Essay On Test Cricket Performance Analysis

In evaluating consistency in Test cricket, the sky is the limit as to the parameters to use and how to evaluate them. Over the years, cricket analysts have relied objectively on statistical parameters for their evaluations while the average fan looks subjectively at how often his favourite batsman scores meaningful runs, including hundreds and fifties. Both positions are juxtaposed; however, I attempted to capture the tenets of the cricket analyst and the average cricket fan in a top-10 list of the most consistent batsmen in Test cricket.

The careers of all batsmen who have scored 5000 plus runs in Test cricket were inspected and their production rates for runs scored, centuries and fifty plus scores on a per match and per inning basis were

Chappell disheartened many attacks in his career and his insatiable appetite for big scores is highlighted in five of the six production parameters for runs, centuries and fifty plus scores.

The “Little Master” and tormentor of elite fast bowlers, Sunil Gavaskar comes in at number four. Gavaskar scored 10,122 runs in 125 matches at an average of 51.12 with 34 centuries and 45 half centuries. For 19 years he had the record for the most centuries scored in Test cricket, a feat only five men have since eclipsed. Gavaskar’s consistency among this elite-10 is seen in his top-5 production rankings in hundreds scored per match and scores of 50 plus per match and per inning.

At number three is Sir Garfield Sobers who set the standards for the modern day batsmen to follow. Powerful, stylish and memorable are words often used to describe this living legend. Sobers’ average of 57.78, over 93 matches and 8032 runs with 26 centuries and 30 fifties, is the highest we’ve seen so far. Among this elite-10, Sobers ranks in the top-4 in runs and hundreds scored per match and per inning: a verification of his consistency in the categories that matter