It is World Cup time and inevitably, most discussions are centred on the tournament and its history. One of the major talking points when it comes to the World Cup is the format. The early exit of India and Pakistan in 2007 has prompted a completely different design. An increased presence of weaker teams in each group is unfortunate and will undoubtedly render many contests meaningless. In a recent discussion about the World Cup, Deepak Jeyaraman, a good friend and colleague from my graduate school in the US, pointed out that the World Cup stats for both Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara are similar when only performances against top teams are considered. He suggested that the overall averages have considerably been boosted because batsmen have amassed plenty against the weaker teams. I found this very interesting and decided to get into the details which revealed some very interesting results and vindicated his statement.

Right from the first World Cup, there have been opportunities provided to smaller teams to compete on the big stage. While this idea is not wrong, it creates many opportunities for batsmen to make hay and register massive scores. In earlier World Cups, there were one or two weaker teams, but in recent times, there have been three or four such teams in every tournament, thus creating every opportunity for batsmen to set records aplenty. Of the 44 scores over 300 in the World Cup, 20 have been made against the weaker teams. Of the 41 times teams have won by a margin of over 100 runs, 21 have come against the minnows. A detailed look into the batting performances of top scorers in World Cups clearly points to a run-glut against the smaller teams.

Despite the win over Australia in their first match and the early troubles they caused to India, Zimbabwe were comfortable to beat in the 1983 and 1987 tournaments. They were far more competitive from the 1992 edition onwards. Bangladesh and Kenya have caused ripples, but are not a consistent force in global tournaments. When a minimum of 750 runs against top teams is considered, only Viv Richards makes the cut. His outstanding World Cup career can be appreciated even more because he averages over 66 against top teams during his period. Tendulkar, on the other hand, averages just over 45 against top teams, which is far lower than his overall average of nearly 58. Three of his four hundreds have come against Kenya and Namibia. While Tendulkar has made nearly a third of his World Cup runs against the weaker teams, Sourav Ganguly has scored over 50% of his runs against the minnows. Except in the cases of Ricky Ponting and Lara, the averages of most batsmen have been considerably boosted due to their ‘brilliant’ batting against the minnows.

**In the 1975-1987 range, ZImbabwe and the other teams like Canada and East Africa are considered weak teams. From 1992-2007, Zimbabwe has been fairly competitive, but along with other smaller teams (Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland, UAE etc), Kenya and Bangladesh, despite an occasional upset, have been classified as weak teams.

Best batsmen in World Cups (matches against top teams)-min 750 runs scored

Batsman	Matches	Runs	Average	100	50	Overall Matches	Overall Runs	Overall Average	100	50
Viv Richards	20	997	66.46	3	5	23	1013	63.31	3	5
Ricky Ponting	29	1324	50.92	3	6	39	1537	48.03	4	6
Herschelle Gibbs	17	751	50.06	2	5	25	1067	56.15	2	8
Mark Waugh	19	774	48.37	3	3	22	1004	52.84	4	4
Sachin Tendulkar	28	1173	45.11	1	10	36	1796	57.93	4	13
Brian Lara	26	1005	43.69	2	6	34	1225	42.24	2	7
Aravinda de Silva	24	767	34.86	1	6	35	1064	36.68	2	6
Sanath Jayasuriya	30	860	30.71	2	5	38	1165	34.26	3	6

The approach to batting was very different in the early World Cups with scores between 150 and 250 being quite competitive even against top teams. Good bowling conditions and a less aggressive batting style meant that the run rate in the first two World Cups was under four runs per over. The scoring rate went up slightly in the 1983 World Cup as teams began to realize the benefit of faster scoring after playing more ODIs. The 1987 World Cup saw the overall run rate rise to a high of 4.87 because of the excellent batting conditions in the subcontinent. Teams switched to a more conventional approach of preserving wickets in the beginning before accelerating in the final overs in the 1992 edition which saw the advent of field restrictions. Sri Lanka’s stunning early-over assaults set the tone for a high-scoring tournament in 1996. The 1999 World Cup in England swung the balance towards the bowlers by providing much more challenging batting conditions. However, the last two tournaments have clearly been in favour of the batsmen. 25 scores over 300 have been made in the 2003 and 2007 World Cup and it seems highly likely that this trend is going to continue.

It is also very interesting to observe the trend of fifty-plus scores, While the 1975 tournament saw a fifty-plus score every six innings, the number went up to one every 8.5 innings in the 1979 tournament. The 1987 World Cup saw the best conversion rate with fifties being scored once in less than six innings. The high figure for the last three editions can be explained by the presence of weaker teams which have struggled to put up substantial scores. The fours-per-match figure is highest for the 1975 World Cup, which is again surprising considering the approach in the early editions. The percentage of boundary runs is also very high and is comparable to later tournaments. The 1992 tournament in Australia saw fewer boundaries per match which is understandable given the size of the grounds in Australia, but since 1996, there has been a consistent increase in the boundary run percentage in each World Cup.

The conversion rate of fifties to centuries was the poorest in the 1979 World Cup with only two centuries being scored compared to 27 half-centuries. The 1996 and 2003 World Cups were the best in terms of the conversion rate with a century every four fifties. However, the 1992 World Cup was another tournament where centuries were far fewer. Only eight of the 92 fifty-plus scores were converted into centuries.

Batting stats from the World Cups

Year	Matches	Innings	Runs	Runs/innings	50+ scores	Inns/fifty	50s:100s	fours/match	Boundary runs	% runs in boundaries	Run rate
1975	15	258	5767	22.35	41	6.29	5.83	38.33	1644	42.79	3.91
1979*	14	247	4805	19.45	29	8.51	13.50	26.35	2468	34.21	3.54
1983*	27	494	11024	22.31	65	7.60	7.12	32.70	4288	38.89	4.08
1987	27	478	11609	24.28	80	5.97	6.27	33.85	4118	35.47	4.87
1992*	39	647	13821	21.36	92	7.03	10.50	28.17	4954	35.84	4.42
1996*	36	601	14239	23.69	85	7.07	4.31	35.11	5944	41.74	4.67
1999	42	737	14981	20.32	86	8.56	6.81	32.78	6426	42.89	4.47
2003	52	902	18873	20.92	110	8.20	4.23	34.48	8768	46.45	4.76
2007	51	885	19800	22.37	131	6.75	5.55	35.45	9470	47.82	4.95

*The number of boundaries is not exact for the 1979, 1983, 1992 and 1996 World Cups

The World Cups held in England have been the best for bowlers. While the 98 matches across the four editions in England have seen 51 hauls of four wickets or more, the 205 matches in the other five World Cups have seen just 77 four-plus wicket hauls. The wickets per match figure is also slightly higher in the four World Cups held in England and is much lower in the two World Cups held in the subcontinent and the 1992 World Cup. On the flip side, the swinging conditions in England made it much more difficult for bowlers to control their line. While the relaxed rules in the early editions were responsible for fewer extras, the tournament in 1999 saw the most extras. Nearly 47 extras were conceded on an average per match in the 1999 World Cup. The first five places on the list of innings with the most extras are from the 1999 World Cup, with India conceding 51 extras in the three-run defeat to Zimbabwe and 44 against Kenya.

Bowling stats from World Cups

Year	Matches	Wickets	Wickets/match	4W+ hauls	Total Extras	Extras/match	Economy
1975	15	194	12.93	9	395	26.33	3.66
1979	14	184	13.14	7	363	25.92	3.29
1983	27	370	13.70	14	1022	37.85	3.73
1987	27	321	11.88	9	913	33.81	4.66
1992	39	447	11.46	8	1286	32.97	4.24
1996	36	411	11.41	8	986	27.38	4.52
1999	42	548	13.04	21	1982	47.19	4.32
2003	52	658	12.65	35	1568	30.15	4.63
2007	51	689	13.50	17	1533	30.05	4.84

Over the years, the number of left handers in teams has constantly increased. In almost every form of cricket, left handers seem to enjoy a distinct advantage and have generally outperformed the right handers. When performances in World Cups are analysed, the numbers are not quite straightforward. While the left-handed batsmen outperformed their counterparts in the first World Cup, they were not quite a force in the second edition. After a far better performance in the 1983 World Cup, their showing in a batting-friendly 1987 edition was much poorer than the right handers who did superbly. Left handers made just six fifty-plus scores in the 1987 World Cup while right handers made over 73. The performances of right handers and left handers was fairly even in the 1992 World Cup, but since then, left-handed batsmen have consistently averaged more and made fifty-plus scores far more consistently. The only anomaly has been the recent World Cup which was again dominated by right handers, who averaged more and scored faster than left handers.

Right handers in World Cups (top order 1-7 only)

Year	RHB(players)	Innings	RHB(runs)	RHB(avg)	RHB(50+)	RHB(SR)	Inns/50+
1975	56	153	4045	30.87	30	58.48	5.10
1979	57	144	3529	27.14	25	55.45	5.76
1983	54	262	6956	29.35	46	60.55	5.69
1987	65	317	9641	34.80	73	75.48	4.34
1992	65	374	9733	30.22	69	66.89	5.40
1996	82	325	8875	31.81	55	71.80	5.90
1999	83	396	8965	25.32	54	63.63	7.33
2003	97	454	10861	26.95	67	72.82	6.77
2007	98	422	11467	32.30	82	77.90	5.14

Left handers in World Cups (top order 1-7 only)

Year	LHB(players)	Innings	LHB(runs)	LHB(avg)	LHB(50+)	LHB(SR)	Inns/50+
1975	13	41	1088	31.08	10	74.11	4.10
1979	13	32	800	30.76	4	54.86	8.00
1983	18	91	2531	33.74	17	64.45	5.35
1987	10	43	1159	28.26	6	62.04	7.16
1992	19	120	2978	28.09	23	66.22	5.21
1996	27	138	4263	36.75	30	74.96	4.60
1999	29	156	4429	34.06	29	68.46	5.37
2003	41	207	5680	32.64	38	73.69	5.44
2007	41	240	6553	30.05	49	74.98	4.89

The first three World Cups in England hardly saw spinners being used in most matches. Pace bowlers outperformed spinners comfortably, picking up more wickets at a much better average. The fourth World Cup in 1987 however, was held in the spin-friendly subcontinent. In this edition, the performance of pace bowlers and spinners was much more even. Martin Crowe’s remarkable strategy of opening the bowling with a spinner in 1992 stands out in memory in a tournament which was dominated by pace. The 1996 World Cup was the best for spinners as they picked up six hauls of four wickets or more as compared to just two by fast bowlers. 1999 and 2003 were much better for pace bowlers as they picked up 47 four-wicket hauls compared to just nine for spinners. However, the 2007 tournament played on much slower wickets in the Caribbean meant that spinners were quite effective. Going by past records, the 2011 World Cup is again going to be dominated by teams with quality spin options.

