primary role - dismissing batsmen. Whereas the bowling average, described above,
encapsulates both a bowler's ability to contain and take wickets, the strike rate
shows the number of deliveries between each wicket taken. (StkR. = B / W)
In the modern, post-war era, where covered pitches have reduced the chances of conditions outrageously favouring bowlers from time to time (due to overnight rain etc), topline pace bowlers generally strike at lower than 60 deliveries. Waqar Younis of Pakistan has maintained a truly phenomenal strike rate of under 40 for most of his career - a wicket every 6 or 7 overs. Spin bowlers have to work harder for their scalps, the best ones striking once every 70 balls or so. |
| Econ | Economy rate | >A bowler's ability to contain is still important, and the Economy Rate measures this in terms of runs conceded per 6-ball over (RRate = 6*(R/B)). Generally, good Test bowlers limit the batsmen to between 2 and 3 runs per over, although there are exceptions. Brett Lee for exmaple, with his attacking style, averages over 3 per over, but more than compensates for this with his wicket taking. I have preferred the units "runs per over" to "runs per 100 deliveries" because I find the former concept more natural and easy to grasp. |
| Best | Best Bowling | Best Bowling lists a bowler's best innings analysis: the most wickets taken for the least runs conceded. This is not to be confused with a bowler's match analysis - which is the sum of his two separate innings analyses (this statistic is currently not displayed). You will notice that most of the great bowlers have a best analysis of at least 7 wickets. Only two bowlers taken all 10 wickets in an innings - Englishman Jim Laker against the Australians in 1956, and Anil Kumble (India) against Pakistan in 1999 |
A rough and probably not-to-the-letter-of-the-law explanantion is provided for some of the more uncommon dismissals here. Those chasing precise definitions are advised to consult CricInfo (see link on main page), or a copy of Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack, which reprints the rules of cricket in each yearly edition.
| Bowled | A batsman is "bowled" if the ball removes the bails sitting on top of the three stumps erected behind him. |
| LBW | Leg Before Wicket. One of the most controversial ways to get out, since the judgement
relies on a man standing 19 metres away, with nothing but his eyes to aid him.
The idea behind LBW is that a batsman cannot protect his wicket by putting his
body in front of it. If the bowl strikes the body (usually the shin pads or shoes)
only and the umpire believes beyond reasonable doubt that the ball would have hit
the stumps, then he is out LBW - although the fielding side must "appeal" to the
umpire first.
But that's not all. You should consider these factors too:
|
| Caught | If a batsman lofts a ball directly to a fielder, who then catches it, then the batsman is out caught. The first thing you're taught at school is to hit the ball along the ground, but they never learn ... Note that "fielder" does not include the wicketkeeper or bowler - they have special categories of their own. |
| Caught Behind | Caught Behind (by the wicketkeeper). Generally the ball catches the edge of the bat, and sails through to be swallowed by the 'keeper's gloves (with varying degrees of difficulty). |
| Caught & Bowled | Caught and Bowled. The ball is caught by the bowler as he follows through after his delivery. These catches are counted in a player's total catches, along with ones he takes in the outfield. |
| Stumped | If a wicket-keeper receives a delivered ball (from a slow bowler), and the batsman is not within his crease, then the 'keeper may stump him by removing the bails. A manoeuvre usually performed with great flamboyance, and only tends to occurs when the 'keeper is standing close to the stumps, Note: if it looks like the batsman was out of his ground because he was attempting a run, then he's "run out", not stumped. |
| Run Out | A player is run-out if, when attempting to run, a fieldsman succeeds in breaking the stumps with the ball before he regains his ground at either end of the pitch. Obviously the scope for line-ball decisions here is enormous, and up until the 1992-93 season, judgements were made purely by the umpire's naked eye, while armchair enthusiasts could watch slow-motion replays ad nauseum on their TVs. Since then, umpires have also had recourse to the slow-mo replay. An umpire sitting in pavilion now adjudicates, if the umpires in the middle feel they need help. |
| Handled Ball | Handled Ball. The batsman is only supposed to hit the ball with his bat, let it pass to the wicket-keeper, or pad it away if he wants to be a bore. He is not allowed to pick it up, and this leads to one of cricket's grey areas. Generally, the rule is invoked when a batsman tries to flick the ball away if it is rolling toward the stumps - you should use your bat to prevent this. Such a fate befell Graham Gooch in the First Test against Australia in 1993. More commonly, a batsman might innocently hand a ball to a nearby fieldsman after it has been played, saving him a few steps to retrieve it. Now and then the fielding team is unsportsmanlike enough to appeal to the umpire, who then has no choice but to dismiss him. A very unusual way to be dismissed in Test cricket. |
| Hit Wicket | Hit Wicket. If the ball hits the stumps, you are bowled. If your bat hits the stumps, or you stand back too far and tread on them then you are out hit wicket, whether you are facing a delivery or attempting to run. More tragically, if a ball strikes your helmet, which then falls off your head and lands on the stumps, you're also out "hit wicket". |
| Obstructed Field | Extremely uncommon. In fact, only one Test batsman has been dismissed for Obstructing the Field in Test history: Len Hutton at The Oval in 1951. I haven't seen it myself, so I can only guess that it's because a batsman deliberately prevents a fielder from retrieving the ball and throwing the stumps down with it, or catching the ball. South African visitors might be interested to know that one T.Quirk was dismissed in this fashion in a provincial match in 1978-79. |
No Test batsman has ever been dismissed for Hitting The Ball Twice or Timed Out. In fact the few instances where these, Handling the Ball or Obstruction have occurred in all first class cricket are listed in Wisden Cricketer's Almanack.