Pace v Spin in World Cups

Year	Pace(wickets)	Pace(avg)	Pace(4W+)	Pace(ER)	Spin(wickets)	Spin(avg)	Spin(4W+)	Spin(ER)
1975	155	27.18	8	3.63	25	45.56	0	3.75
1979	166	24.57	7	3.30	8	65.25	0	3.27
1983	310	28.59	11	3.73	47	36.44	3	3.61
1987	213	36.39	7	4.84	106	37.13	2	4.34
1992	344	31.58	8	4.23	94	35.29	0	4.16
1996	228	37.45	2	4.52	168	32.94	6	4.47
1999	461	27.72	18	4.23	87	40.00	3	4.64
2003	482	27.70	29	4.67	186	32.13	6	4.55
2007	454	31.37	12	4.85	197	32.36	5	4.79

The last table looks at dismissal stats from the World Cups. While the number of bowled and leg before dismissals per match has been definitely higher in the tournaments in England owing to the bowling conditions, the tournaments in the subcontinent have seen fewer lbw dismissals per match. The number of catches by a wicketkeeper per match is also far higher in the World Cups played in England and South Africa when compared to those played on the flatter tracks in the subcontinent and the West Indies. Another noticeable factor is the consistent increase in the number of run-out dismissals since the first two World Cups (except the 1975 final, which saw five run outs in the Australia innings) which can be attributed to the fact that batsmen allow fewer dot balls and focus on much more aggressive running.

Dismissal stats in World Cups

Year	Matches	Bowled	Caught(keeper)	LBW	Run-out
1975	15	64	30	31	14
1979	14	50	30	25	18
1983	27	86	69	47	38
1987	27	101	46	27	64
1992	39	97	76	33	67
1996	36	107	53	37	63
1999	42	116	87	85	49
2003	52	133	130	92	45
2007	51	138	97	82	67

This analysis is based on a request by Alex who wanted me to do an analysis of the Test performances by innings. It is a straight-forward analysis based on raw numbers. Please take this as a break up of the Career performances into lower levels with no adjustment whatsoever. The innings status at entry, match conditions, match location, quality of bowling, quality of opposition team et al are relevant factors but have not been incorporated. Once I open one door, the draught will open all the other doors and I do not want to do that. There are a number of tables shown. These tables are provided with minimal comments. The top-20/10/5 entries are shown in the main article and the complete tables are made available for viewing/downloading.

First the Team innings tables. For the Team innings, the cut-off is 3000 career runs. In addition to the batting average and runs scored tables, I have one on the comparison ratio to the career batting average. This table will indicate how close or away from their career averages have the batsmen performed in different innings and will give an insight into whether the batsman has excelled in setting up or finish the matches. Both are important but we need this insight to get a proper handle on batsmen appreciation.

1.1. Team First innings (Match inns 1/2) analysis: Table ordered by Batting average

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge

Bradman D.G           50  2  4697  97.85
EdeC Weekes           48  0  3429  71.44
Sehwag V              87  1  5917  68.80
Barrington K.F        82  5  5069  65.83
Hutton L              79  4  4905  65.40
Hammond W.R           85  6  5070  64.18
Tendulkar S.R        174  9 10557  63.98
Lara B.C             130  1  8249  63.95
Hobbs J.B             60  1  3750  63.56
Jayawardene D.P.M.D  115  2  7127  63.07
Worrell F.M.M         51  5  2843  61.80
Waugh S.R            166 25  8558  60.70
Samaraweera T.T       61  7  3251  60.20
Sangakkara K.C        93  4  5345  60.06
Mohammad Yousuf       89  5  5043  60.04
Sobers G.St.A         93  7  5109  59.41
Ponting R.T          152  5  8723  59.34
Walcott C.L           44  1  2547  59.23
Sutcliffe H           53  2  3014  59.10
Dravid R             150  8  8329  58.65

This is an important classification since it removes the distinction between first/second and third/fourth innings. Bradman just about misses the 100 mark. Note Sehwag's near-70 average. Also how the two modern greats, Tendulkar and Lara are separated only in the second decimal point. Jayawardene is the other modern batsman to appear in the top-10.

1.2. Team First innings analysis: Table ordered by Runs scored

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge

Tendulkar S.R        174  9 10557  63.98
Ponting R.T          152  5  8723  59.34
Waugh S.R            166 25  8558  60.70
Dravid R             150  8  8329  58.65
Lara B.C             130  1  8249  63.95
Kallis J.H           145  9  7590  55.81
Jayawardene D.P.M.D  115  2  7127  63.07
Border A.R           154 13  6803  48.25
Javed Miandad        123  8  6504  56.56
Gavaskar S.M         124  3  6159  50.90

Not surprising to see Tendulkar with 10000+ runs atop the table which is dominated by batsmen of recent vintage.

1.3. Team First innings analysis: Table ordered by Ratio to Career average

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge   Ratio

Sehwag V              87  1  5917  68.80  128.8%
McDonald C.C          47  0  2380  50.64  128.8%
Zaheer Abbas          77  6  3977  56.01  125.0%
Worrell F.M.M         51  5  2843  61.80  124.9%
Atapattu M.S          88  5  4044  48.72  124.9%
Hassett A.L           43  1  2435  57.98  124.5%
Bell I.R              62  6  3043  54.34  123.1%
EdeC Weekes           48  0  3429  71.44  121.9%
Lara B.C             130  1  8249  63.95  120.9%
Waugh S.R            166 25  8558  60.70  118.9%
Adams J.C             53  9  2152  48.91  118.6%
...
Amla H.M              51  1  2351  47.02  100.1%
Boon D.C             107  4  4491  43.60   99.9%
...
Redpath I.R           66  1  2503  38.51   88.6%
Mitchell B            42  0  1817  43.26   88.5%
Butcher B.F           44  2  1428  34.00   78.9%

It may not be a surprise to see that Sehwag tops the table in first innings performances, scoring at nearly 30% above his career average. Lara clocks in at over 20%. Butcher has had a very average first innings. Amla and Boon are either side of 100%.

2.1. Team Second innings (Match inns 3/4) analysis: Table ordered by Batting average

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge

Bradman D.G           30  8  2299 104.50
Kallis J.H           101 29  4357  60.51
Sobers G.St.A         67 14  2923  55.15
Border A.R           111 31  4371  54.64
Sangakkara K.C        63  8  2899  52.71
Hayden M.L            81 14  3473  51.84
Laxman V.V.S          78 18  3104  51.73
Gavaskar S.M          90 13  3963  51.47
Boycott G             85 20  3319  51.06
Redpath I.R           54 10  2234  50.77
Compton D.C.S         53 12  2020  49.27
Richards I.V.A        61 10  2495  48.92
Haynes D.L            86 24  3030  48.87
Younis Khan           53  8  2195  48.78
Hammond W.R           55 10  2179  48.42
Cook A.N              50  6  2108  47.91
Thorpe G.P            79 23  2659  47.48
Greenidge C.G         77 15  2923  47.15
Inzamam-ul-Haq        82 14  3194  46.97
Crowe M.D             56 11  2098  46.62

Bradman is back on top with a 100+ average. Kallis is the only other batsman with a 60+ average. Sangakkara, Hayden and Laxman are the other modern batsmen in the top-10.

2.2. Team Second innings analysis: Table ordered by Runs scored

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge

Border A.R           111 31  4371  54.64
Kallis J.H           101 29  4357  60.51
Tendulkar S.R        116 23  4135  44.46
Gavaskar S.M          90 13  3963  51.47
Gooch G.A             97  6  3898  42.84
Dravid R             109 21  3734  42.43
Lara B.C             102  5  3704  38.19
Ponting R.T          107 23  3636  43.29
Hayden M.L            81 14  3473  51.84
Stewart A.J          103 15  3462  39.34

The second innings averages of Tendulkar, Lara and Ponting are significantly lower than the rest of the top modern batsmen.

2.3. Team Second innings analysis: Table ordered by Ratio to Career average

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge   Ratio

Butcher B.F           34  4  1676  55.87  129.6%
Manjrekar V.L         37  8  1341  46.24  118.2%
Redpath I.R           54 10  2234  50.77  116.8%
Mitchell B            38  9  1654  57.03  116.7%
Haynes D.L            86 24  3030  48.87  115.5%
Amarnath M            45  7  1865  49.08  115.5%
May P.B.H             40  6  1795  52.79  112.9%
Saleem Malik          57 16  1960  47.80  109.4%
Laxman V.V.S          78 18  3104  51.73  109.3%
Flower A              49 14  1972  56.34  109.3%
...
Boon D.C              83 16  2931  43.75  100.2%
Amla H.M              39  6  1546  46.85   99.8%
...
Zaheer Abbas          47  5  1085  25.83   57.7%
Sehwag V              63  5  1777  30.64   57.3%
Hassett A.L           26  2   638  26.58   57.1%

We all know about Laxman's second innings exploits. We would expect him to perform above his career average. But who would have thought that Butcher would have a 30% higher performance level in the second innings or that Haynes would have a 15% higher level batting in the second innings. As expected Sehwag almost props up the table, having performed at 57% of his career levels. Zaheer Abbas performed at similar low levels. As mentioned already, Boon and Amla are almost at their career levels in both innings.

For the Match innings 1-2-3, the cut-off is 1000 runs and for the Match innings 4, the cut-off is 500 runs. I have also replaced the average comparison table with one on % of Team score.

3.1. Match First innings analysis: Table ordered by Batting average

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge

Bradman D.G           22  1  2387 113.67
Ponsford W.H          15  1  1148  82.00
Hassett A.L           22  1  1655  78.81
EdeC Weekes           27  0  2068  76.59
Samaraweera T.T       32  3  2126  73.31
Lara B.C              58  1  4000  70.18
Barrington K.F        42  3  2735  70.13
Tendulkar S.R         83  6  5397  70.09
Javed Miandad         60  6  3730  69.07
Leyland M             19  0  1256  66.11
Hutton L              35  1  2232  65.65
Kanhai R.B            44  0  2869  65.20
Walters K.D           37  2  2271  64.89
Walcott C.L           24  0  1541  64.21
Sehwag V              38  1  2330  62.97
Hammond W.R           46  3  2691  62.58
Jones D.M             31  1  1871  62.37
Ponting R.T           84  4  4986  62.33
Waugh S.R             94 16  4855  62.24
Worrell F.M.M         24  3  1302  62.00

Bradman's 110+ average is expected. What is significant is that the two modern greats, Lara and Tendulkar, average over 70. Possibly more relevant is the unfancied Samaraweera's 70+ average.

3.2. Match First innings analysis: Table ordered by Runs scored

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge

Tendulkar S.R         83  6  5397  70.09
Ponting R.T           84  4  4986  62.33
Waugh S.R             94 16  4855  62.24
Border A.R            87  9  4056  52.00
Lara B.C              58  1  4000  70.18
Dravid R              69  3  3921  59.41
Kallis J.H            70  4  3805  57.65
Javed Miandad         60  6  3730  69.07
Gooch G.A             69  0  3184  46.14
Langer J.L            55  2  3181  60.02

Almost totally filled by modern batsmen, indicating the high number of tests played by them.

3.3. Match First innings analysis: Table ordered by % of Team runs

Batsman             Inns No  Runs TeamRuns %Share

Bradman D.G           22  1  2387    9438  25.3%
Lara B.C              58  1  4000   18111  22.1%
EdeC Weekes           27  0  2068    9997  20.7%
Hassett A.L           22  1  1655    8407  19.7%
Ponsford W.H          15  1  1148    6117  18.8%

Bradman's 25+% is in line with his overall career % share while Lara has had a higher share than his career average figure of 20%.

4.1. Match Second innings analysis: Table ordered by Batting average

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge

Bradman D.G           28  1  2310  85.56
Sehwag V              49  0  3587  73.20
Jayawardene D.P.M.D   60  1  4124  69.90
Mohammad Yousuf       47  4  2983  69.37
Sangakkara K.C        46  3  2940  68.37
Hobbs J.B             37  0  2503  67.65
Hammond W.R           39  3  2379  66.08
Chappell G.S          38  2  2378  66.06
Hutton L              44  3  2673  65.20
Bell I.R              26  4  1428  64.91
EdeC Weekes           21  0  1361  64.81
Prince A.G            31  5  1642  63.15
Hussey M.E.K          22  1  1322  62.95
Worrell F.M.M         27  2  1541  61.64
Barrington K.F        40  2  2334  61.42
Sobers G.St.A         37  1  2211  61.42
Gavaskar S.M          63  3  3613  60.22
Gilchrist A.C         47  5  2501  59.55
Lara B.C              72  0  4249  59.01
Waugh S.R             72  9  3703  58.78

Bradman drops well below 100. Note how Bradman is followed with 70+- averages by four modern stalwarts, Sehwag, Jayawardene, Yousuf and Sangakkara.

4.2. Match Second innings analysis: Table ordered by Runs scored

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge

Tendulkar S.R         91  3  5160  58.64
Dravid R              81  5  4408  58.00
Lara B.C              72  0  4249  59.01
Jayawardene D.P.M.D   60  1  4124  69.90
Kallis J.H            75  5  3785  54.07
Ponting R.T           68  1  3737  55.78
Waugh S.R             72  9  3703  58.78
Gavaskar S.M          63  3  3613  60.22
Sehwag V              49  0  3587  73.20
Richards I.V.A        73  1  3514  48.81

Richards just about gets in the run aggregate table.

4.3. Match Second innings analysis: Table ordered by % of Team runs

Batsman             Inns No  Runs TeamRuns %Share

Bradman D.G           28  1  2310   10513  22.0%
Hutton L              44  3  2673   12850  20.8%
Hobbs J.B             37  0  2503   12585  19.9%
Turner G.M            29  1  1588    8345  19.0%
Hammond W.R           39  3  2379   12831  18.5%

5.1. Match Third innings analysis: Table ordered by Batting average

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge

Bradman D.G           15  3  1565 130.42
Kallis J.H            59 15  3128  71.09
May P.B.H             21  3  1225  68.06
Compton D.C.S         31  7  1565  65.21
Border A.R            76 21  3511  63.84
Martyn D.R            25  6  1203  63.32
Walcott C.L           21  4  1067  62.76
Butcher B.F           24  2  1352  61.45
Flower A              38 10  1704  60.86
Saleem Malik          36 11  1512  60.48
Armstrong W.W         27  4  1391  60.48
Amla H.M              22  4  1044  58.00
Sobers G.St.A         48  8  2316  57.90
Laxman V.V.S          47  9  2197  57.82
Sangakkara K.C        42  4  2187  57.55
Amiss D.L             20  2  1002  55.67
Nourse A.D            23  3  1105  55.25
Thorpe G.P            45 11  1870  55.00
Amarnath M            33  5  1525  54.46
Gambhir G             19  0  1033  54.37

Bradman, aided by 3 not out innings, averages a huge 130+, nearly double that of the next batsman in the table. These are the difficult innings and note how Kallis weighs in with an outstanding 70+ average. Martyn. Andy Flower, Amla and Laxman all have 57+ averages.

5.2. Match Third innings analysis: Table ordered by Runs scored

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge

Border A.R            76 21  3511  63.84
Kallis J.H            59 15  3128  71.09
Gooch G.A             68  2  2777  42.08
Tendulkar S.R         66  8  2764  47.66
Gavaskar S.M          57  4  2565  48.40
Dravid R              59  4  2334  42.44
Inzamam-ul-Haq        51  6  2327  51.71
Stewart A.J           64  9  2326  42.29
Sobers G.St.A         48  8  2316  57.90
Gower D.I             62  9  2287  43.15

Border and Kallis lead, indicating their propensity to score in these difficult innings.

5.3. Match Third innings analysis: Table ordered by % of Team runs

Batsman             Inns No  Runs TeamRuns %Share

Bradman D.G           15  3  1565    5170  30.3%
May P.B.H             21  3  1225    5537  22.1%
Kallis J.H            59 15  3128   15731  19.9%
Nourse A.D            23  3  1105    5570  19.8%
Sangakkara K.C        42  4  2187   11142  19.6%

Bradman has scored a phenomenal 30+%. We should not forget that many of the third innings would have been declared. Note Kallis's near 20% share.

6.1. Match Fourth innings analysis: Table ordered by Batting average

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge

Mitchell B            12  5   629  89.86
Stollmeyer J.B        10  4   518  86.33
Bradman D.G           15  5   734  73.40
Hussey M.E.K          12  4   505  63.12
Hunte C.C             13  4   549  61.00
Boycott G             34 13  1234  58.76
Gavaskar S.M          33  9  1398  58.25
Hobbs J.B             23  6   979  57.59
Younis Khan           20  6   806  57.57
Javed Miandad         22  7   816  54.40
Ponting R.T           39 14  1358  54.32
Sutcliffe H           15  3   644  53.67
Stackpole K.R         19  5   749  53.50
Greenidge C.G         38 12  1383  53.19
Smith G.C             31  6  1322  52.88
Hayden M.L            39 13  1288  49.54
Chappell G.S          25 11   688  49.14
Jayawardene D.P.M.D   27  9   879  48.83
Dexter E.R            16  5   535  48.64
Taylor R.L            11  0   532  48.36

Finally we have an average table in which Bradman has been relegated to third place. He averages a mere mortal level 73+. Mitchell of South Africa and Stollmeyer of West Indies lead the table with 80+ averages. Note Mike Hussey's high average.

6.2. Match Fourth innings analysis: Table ordered by Runs scored

Batsman             Inns No  Runs   Avge

Lara B.C              46  5  1440  35.12
Dravid R              50 17  1400  42.42
Gavaskar S.M          33  9  1398  58.25
Greenidge C.G         38 12  1383  53.19
Atherton M.A          39  6  1375  41.67
Tendulkar S.R         50 15  1371  39.17
Chanderpaul S         41 10  1364  44.00
Ponting R.T           39 14  1358  54.32
Smith G.C             31  6  1322  52.88
Hayden M.L            39 13  1288  49.54

Lara leads the modern list of batsmen. It must be remembered that West Indies, being considerably weak, probably played more fourth innings than the other teams. There were very few times when West Indies had the luxury of innings wins or 9-10 wicket wins.

6.3. Match Fourth innings analysis: Table ordered by % of Team runs

Batsman             Inns No  Runs TeamRuns %Share

Stollmeyer J.B        10  4   518    1419  36.5%
Mitchell B            12  5   629    2312  27.2%
Greenidge C.G         38 12  1383    5369  25.8%
Bradman D.G           15  5   734    2901  25.3%
Hunte C.C             13  4   549    2215  24.8%

Stollymeyer scored 36% of the runs. However the cut-off here is 500 runs.

As I have already explained, I have deliberately kept my comments to a minimal level since the article already has 18 tables. Readers can send in their own comments.

To view/down-load the complete Innings performance tables, please click on links given below. Each of these files has three tables.

Team First innings table: please click/right-click here.
Team Second innings table: please click/right-click here.

Match First innings table: please click/right-click here.
Match Second innings table: please click/right-click here.
Match Third innings table: please click/right-click here.
Match Fourth innings table: please click/right-click here.

Abhi had a very unusual request. He wanted me to find a way of determining the number of hours Tendulkar was on field during his international career. This was such an unconventional request that it intrigued me a lot. I set about the methodology, which turned out to be quite a bit tricky. Then, as I am wont to do, I decided to expand the scope of the exercise to all the players. That complicated the exercise further. But the results are fascinating.

First I did the exercise only for Test Cricket. Later I extended the same to ODIs. This article includes both.

I decided to use the balls faced, bowled, kept wicket or fielded as the base for all calculations. This is the most consistent measure and is available completely for most recent matches. I had to do some extrapolating for earlier matches, especially for the balls faced by the batsmen. The bowler balls and the fielder balls are, however, always available.

I decided to split the information into broadly two categories. One is the Active Balls, during which time the player has to be 100% aware and involved all the time and the other is the Passive Balls, during which the player is not at the centre of action. The bowler, batsman, batsman at the non-striker end and the wicket-keeper are always at the centre of action.

Active Balls refer to the following types of activities and can be added with reasonable amount of conviction..

- Batsman facing the bowling directly,
- Batsman at the non-striker end,
- Bowler delivering the ball and
- Wicket-keeper engaged in keeping.

Passive Balls refer to the following type of activities.

- Player fielding.

A few footnotes.

1. It is accepted that the two Batsman-related activities are not necessarily equivalent. In one, the batsman faces the ball, plays the same and then runs, if required. In the other, the player only runs, if required. However these are quite integrated activities and I did not want to affix an ad-hoc % of involvement level. Instead consider this as two sides of one activity, one requiring 120% effort and the other, 80% effort. Since the two numbers are almost the same for most players, this works out very well.

2. The bowler effort is split further into the fast bowler effort, requiring more effort and the spinner deliveries, requiring lesser effort. This takes care of the additional run-up required.

3. The wicket-keeper effort is valued as equivalent to the batsman-at-crease effort in view of the intense effort that is required before, during and after the delivery.

4. The Fielder effort will be taken in terms of time the same as wicket-keeper effort but will be given in a separate table since this represents much less taxing and lighter work-load. No way can we split this as close to the stumps or outfield because of the non-availability of data. Anyhow the close fielders might have to concentrate more but the outfielders would be running more. So this would about cancel out. Let us also ignore the few minutes players take off to get to the pavilion to have one or more breaks. There is no data on that. In all these cases I have avoided any ad-hoc weights.

So it is clear that there is present a certain amount of guesswork and approximation. However the idea is not to strive for unnecessary accuracy but move forward on the uncharted seas.

I will convert each delivery into time by using 42.5 seconds per delivery. This works out well across the years. Maybe they bowled more overs during the early years. But this works to nearly six and half playing hours per day which is the norm. I am not going to sit here and worry about the West Indian pace bowlers, or for that matter, the recent Indian teams, bowling at 12 overs per hour. They stay longer on the field, by choice.

There will be a slight tweaking for bowlers. The pace bowlers' deliveries would be clocked at 45 seconds and the spinners at 40 seconds. This will even out to the magical 42.5 seconds over the millions of deliveries bowled. It is possible that the fast bowlers expend more effort during their bowling efforts than the spinners. However I have decided that the additional seconds assigned will compensate for this partly. I do not want to assign any arbitrary effort related weight. The keepers remain at 42.5 seconds which evens out to their keeping for both types of bowlers.

I will do three tables. The first will be one on the batting and bowling times of players, other than wicket-keepers (who have kept wicket for a minimum of 10000 balls). The second will be on the fielding hours spent by these players. The third will be a special one for wicket-keepers on their keeping and batting duties. All the tables will cover players who have played in 25 or more Test matches or 40 ODI matches. These are long lists with around 500 players. Hence only the top-20 will be shown in the article.

Tests: Non-keeper Player - Batting/Bowling hours table

Player (Bat/Bow) Team Mats  <--Total--> <-Bat:Act-> <-Bat:Pas-> <-Bowling->
                            Hours Hrs/M Balls Hours Balls Hours Balls Hours

Kallis J.H        Saf  145  821.5- 5.67 26416-311.9 25911-305.9 18337-203.7
Tendulkar S.R     Ind  177  676.6- 3.82 27123-320.2 25852-305.2  4096- 51.2
Dravid R          Ind  150  676.4- 4.51 28492-336.4 28678-338.6   120-  1.5
Border A.R        Aus  156  655.9- 4.20 25460-300.6 25855-305.2  4009- 50.1
Kumble A          Ind  132  655.1- 4.96  6359- 75.1  5876- 69.4 40856-510.7
Sobers G.St.A     Win   93  638.6- 6.87 16884-199.3 16884-199.3 21599-240.0
Warne S.K         Aus  145  633.2- 4.37  5411- 63.9  5127- 60.5 40704-508.8
Waugh S.R         Aus  168  624.6- 3.72 22495-265.6 23065-272.3  7805- 86.7
Muralitharan M    Slk  133  595.9- 4.48  1939- 22.9  1908- 22.5 44040-550.5
Kapil Dev N       Ind  131  539.6- 4.12  9798-115.7  9798-115.7 27740-308.2
Gavaskar S.M      Ind  125  514.7- 4.12 21641-255.5 21597-255.0   380-  4.2
Chanderpaul S     Win  129  513.9- 3.98 20806-245.6 20942-247.2  1680- 21.0
Vettori D.L       Nzl  103  497.3- 4.83  7036- 83.1  7337- 86.6 26206-327.6
Ponting R.T       Aus  152  494.8- 3.26 20828-245.9 20580-243.0   539-  6.0
Boycott G         Eng  108  488.8- 4.53 20258-239.2 20258-239.2   944- 10.5
Botham I.T        Eng  102  486.0- 4.76 10341-122.1 10294-121.5 21815-242.4
Atherton M.A      Eng  115  472.6- 4.11 19793-233.7 19809-233.9   408-  5.1
Gooch G.A         Eng  118  468.8- 3.97 18588-219.4 18625-219.9  2655- 29.5
Hammond W.R       Eng   85  467.8- 5.50 16061-189.6 16061-189.6  7969- 88.5
Lara B.C          Win  131  464.2- 3.54 20175-238.2 19086-225.3    60-  0.8

The top-3 players based on the hours/match value are given below.

T.W Goddard  (Saf) : 6.99 
G.S.A Sobers (Win) : 6.87
V.M,Mankad (Ind)   : 6.84

Tests: Wicket keepers - Keeping/Batting hours table

Player (Keeper)  Team Mats  <--Total-->  <-Keeping->  <-Bat:Act-> <-Bat:Pas->
                            Hours Hrs/M  Balls Hours  Balls Hours Balls Hours

Boucher M.V       Saf  139 1675.2-12.05 121311-1432.1 10596-125.1  9995-118.0
Healy I.A         Aus  119 1532.6-12.88 112020-1322.5  8798-103.9  9004-106.3
Knott A.P.E       Eng   95 1388.4-14.61  97030-1145.5 10310-121.7 10264-121.2
Marsh R.W         Aus   96 1352.6-14.09  99284-1172.1  7646- 90.3  7646- 90.3
Stewart A.J       Eng  133 1266.1- 9.52  72712- 858.4 17253-203.7 17279-204.0
Evans T.G         Eng   91 1215.4-13.36  90489-1068.3  6232- 73.6  6232- 73.6
Gilchrist A.C     Aus   96 1210.0-12.60  88888-1049.4  6796- 80.2  6810- 80.4
Kirmani S.M.H     Ind   88 1143.7-13.00  85372-1007.9  5754- 67.9  5754- 67.9
Wasim Bari        Pak   81  992.2-12.25  78217- 923.4  2914- 34.4  2914- 34.4
Dujon P.J.L       Win   81  966.7-11.93  69050- 815.2  6416- 75.7  6416- 75.7
Parore A.C        Nzl   78  936.5-12.01  65280- 770.7  7101- 83.8  6949- 82.0
Jacobs R.D        Win   65  892.7-13.73  64901- 766.2  5392- 63.7  5322- 62.8
Flower A          Zim   63  877.0-13.92  52923- 624.8 10645-125.7 10715-126.5
Sangakkara K.C    Slk   94  875.1- 9.31  44929- 530.4 14732-173.9 14464-170.8
Murray D.L        Win   62  864.1-13.94  65426- 772.4  3885- 45.9  3885- 45.9
Waite J.H.B       Saf   50  847.2-16.94  58950- 695.9  6405- 75.6  6405- 75.6
Oldfield W.A.S    Aus   54  802.3-14.86  61715- 728.6  3122- 36.9  3122- 36.9
Moin Khan         Pak   69  801.5-11.62  57193- 675.2  5440- 64.2  5258- 62.1
Smith I.D.S       Nzl   63  795.7-12.63  59469- 702.1  3965- 46.8  3965- 46.8
Engineer F.M      Ind   46  765.8-16.65  52768- 623.0  6051- 71.4  6051- 71.4

The top-3 players based on the hours/match value are given below.

J.H,B,Waite (Saf)    : 16.94
F.M.Engineer (Ind)   : 16.65
F.C.M.Alexander (Win): 15.57

Tests: Non-keeper Player Fielding hours table

Player (Bat/Bow)    Team Mats  <-Fld Tot--> Fielding
                               Hours Hrs/Mat  Balls

Tendulkar S.R        Ind  177  1997.5-11.29  169199
Waugh S.R            Aus  168  1758.4-10.47  148945
Dravid R             Ind  150  1746.1-11.64  147902
Border A.R           Aus  156  1735.8-11.13  147035
Ponting R.T          Aus  152  1684.7-11.08  142706
Lara B.C             Win  131  1495.7-11.42  126698
Gavaskar S.M         Ind  125  1456.6-11.65  123382
Chanderpaul S        Win  129  1408.2-10.92  119287
Laxman V.V.S         Ind  120  1381.2-11.51  116997
Gower D.I            Eng  117  1339.5-11.45  113463
Cowdrey M.C          Eng  114  1322.4-11.60  112019
Boycott G            Eng  108  1320.1-12.22  111824
Kallis J.H           Saf  145  1320.1- 9.10  111818
Vengsarkar D.B       Ind  116  1309.1-11.28  110885
Waugh M.E            Aus  128  1301.7-10.17  110259
Lloyd C.H            Win  110  1294.1-11.76  109614
Gooch G.A            Eng  118  1293.7-10.96  109584
Ganguly S.C          Ind  113  1286.4-11.38  108962
Javed Miandad        Pak  124  1273.0-10.27  107833
Inzamam-ul-Haq       Pak  120  1270.8-10.59  107645

The top-3 players based on the hours/match value are given below.

E.Weekes (Win)       : 15.12
J.B.Stollymeyer (Win): 14.59
A.P.Sheahan (Aus)    : 14.43

ODIs: Non-keeper Player - Batting/Bowling hours table

Player (Bat/Bow) Team Mats  <--Total--> <-Bat:Act-> <-Bat:Pas-> <-Bowling->
                            Hours Hrs/M Balls Hours Balls Hours Balls Hours

Tendulkar S.R     Ind  442  590.2- 1.34 20401-240.8 21095-249.0  8026-100.3
Jayasuriya S.T    Slk  443  535.9- 1.21 14719-173.8 14968-176.7 14832-185.4
Kallis J.H        Saf  307  471.0- 1.53 15117-178.5 15115-178.4 10270-114.1
Ganguly S.C       Ind  311  413.9- 1.33 15416-182.0 15348-181.2  4561- 50.7
Ponting R.T       Aus  352  384.6- 1.09 16226-191.6 16214-191.4   150-  1.7
Inzamam-ul-Haq    Pak  378  379.8- 1.00 15812-186.7 16299-192.4    58-  0.7
de Silva P.A      Slk  308  335.9- 1.09 11443-135.1 11511-135.9  5196- 64.9
Waugh S.R         Aus  325  334.6- 1.03  9971-117.7 10041-118.5  8847- 98.3
Haynes D.L        Win  238  323.6- 1.36 13707-161.8 13679-161.5    30-  0.3
Waugh M.E         Aus  244  307.8- 1.26 11053-130.5 11116-131.2  3687- 46.1
Atapattu M.S      Slk  268  306.7- 1.14 12594-148.7 13335-157.4    51-  0.6
Lara B.C          Win  298  304.5- 1.02 13086-154.5 12651-149.4    49-  0.6
Mohammad Yousuf   Pak  288  304.1- 1.06 12942-152.8 12814-151.3     2-  0.0
Azharuddin M      Ind  334  304.1- 0.91 12669-149.6 12568-148.4   552-  6.1
Gayle C.H         Win  219  301.7- 1.38  9412-111.1  8925-105.4  6814- 85.2
Chanderpaul S     Win  260  301.4- 1.16 12160-143.6 12590-148.6   740-  9.2
Shahid Afridi     Pak  306  299.5- 0.98  5676- 67.0  5811- 68.6 13110-163.9
Wasim Akram       Pak  356  298.9- 0.84  4208- 49.7  3992- 47.1 18186-202.1
Flower G.W        Zim  221  298.1- 1.35  9723-114.8  9745-115.0  5461- 68.3
Hooper C.L        Win  227  294.6- 1.30  7517- 88.7  7303- 86.2  9573-119.7

The top-3 players based on the hours/match value are given below.

G.R.Marsh (Aus)  : 1.55
J.H.Kallis (Saf) : 1.53
N.C.Johnson (Zim): 1.52

ODIs: Wicket keepers - Keeping/Batting hours table

Player (Keeper)  Team Mats  <--Total-->  <-Keeping->  <-Bat:Act-> <-Bat:Pas->
                            Hours Hrs/M  Balls Hours  Balls Hours Balls Hours

Gilchrist A.C     Aus  287 1121.5- 3.91  75983- 897.0  9922-117.1  9092-107.3
Boucher M.V       Saf  292 1041.5- 3.57  77467- 914.5  5505- 65.0  5253- 62.0
Sangakkara K.C    Slk  278  974.1- 3.50  59746- 705.3 11404-134.6 11362-134.1
Flower A          Zim  213  805.2- 3.78  49843- 588.4  9097-107.4  9268-109.4
Moin Khan         Pak  219  765.4- 3.50  56703- 669.4  4017- 47.4  4118- 48.6
Kaluwitharana R.S Slk  189  720.6- 3.81  51344- 606.1  4776- 56.4  4917- 58.0
Dhoni M.S         Ind  172  681.2- 3.96  44727- 528.0  6489- 76.6  6486- 76.6
Dujon P.J.L       Win  169  617.6- 3.65  46407- 547.9  2955- 34.9  2955- 34.9
Stewart A.J       Eng  170  612.6- 3.60  38299- 452.1  6827- 80.6  6764- 79.9
Healy I.A         Aus  168  601.9- 3.58  46818- 552.7  2104- 24.8  2059- 24.3
McCullum B.B      Nzl  178  587.7- 3.30  41361- 488.3  4189- 49.5  4234- 50.0
Dravid R          Ind  339  585.3- 1.73  18884- 222.9 15124-178.5 15567-183.8
Parore A.C        Nzl  179  574.7- 3.21  38949- 459.8  4874- 57.5  4860- 57.4
Rashid Latif      Pak  166  564.4- 3.40  43429- 512.7  2237- 26.4  2146- 25.3
Jacobs R.D        Win  146  513.0- 3.51  37901- 447.4  2662- 31.4  2895- 34.2
Mongia N.R        Ind  140  491.8- 3.51  37766- 445.8  1843- 21.8  2053- 24.2
Taibu T           Zim  130  477.1- 3.67  32030- 378.1  4249- 50.2  4131- 48.8
Kamran Akmal      Pak  123  462.8- 3.76  33228- 392.3  3011- 35.5  2965- 35.0
Khaled Mashud     Bng  126  453.3- 3.60  31732- 374.6  3318- 39.2  3345- 39.5
Richardson D.J    Saf  122  426.3- 3.49  33508- 395.6  1304- 15.4  1302- 15.4

The top-3 players based on the hours/match value are given below.

M.S.Dhoni (Ind)     : 3.96
A.C.Gilchrist (Aus) : 3.91
A.Bagai (Can)       : 3.85

ODIs: Non-keeper Player Fielding hours table

Player (Bat/Bow)    Team Mats  <-Fld Tot--> Fielding
                               Hours Hrs/Mat  Balls

Tendulkar S.R        Ind  442  1288.8- 2.92  109168
Jayasuriya S.T       Slk  443  1219.1- 2.75  103266
Inzamam-ul-Haq       Pak  378  1184.3- 3.13  100318
Ponting R.T          Aus  352  1105.8- 3.14   93667
Azharuddin M         Ind  334  1046.3- 3.13   88632
Jayawardene D.P.M.D  Slk  328  1013.5- 3.09   85847
Waugh S.R            Aus  325   959.4- 2.95   81267
Lara B.C             Win  298   931.7- 3.13   78924
Ganguly S.C          Ind  311   919.3- 2.96   77874
Mohammad Yousuf      Pak  288   907.3- 3.15   76850
de Silva P.A         Slk  308   907.1- 2.95   76834
Wasim Akram          Pak  356   887.9- 2.49   75212
Fleming S.P          Nzl  280   873.2- 3.12   73961
Atapattu M.S         Slk  268   859.8- 3.21   72830
Muralitharan M       Slk  338   857.9- 2.54   72670
Kallis J.H           Saf  307   846.5- 2.76   71703
Border A.R           Aus  273   842.1- 3.08   71328
Vaas WPUJC           Slk  324   838.7- 2.59   71042
Saleem Malik         Pak  283   832.4- 2.94   70511
Shahid Afridi        Pak  306   814.2- 2.66   68967

The top-4 players based on the hours/match value are given below.

D.I.Gower (Eng)    : 3.41
M.A.Atherton (Eng) : 3.41
A.J.Lamb (Eng)     : 3.39
Fairbrother (Eng)  : 3.39

A final compilation. I have added the Active time spent by players across the two formats and have given below the top 5 players in two classifications. One is the table for non-keepers, based on their batting and bowling times. The other is the table on Wicket-keepers based on their keeping and batting times. Let me add that I might have added different varieties of the fruit, but these are all apples.

Batting/Bowling

J.H.Kallis   (Saf)   : 1292.5 hours
S.R.Tendulkar (Ind)  : 1266.8 hours
R.Dravid (Ind)       : 1261.7 hours (Includes wicket-keeping time in 
about 65 ODI matches)
S.R.Waugh (Aus)      :  959.2 hours
S.T.Jayasuriya (Slk) :  902.2 hours.

This list would not surprise anyone. Kallis is the supreme all-rounder, having scored 22949 runs and captured 529 wickets. Tendulkar, who, until couple of years back, could be called an all-rounder in ODIs, has scored 32290 runs and captured 199 wickets. Dravid (22828 runs and 5 wickets) is here only because of the 18800+ balls he kept wicket for. Steve Waugh (18496 runs and 287 wickets) and Jayasuriya (20401 runs and 420 wickets) are close to being called all-rounders, at least in ODIs.

WicketKeeping/Batting

M.Boucher (Saf)      : 2716.7 hours
A.C.Gilchrist (Aus)  : 2331.5 hours
I.Healy (Aus)        : 2133.5 hours
A.C.Stewart (Eng)    : 1878.7 hours
K.C.Sangakkara (Slk) : 1849.6 hours.

This list has three of the greatest keeper-batsmen of all times at the top. Boucher, still counting, with his tally of 437 matches is way ahead of Gilchrist who had played 383 matches. Stewart and Sangakkara have relinquished their keeping duties often but have kept wicket for tens of thousands of balls. This is a recognition of the most demanding task on the field. The keepers are unheralded if they are not the high profile ones like Dhoni and Gilchrist.

And the last table. I have added the Passive times from the Test and ODI tables and given the top-5 here. These timings might vary, fielders fielding in the slips, point, mid-on or long-off might have varying levels of activity. At least they would be different varieties of bananas to justify the addition. First slip might not be Passive, but nothing can be done about it. The time spent off filed is also ignored. No data is available. Kallis might have spent time off the field but so would the other players. The following table represents the total fielding time spent on field. I am not going to add the Active and Passive times. The readers can do that after applying a factor to the passive times.

Fielding times for non-keepers

S.R.Tendulkar:  3286.3 hours
R.T.Ponting:    2790.5 hours
S.R.Waugh:      2717.8 hours
A.R.Border:     2577.9 hours
Inzamam-ul-haq: 2455.1 hours

To view/down-load the complete Player on-field times tables of all players who have played over 25 Tests/40 ODIs, please click on links given below.

Tests: Non-keeper player - Batting/Bowling times table, please click/right-click here.
Tests: Wicket-keeper - Keeping/Batting times table, please click/right-click here.
Tests: Non-keeper player - Fielding times table, please click/right-click here.

ODIs: Non-keeper player - Batting/Bowling times table, please click/right-click here.
ODIs: Wicket-keeper - Keeping/Batting times table, please click/right-click here.
ODIs: Non-keeper player - Fielding times table, please click/right-click here.

Happy New Year, everyone. I have more statistically sophisticated posts coming up (including a very belated follow-up to my last post from September), but here's something altogether more trivial: a quick end-of-year number-crunch.

I'll leave Test and ODI lists to others; what I find fascinating, at this time of year, is to zoom right out and look at all kinds of competitive cricket put together. The tables at the foot of this post show who's scored most runs and who's taken most wickets in the course of all 2010's top-class games (all first-class, List-A, and T20 cricket).

Of course, these numbers are completely imbalanced by the different mixtures of games contested by each player, so we shouldn't draw any inferences about which players are fundamentally better than others on the basis of these aggregates. Nevertheless, I always find it interesting to see who's done most heavy lifting over the course of a calendar year. Please don't ask me what this is supposed to demonstrate: if you don't think it's interesting in and of itself, then this isn't the blog post for you!

Here are some things that I noticed while compiling these tables.

* Jacques Rudolph's clear lead at the top of the run scoring chart is at least partially attributable to the sheer volume of cricket he has played: his matches encompassed a total of 209 playing days, which makes him the hardest-working cricketer of the year. (There's a lot of rubbish talked about the modern cricketer's increased workload, by the way: there were only 65 days of 1961 on which Bob Barber didn't play competitive cricket.)

* Imran Tahir bowled most balls, took most wickets, and bagged most five-fers, but he also conceded most runs. Most maidens (198 of them) were bowled by Murali Kartik.

* Jonathan Trott did something extraordinary in 2010: he scored over 3,000 runs (including more than 1,300 in white-ball cricket) without hitting a single six.

* In marked contrast, Yusuf Pathan cleared the fence 121 times in just 50 knocks, making him the most prolific six-hitter of the year, by some distance.

* James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Steve Finn all took 99 competitive wickets in 2010. Chris Tremlett went just one better.

* Chris Gayle only reached three figures once in 50 knocks this year. Mind you, all of those figures were three.

* There is a preponderance of slow bowlers amongst the most prolific wicket-takers of the year. What is particularly interesting about this is that, overall, the proportion of wickets taken by spinners (a hair over 30%) is the lowest it has been at any stage in the last 100 years. This suggests that there's a pretty big gap between the best twirlers and their less distinguished counterparts, at the moment. There's room for some digging, there, but I promised this would be a superficial analysis.

* Shaun Tait bowled 94 wides at a rate of one every 12-and-a-bit balls. Monty Panesar, on the other hand, bowled 4,128 balls of which only three prompted the umpire to stretch his arms.

* Alastair Cook has now completed 251 first-class innings without ever being run out.

* My, Mohammad Yousuf's year was a stinker. His FC and List-A averages for 2010 are both lower than 20, and he failed to reach three figures in any form of the game.

* New Zealand's Jeetan Patel had as bad a time of it with the ball, picking up a total of 20 wickets at 73.20 in 28 innings. He was the only bowler to pick up 10 or more wickets in all cricket at a strike rate in excess of 100.

* When considering aggregates across all forms of the game, the outstanding all-rounder of the calendar year has to be Shakib Al Hasan, who scored 2,061 runs and took 136 wickets (with honourable mentions for James Franklin - 2,866 & 87 - and Ravi Bopara - 2,859 & 80).

* In a year in which - quite apart from his memorable exploits in the red-ball game - Hashim Amla scored 1,216 List-A runs at an average of 70.61 and a strike rate over 100, it's perhaps a bit of a surprise that no one thought to give him a go in a single T20 match.

* In a year in which he was perhaps more famous for catches he didn't take, Kamran Akmal nonetheless amassed more wicketkeeping dismissals (94ct, 18st) than anyone else. 2010's neatest wicketkeepers seem to have come from Down Under: Chris Nevin, Luke Ronchi, and Chris Hartley were the only stumpers who conceded fewer than 3 byes per 1,000 balls. Of those without gloves, David Hussey's 68 catches are several more than anyone else managed.

* Sachin Tendulkar is now the 19th-highest-scoring batsman in all top-level cricket, with just over 46 thousand runs, having passed Alvin Kallicharan, Kim Barnett, John Edrich, Colin Cowdrey, Glenn Turner, and Zaheer Abbas during the course of the year. (BTW, here's something I only noticed when researching that last sentence: Tendulkar's second innings v South Africa at Durban was his 1,000th in all competitive cricket - 440 FC + 516 ListA + 44 T20.)

* Finally, please forgive me a moment's chauvinism regarding the only team I really care about, but I'd just like to draw attention to the excellent figures achieved in 2010 by Somerset's young prospect Jos Buttler. His performances in white-ball cricket (average 40.18) were particularly exciting, especially as his strike rate (154.88) is second only to Shahid Afridi's on the worldwide list for the year (the only other batsmen exceeding 140 were also very eminent hitters, in the shapes of Pathan, Gilchrist, and Trescothick). Those of us with an eye on the West-Country's finest have very, very high hopes for him.

Table 1: Most runs scored in all forms of cricket in 2010

Name	I	R	Ave	SR	100	50		FCI	FCR	FCAv		LstAI	LstAR	LstAAv		T20I	T20R	T20Av
JA Rudolph	87	3,788	47.35	72.12	9	24		43	1,975	48.17		27	1,411	61.35		17	402	25.13
IJL Trott	74	3,173	48.82	61.10	8	16		40	1,860	53.14		19	940	55.29		15	373	28.69
MJ Cosgrove	81	3,140	40.78	91.20	8	17		42	1,820	46.67		17	633	37.24		22	687	32.71
ND McKenzie	88	3,096	42.41	65.37	7	18		36	1,555	50.16		24	806	38.38		28	735	35.00
DJ Hussey	88	3,093	44.19	92.85	4	15		29	1,423	56.92		12	395	39.50		47	1,275	36.43
HM Amla	49	3,002	68.23	69.00	11	16		30	1,731	66.58		19	1,271	70.61
AN Cook	70	2,984	47.37	64.49	8	16		46	2,090	50.98		13	506	42.17		11	388	38.80
JEC Franklin	88	2,866	41.54	70.50	5	11		36	1,254	39.19		21	763	69.36		31	849	32.65
JH Kallis	58	2,860	63.56	75.80	7	19		19	1,198	79.87		14	753	75.30		25	909	45.45
RS Bopara	87	2,859	38.12	83.21	4	18		21	747	39.32		28	1,222	53.13		38	890	26.97
IR Bell	59	2,807	56.14	67.25	6	18		31	1,540	59.23		20	1,003	59.00		8	264	37.71
Z de Bruyn	87	2,775	42.69	76.66	4	16		32	1,320	44.00		26	984	54.67		29	471	27.71
JHK Adams	68	2,685	43.31	62.81	6	14		29	1,351	48.25		11	496	49.60		28	838	34.92
JC Hildreth	57	2,557	55.59	80.97	8	12		23	1,440	65.45		15	658	65.80		19	459	32.79
SR Tendulkar	45	2,536	65.03	72.05	8	11		24	1,566	74.57		2	204	204.00		19	766	45.06
SM Davies	63	2,508	42.51	92.10	3	19		23	1,108	55.40		22	921	43.86		18	479	26.61
SR Watson	68	2,445	37.62	71.81	3	20		28	1,172	45.08		22	795	36.14		18	478	28.12
AB de Villiers	54	2,420	55.00	77.44	8	11		18	996	76.62		19	1,109	73.93		17	315	19.69
KC Sangakkara	62	2,416	43.93	82.63	4	14		9	695	99.29		27	1,045	43.54		26	676	28.17
MEK Hussey	65	2,385	47.70	70.13	4	15		26	1,088	47.30		24	897	49.83		15	400	44.44
DPMD Jayawardene	63	2,341	42.56	96.34	5	15		8	407	50.88		23	778	40.95		32	1,156	41.29
AJ Strauss	61	2,337	41.00	65.32	5	15		43	1,464	37.54		18	873	48.50
ME Trescothick	61	2,335	41.70	83.90	4	16		28	1,397	58.21		14	366	26.14		19	572	31.78
OA Shah	72	2,304	38.40	69.78	3	12		24	824	35.83		20	744	46.50		28	736	35.05
V Kohli	60	2,304	44.31	87.84	5	13		9	514	64.25		33	1,344	44.80		18	446	31.86
SK Raina	67	2,274	42.91	100.40	3	15		15	552	39.43		23	680	40.00		29	1,042	47.36
MR Ramprakash	48	2,252	53.62	64.49	5	10		28	1,595	61.35		9	326	46.57		11	331	36.78
V Sehwag	52	2,242	45.76	101.59	6	12		26	1,440	60.00		12	446	40.55		14	356	25.43
SM Ervine	65	2,239	40.71	86.72	3	10		31	1,369	50.70		10	359	35.90		24	511	28.39
LRPL Taylor	74	2,189	34.75	100.64	1	14		11	433	39.36		19	676	37.56		44	1,080	31.76
BRM Taylor	53	2,187	47.54	79.82	7	7		15	975	75.00		25	963	43.77		13	249	22.64
C Williams	51	2,153	46.80	83.10	5	13		27	1,549	61.96		17	466	33.29		7	138	19.71
RG Sharma	56	2,147	45.68	90.17	5	11		14	947	94.70		22	702	33.43		20	498	31.13
A Mukund	40	2,136	54.77	65.74	5	13		18	1,030	57.22		15	938	62.53		7	168	28.00
AN Kervezee	69	2,112	33.00	79.25	4	8		32	1,321	45.55		18	490	27.22		19	301	17.71
PA Jaques	69	2,092	33.21	77.74	2	9		36	943	26.94		16	765	51.00		17	384	29.54
A Lyth	51	2,084	40.86	67.93	3	12		29	1,509	52.03		12	348	29.00		10	227	22.70
Shakib Al Hasan	76	2,061	29.03	76.76	2	10		30	827	29.54		36	1,070	32.42		10	164	16.40
JWA Taylor	61	2,055	41.94	62.31	4	12		31	1,134	42.00		16	514	46.73		14	407	37.00
MJ Clarke	58	2,039	39.98	63.90	4	9		25	990	41.25		20	777	51.80		13	272	22.67
MM Ali	57	2,038	38.45	73.05	4	13		30	1,270	47.04		12	383	31.92		15	385	27.50
S Dhawan	53	2,038	40.76	79.02	4	9		22	950	45.24		17	783	52.20		14	305	21.79
C Kieswetter	64	2,038	33.41	89.43	3	12		18	467	27.47		23	859	37.35		23	712	33.90
HJH Marshall	59	2,021	36.75	76.96	2	12		34	1,318	41.19		13	420	32.31		12	283	28.30
BB McCullum	58	2,011	40.22	90.14	5	8		12	758	75.80		15	324	21.60		31	929	37.16
AW Gale	61	2,009	39.39	73.35	4	10		24	950	47.50		20	635	35.28		17	424	32.62
MA Carberry	54	2,008	39.37	60.98	7	5		30	1,449	49.97		12	346	31.45		12	213	19.36
MW Goodwin	54	2,008	40.98	79.34	4	11		26	1,201	52.22		11	402	40.20		17	405	25.31
DI Stevens	64	2,003	40.06	84.12	4	8		26	979	42.57		14	451	50.11		24	573	31.83
AM Rahane	44	2,000	50.00	75.47	7	8		23	1,269	66.79		16	690	43.13		5	41	8.20
full list available here

Table 2: Most wickets taken in all forms of cricket in 2010

Name	I	balls	R	W	Ave	SR	Econ	5WI		FCI	FCW	FCAv		LstAI	LstAW	LstAAv		T20I	T20W	T20Av
Imran Tahir	88	6,444	4,063	179	22.70	36.00	3.78	11		44	116	23.89		28	43	20.72		16	20	20.05
Shakib Al Hasan	74	5,801	3,566	136	26.22	42.65	3.69	5		28	62	30.05		36	62	23.81		10	12	18.92
GP Swann	56	5,103	2,817	128	22.01	39.87	3.31	6		29	75	26.39		15	32	17.72		12	21	12.90
Danish Kaneria	66	5,038	3,335	119	28.03	42.34	3.97	5		35	77	29.91		15	21	27.14		16	21	22.00
AC Thomas	67	3,503	2,468	117	21.09	29.94	4.23	2		26	49	24.53		20	32	23.38		21	36	14.39
M Kartik	76	5,456	2,783	114	24.41	47.86	3.06	6		32	66	23.29		14	25	19.56		30	23	32.91
AU Rashid	62	4,144	2,808	106	26.49	39.09	4.07	3		27	57	31.30		15	14	36.07		20	35	14.83
RJ Harris	46	2,728	1,937	104	18.63	26.23	4.26	5		12	35	19.89		18	46	16.87		16	23	20.22
RJ Peterson	77	5,401	3,166	103	30.74	52.44	3.52	1		35	67	28.46		19	20	33.20		23	16	37.19
L Klazinga	53	3,542	2,058	103	19.98	34.39	3.49	4		31	65	19.98		15	27	23.15		7	11	12.18
Yasir Arafat	61	3,421	2,521	102	24.72	33.54	4.42	4		27	66	20.74		8	8	49.38		26	28	27.04
CR Woakes	62	3,762	2,430	101	24.06	37.25	3.88	3		25	58	21.48		20	25	31.96		17	18	21.39
CW Henderson	56	4,560	2,262	100	22.62	45.60	2.98	4		31	70	21.74		10	16	21.50		15	14	28.29
CT Tremlett	52	3,664	2,156	100	21.56	36.64	3.53	1		29	68	20.50		7	8	43.88		16	24	17.13
JM Anderson	49	4,727	2,548	99	25.74	47.75	3.23	4		33	79	23.09		14	18	35.94		2	2	38.50
SCJ Broad	57	3,860	2,497	99	25.22	38.99	3.88	2		27	51	27.57		16	30	24.87		14	18	19.17
SM Senanayake	45	3,714	2,151	99	21.73	37.52	3.47	4		18	54	25.07		18	28	21.75		9	17	11.06
ST Finn	48	4,043	2,487	99	25.12	40.84	3.69	5		40	87	25.56		5	9	20.33		3	3	26.67
DE Bollinger	56	3,287	2,177	98	22.21	33.54	3.97	1		20	42	24.57		22	35	22.34		14	21	17.29
DJ Pattinson	60	3,959	2,619	97	27.00	40.81	3.97	2		37	68	29.07		8	9	32.11		15	20	17.65
AR Adams	40	3,542	2,089	96	21.76	36.90	3.54	6		30	82	22.20		3	2	51.00		7	12	13.92
DW Steyn	55	3,403	2,432	95	25.60	35.82	4.29	4		20	60	21.42		8	10	41.30		27	25	29.36
PT Collins	52	3,356	2,121	91	23.31	36.88	3.79	2		30	62	23.47		6	13	18.77		16	16	26.38
AJ Hall	74	3,774	2,827	91	31.07	41.47	4.49	0		30	40	33.10		24	31	31.84		20	20	25.80
Asad Ali	40	3,605	2,171	90	24.12	40.06	3.61	4		24	67	25.00		10	14	25.21		6	9	15.89
R Ashwin	49	3,319	2,168	90	24.09	36.88	3.92	5		12	37	23.62		17	25	31.16		20	28	18.39
JEC Franklin	84	3,811	2,572	87	29.56	43.80	4.05	2		39	62	23.71		17	6	72.67		28	19	35.05
M Morkel	45	3,373	2,069	87	23.78	38.77	3.68	3		22	55	23.15		12	20	25.60		11	12	23.67
S Shillingford	38	4,535	2,278	86	26.49	52.73	3.01	1		25	59	31.71		9	18	18.33		4	9	8.56
CM Bandara	51	2,989	2,242	85	26.38	35.16	4.50	3		17	38	30.97		12	22	22.09		22	25	23.16
NavedulHasan	46	2,882	1,985	85	23.35	33.91	4.13	1		25	54	22.91		9	13	34.00		12	18	17.00
TT Bresnan	58	3,976	2,575	84	30.65	47.33	3.89	1		22	41	30.32		23	33	31.55		13	10	29.10
AG Cremer	51	4,549	2,769	83	33.36	54.81	3.65	3		17	51	31.98		23	23	38.26		11	9	28.67
SA Patterson	51	3,213	2,121	81	26.19	39.67	3.96	2		24	45	26.69		13	21	22.38		14	15	30.00
GM Smith	64	3,657	2,265	81	27.96	45.15	3.72	2		34	49	30.94		13	10	39.40		17	22	16.14
NM Carter	54	3,148	2,123	81	26.21	38.86	4.05	4		22	51	22.14		15	14	43.64		17	16	23.94
KA Pollard	64	1,470	1,626	80	20.33	18.38	6.64	0						16	20	25.65		48	60	18.55
RS Bopara	58	1,775	1,722	80	21.53	22.19	5.82	1		8	11	22.64		19	36	19.39		31	33	23.48
DD Masters	52	3,751	2,033	80	25.41	46.89	3.25	1		25	53	23.08		11	15	26.13		16	12	34.83
J Lewis	54	3,285	1,997	79	25.28	41.58	3.65	0		31	55	23.18		10	16	21.88		13	8	46.50
Azhar Mahmood	55	3,342	2,119	79	26.82	42.30	3.80	4		25	50	25.80		9	6	53.67		21	23	22.04
MJ Hoggard	50	3,231	2,051	79	25.96	40.90	3.81	3		25	50	24.44		10	11	33.09		15	18	25.83
AB McDonald	60	3,389	2,158	79	27.32	42.90	3.82	2		29	41	26.85		14	14	43.93		17	24	18.42
GC Viljoen	39	3,252	2,178	78	27.92	41.69	4.02	4		29	69	26.71		10	9	37.22
Z Khan	48	2,806	2,053	78	26.32	35.97	4.39	2		17	47	21.98		10	11	37.09		21	20	30.60
Imran Ali	33	2,514	1,402	78	17.97	32.23	3.35	3		20	53	18.11		9	19	17.11		4	6	19.50
PP Ojha	48	4,414	2,590	78	33.21	56.59	3.52	1		22	45	38.82		8	9	41.89		18	24	19.42
SI Mahmood	55	3,080	2,390	77	31.04	40.00	4.66	1		23	33	38.27		13	18	31.78		19	26	21.35
DG Wright	37	3,566	1,632	77	21.19	46.31	2.75	4		30	68	19.66		4	6	35.00		3	3	28.33
R Vinay Kumar	46	2,538	1,884	76	24.79	33.39	4.45	2		14	33	21.52		11	17	35.06		21	26	22.23
MG Johnson	47	3,286	2,267	76	29.83	43.24	4.14	3		23	42	34.40		12	18	28.44		12	16	19.38
J Theron	44	1,583	1,511	76	19.88	20.83	5.73	1		3	4	33.50		16	40	17.43		25	32	21.25
DP Nannes	59	1,628	1,776	75	23.68	21.71	6.55	0						8	13	30.08		51	62	22.34
ID Blackwell	56	3,617	1,946	75	25.95	48.23	3.23	2		28	47	27.47		9	10	27.50		19	18	21.11
full list available here

This is a logical follow-up to the brace of articles on the best 1-10 Tests streaks for bowlers and batsmen. This coves the ODI matches. I have managed to have both the batsmen and bowlers in a single article by some nifty formatting.

This turned out to be a tough task since I also wanted to utilise this opportunity to build a player-performance database. This is essential since I needed to get the best 1-10 ODI performances for each player and then get the all-time best performances. I also wanted to provide the information on the top players' 1-10 ODIs best performances so that the readers could do their own comparisons. And I was sure that there would be queries on the best performances by specific players after the article was published. I wanted to be able to provide the information quickly. In fact I have also provided the huge table of all qualifying players for downloading.

First let me emphasise that this is only a run aggregate. I myself will clarify that this aggregating of runs in specific sequences of 1-10 ODIs is irrespective of opposing team, home or away, match conditions, period lapsed between matches, not outs et al. That is not the purpose of this article. Readers should appreciate this and not come in with a comment such as "opposition bowling quality is not considered". But that is wishful thinking! Anyhow I will just publish such readers' comments without any response. Also readers who worry about batting average should understand that when someone scores over 500 runs in 10 ODIs, it does not matter about averages. It is going to be quite high.

Let us now look at the tables.

Maximum runs scored in 1 to 10 ODIs

Batsman              Cty StMtId-Year  No Runs
                                     ODIs

Tendulkar S.R        Ind  (2962-2010)  1  200
Saeed Anwar          Pak  (1209-1997)  1  194
Coventry C.K         Zim  (2873-2009)  1  194
Richards I.V.A       Win  (0264-1984)  1  189
Jayasuriya S.T       Slk  (1652-2000)  1  189
...
Jayasuriya S.T       Slk  (2389-2006)  2  309
Dilshan T.M          Slk  (2932-2009)  2  283
Gower D.I            Eng  (0168-1983)  2  280
...
Gibbs H.H            Saf  (1882-2002)  3  385
Saeed Anwar          Pak  (0841-1993)  3  349
Haynes D.L           Win  (0322-1985)  3  346
...
Gibbs H.H            Saf  (1882-2002)  4  482
Tendulkar S.R        Ind  (1052-1996)  4  424
Salman Butt          Pak  (2698-2008)  4  418
Zaheer Abbas         Pak  (0163-1982)  4  418
...
Hayden M.L           Aus  (2527-2007)  5  529
Gibbs H.H            Saf  (1882-2002)  5  497
Salman Butt          Pak  (2698-2008)  5  488
...
Hayden M.L           Aus  (2527-2007)  6  576
Salman Butt          Pak  (2700-2008)  6  550
Waugh M.E            Aus  (1037-1996)  6  545
...
Salman Butt          Pak  (2698-2008)  7  626
Amla H.M             Saf  (2979-2010)  7  622
Hayden M.L           Aus  (2527-2007)  7  617
...
Amla H.M             Saf  (2963-2010)  8  709
Salman Butt          Pak  (2696-2008)  8  659
Hayden M.L           Aus  (2526-2007)  8  641
...
Amla H.M             Saf  (2962-2010)  9  743
Javed Miandad        Pak  (0437-1987)  9  697
Waugh M.E            Aus  (1033-1996)  9  685
...
Amla H.M             Saf  (2963-2010) 10  768
Hayden M.L           Aus  (2527-2007) 10  761
de Villiers A.B      Saf  (2962-2010) 10  730

The batting honours have been widely distributed. Amla leads with 3 top positions, followed by Hayden and Gibbs with 2 each. Tendulkar, Jayasuriya and Salman Butt share the remaining three spots. Salman Butt also figures in the top 3 of quite a few mini-tables. Gibbs is also well-represented.

- Tendulkar's 200 is in his last innings in ODI cricket.
- Upto 5 match streaks, the top batsmen have averaged over 100 runs per ODI.
- Amla's streak is vintage-2010. His 2010 form, leading upto the New Year and World Cup is phenomenal. Not to forget the recent form of de Villiers.

I am sure readers would like to see the best 1-10 ODI sequence aggregates of their favourite batsmen. Instead of cluttering up the main article I have uploaded the file and readers can view/download the complete player file.

To view/down-load the complete 1-10 ODIs table, please click/right-click here.

To view/down-load the complete player table, please click/right-click here. The batsmen who have scored 2000 runs or more are included.

Now for the bowler sequence table.

Maximum wickets captured in 1 to 10 ODIs

Bowler               Cty  StMtId-Year  No Wkts
                                      ODIs

Vaas WPUJC           Slk  (1776-2001)  1    8 
Waqar Younis         Pak  (1724-2001)  1    7 
Muralitharan M       Slk  (1650-2000)  1    7 
Aaqib Javed          Pak  (0685-1991)  1    7 
McGrath G.D          Aus  (1970-2003)  1    7 
Bichel A.J           Aus  (1976-2003)  1    7 
Davis W.W            Win  (0203-1983)  1    7 
...
Waqar Younis         Pak  (1724-2001)  2   13
Azhar Mahmood        Pak  (1517-1999)  2   11
Gilmour G.J          Aus  (0031-1975)  2   11 
Aaqib Javed          Pak  (1205-1997)  2   10 
Muralitharan M       Slk  (1650-2000)  2   10 
Harris R.J           Aus  (2946-2010)  2   10 
Bond S.E             Nzl  (2273-2005)  2   10 
de Mel A.L.F         Slk  (0211-1983)  2   10 
...
Waqar Younis         Pak  (0625-1990)  3   15
Harris R.J           Aus  (2946-2010)  3   13
Gilmour G.J          Aus  (0031-1975)  3   13
Warne S.K            Aus  (1149-1996)  3   13
...
Waqar Younis         Pak  (0625-1990)  4   17
Mendis B.A.W         Slk  (2718-2008)  4   17
Vaas WPUJC           Slk  (1950-2003)  4   16
Harris R.J           Aus  (2946-2010)  4   16
...
Mendis B.A.W         Slk  (2718-2008)  5   20
Waqar Younis         Pak  (0627-1990)  5   19
Patterson B.P        Win  (0459-1987)  5   17
Hendrick M           Eng  (0071-1979)  5   17
Harris R.J           Aus  (2796-2009)  5   17
Donald A.A           Saf  (1121-1996)  5   17
...
Waqar Younis         Pak  (0627-1990)  6   24
Mendis B.A.W         Slk  (2718-2008)  6   22
Donald A.A           Saf  (1124-1996)  6   21
....
Waqar Younis         Pak  (0627-1990)  7   29
Mendis B.A.W         Slk  (2718-2008)  7   25
Donald A.A           Saf  (1124-1996)  7   24
...
Waqar Younis         Pak  (0625-1990)  8   33
Mendis B.A.W         Slk  (2718-2008)  8   26
Donald A.A           Saf  (1121-1996)  8   26
...
Waqar Younis         Pak  (0609-1990)  9   33
Mendis B.A.W         Slk  (2718-2008)  9   30
Donald A.A           Saf  (1121-1996)  9   29
...
Waqar Younis         Pak  (0625-1990) 10   35
Mendis B.A.W         Slk  (2735-2008) 10   34
Donald A.A           Saf  (1073-1996) 10   31

Unlike the batting tables, this table is Waqar Younis all the way. Vaas just managed to gather that extra wicket to lead the 1-match table. Then Mendis, with his mercurial start to his career, just about managed to get the additional wicket in the 5-match streak. The rest is all Waqar Younis. He leads in 8 of the 10 mini-tables. This was Waqar, at his toe-crushing best during 1990. This streak helped Pakistan win 10 matches in a trot.

- From 6 to 10 matches, the sub-tables have the same three players, Waqar, Mendis and Donald in the same order. R.J.Harris had an excellent sequence for Australia.
- The 1990s have been a wonderful period for such streaks.
- There is a wide proliferation of bowlers in the low number streaks.
- It is interesting to note that Waqar Younis has a long streak starting in match no 625 and a great two match streak of 7 and 6 wickets towards the end of his career. He does not appear twice because I am showing only one streak per bowler - Upto 8-match streaks the bowlers have managed to gather more than 4 wickets per match.
- Note the absence of Indian bowlers in these tables, both Batting and Bowling.

I am sure readers would like to see the best 1-10 ODIs sequence aggregates of their favourite bowlers. Instead of cluttering up the main article I have uploaded the file and readers can view/download the complete player file.

To view/down-load the complete 1-10 ODIs table, please click/right-click here.

To view/down-load the complete player table, please click/right-click here. The bowlers who have captured 100 wickets or more are included.

For the longer streak analysis I did just one. I decided to do a 50-match analysis. 50 matches represents between 2 and 3 years in a player career and anything longer would rule out quite a few batsmen. The results are presented below.

Batsman              Cty  StMtId-Year  No  Runs
                                      ODIs

Tendulkar S.R        Ind  (1277-1998)  50  2518
Lara B.C             Win  (0939-1994)  50  2485
Ganguly S.C          Ind  (1444-1999)  50  2406
Gooch G.A            Eng  (0144-1982)  50  2397
Kirsten G            Saf  (1041-1996)  50  2392
Jones D.M            Aus  (0502-1988)  50  2376
Gayle C.H            Win  (1782-2001)  50  2331
Greenidge C.G        Win  (0081-1979)  50  2330
Chanderpaul S        Win  (2437-2006)  50  2298
Javed Miandad        Pak  (0385-1986)  50  2296
Saeed Anwar          Pak  (1112-1996)  50  2277
Richards I.V.A       Win  (0074-1979)  50  2268
de Silva P.A         Slk  (1055-1996)  50  2263
Ponting R.T          Aus  (2260-2005)  50  2259
Hayden M.L           Aus  (2227-2005)  50  2249
Haynes D.L           Win  (0510-1988)  50  2247
Zaheer Abbas         Pak  (0030-1975)  50  2247
Marsh G.R            Aus  (0500-1988)  50  2221
Jayasuriya S.T       Slk  (1077-1996)  50  2207
Waugh M.E            Aus  (1033-1996)  50  2185

This table goes as planned. There is a collection of the best ODI batsmen of all time. Tendulkar had his best period towards end of 1990s and scored at over 50 runs per match. Lara, despite his lesser credentials in ODI matches, had his purple match during the early part of his career and averaged just below 50 runs per match. Ganguly's streak coincided with Tendulkar's.

To view/down-load the complete 50 ODIs Batsmen table, please click/right-click here.

Bowler               Cty  StMtId-Year  No Wkts
                                      ODIs

Saqlain Mushtaq      Pak  (1135-1996)  50  105
Donald A.A           Saf  (0977-1995)  50  104
Waqar Younis         Pak  (0625-1990)  50  102
Lee B                Aus  (1677-2001)  50  102
Bond S.E             Nzl  (1845-2002)  50   97
Muralitharan M       Slk  (1825-2002)  50   96
McGrath G.D          Aus  (1210-1997)  50   94
Ntini M              Saf  (1801-2002)  50   94
Broad S.C.J          Eng  (2622-2007)  50   92
Shoaib Akhtar        Pak  (1428-1999)  50   91
Gough D              Eng  (1077-1996)  50   91
Mills K.D            Nzl  (2276-2005)  50   90
McDermott C.J        Aus  (0416-1987)  50   90
Kumble A             Ind  (0945-1994)  50   90
Bracken N.W          Aus  (1698-2001)  50   90
Warne S.K            Aus  (0889-1994)  50   89
Pathan I.K           Ind  (2093-2004)  50   89
Wasim Akram          Pak  (0720-1992)  50   88
Pringle C            Nzl  (0638-1990)  50   88
Lillee D.K           Aus  (0003-1972)  50   88
Mohammad Sami        Pak  (1808-2002)  50   87
Ambrose C.E.L        Win  (0508-1988)  50   86
Naved-ul-Hasan       Pak  (2179-2004)  50   86
Zaheer Khan          Ind  (1729-2001)  50   86
Bishop I.R           Win  (0519-1988)  50   85
Umar Gul             Pak  (2463-2006)  50   85
Fleming D.W          Aus  (0907-1994)  50   84
Garner J             Win  (0128-1981)  50   84
Gillespie J.N        Aus  (1187-1997)  50   84
Johnson M.G          Aus  (2413-2006)  50   84

Despite Waqar Younis's great 10 match streak, it is Saqlain Mushtaq who takes the first place in this table. He has captured 105 wickets in his best 50 match period. Donald has also leap-frogged over Waqar and captured 104 wickets in 50 matches. Now comes Waqar Younis, with 102 wickets. Lee shares this spot with Waqar Younis and these four bowlers exceed 100 wickets in 50 matches. Then comes Bond and the two greats, Murali and McGrath.

It is nice to see the presence of Irfan Pathan inn this list, just behind Kumble, but above Wasim Akram and Lillee.

To view/down-load the complete 50 ODIs Bowlers table, please click/right-click here.