Thread: Analysis for the top 19 batsmen of our era

1 Brian .Lara 69157 points
2.Sachin Tendulkar 68635
3.Jaques Kallis 68599
4.Rahul Dravid 68578
5.Ricky Ponting 67962
6.Steve Waugh 65736
7.Kumar Sangakkara 63326
8.Andy Flower 62290
9.Matthew Hayden 60570
10.Mahela Jayawardene 58837
11.Inzamam Ul Haq58530
12.Virender Sehwag 57554
13.Mohommad Yousuf 57505
14.Younis Khan 53439
15.Aravinda De Silva 51590
16.Gary Kirsten 51510
17.Shivanariaine Chanderpaul 49814
18.V.V.S Laxman 48608
19.Adam Gilchrist 47890
20.Kevin Pieterson 41543

For this particular analysis I chose 19 prominent test batsmen after late eighties categorizing them to three sub-eras and ranking them to a certain points system. Players emerged in eighties or early nineties and carried on at least until the millennium belong to Sub-era 1 (Aravinda,Lara , Steve Waugh,Inzamam, Andy Flower, Allan border and Sachin). Players who started in mid nineties represent sub-era 2 (Dravid, Ponting,Kallis ,Yousuf, Mahela ,Laxman & Chanderpaul) . Sangakkara,Sehwag,younis Khan, Pieterson & Hayden represent sub-era 3. When Choosing players I set a minimum requirement of 100 innings and an average above 50 is a must for a player representing sub-era 3 . If the player represents sub-eras 1 or 2 an average of 40 is taken as the floor value.

Did not consider players like Marvan, Ganguly etc as they were clearly below the standards of the chosen 18 players.

Relevant Criteria as shown below

1.Players Average with respect to the number of innings. (A player averaging over 50 in over 200 innings obtains 4500 points and a player averaging over 50 within 100 and 200 innings gains 2500 points. Averaging between 40 and 50 provides 1000 points and anything less would gain zero points)

2.Players Away Average with respect to the number of innings .If its over 50 over at least 50 away innings player gains 2500 points.if ( 40<Awayavg<50 over 50 innings he would gain 1500 points) . Anything less wud provide nothing.

3.If Away average> Home average && both averages are over 40 player gains 1250 points


4.Players won match average with respect to number of matches won. This reveals how players performances have affected his team in reaching victories

if>70 3500 points
60 <x<70 2500 points
55< x<60 500 points

5.Strike rate
For maintaining a strike rate over 70, 1500 points (sehwag 80+) awarded and for maintaining over 50, 500 and anything less null points. I decided to include strike rate as it decides how fast players converge their teams to victory. For instance sehwag has a good SR that helps his team to score fast and declare soon. Kallis has a piss poor SR and his contribution in won matches is not significant. His average in drawn matches is very high and his low strike rate explains everything regarding his high average in drawn matches....

6.Players 2nd innings and 4th innings averages
Here I give more weight for 4th innings average as it reveals the fighting nature of a batsman particularly when chasing a total in the fourth innings under pressure. ( if 4th innings average> 50 ) he gains 1500 points and if its between 40 and 50 1000 . Anything less he gets nothing.

7.Weighted moving average rating of each nation using ratings over nearly a decade in a monthly basis. I use these ratings for players after 1990....

1.Australia 130.2353
2.India 108.6000
3.England 108.2143
4.South Africa 107.4328
5.Sri Lanka 102.6429
6.Pakistan 99.0147
7.NewZealand 94.8000
8.Windies 75.0
9.Zimbabwe 56.0
10.Bangladesh 7.0
The player gains points from the above rating system as shown below.

points=points+avg against australia *Weighted rating of aus+Avg against eng* Weighted rating of england+.......................................... Bangla

So if a batsman has an average over 500 for bangladesh he wud be outplayed by another who averages 27 against australia as 500*7<27*130

For players like Allan border who represent an era from early seventies to early nineties. I use different ratings.For some reason I wanted to include a player from seventies who has at least played with 6 test playing nations.

1.West Indies 145
2.Australia 125
3.England 115
4.South Africa 110
5.India 105
6. New Zealand 100
7.Pakistan 80
8.Sri Lanka 25

For subcontinental players and modern Carribeans who play mostly on slow flat tracks their non-comfort zones would be oceania (Aus & NZ) , England & southafrica

8.If the the player is either an indian ,lankan,pakistani or a modern carribean (Lara,chanderpaul) && his average in australia >60 && no of innings in aus >10 he would gain 4000 points.With avg >60 and no of innings <10 he wud receive 3000 points. With and average 50< x<60 with no of innings in aus >10 3500 points and for same average range with <10 matches he wud obtain 2500 . For players averaging between 30 and 50 over 10 innings in aus wud get 1500 points and others gain nothing.

For same nationalities for knocks played in south africa over same average ranges and innings ranges the points system would start from 5000 and decrease gradually in the same steps like for australia. Given Weight is very high as there aren't many subcontinent players who average over 35 over 10 innings in south africa . Sachin and sanga average mildly over 39.

For same nationalities for innings in England and New zealand points are distributed in the same manner but with lower starting values including the same steps of reduction.

For Aussies , Kiwis,Poms and Proteas I give higher weight for knocks played in India which analogues to the points structure given for South africa (As we all know it has been so hard even for top players to average over 50 in india ).Points structures for Innings played in Sri lanka West indies and pakistan by continental players wud be similar to point strucutres given to innings played in aus,eng and kiwi respectively by sub-continent players.

9.If a player is from sub-era (1) and averaging over 50 he gains 4500 points, if he averages between 40 and 50 gains 3500 and anything less nothing.


10. If a player represents a lower ranked team and averages over 50 he would be facilitated with 1000 points considering the lack of support and lonely fighting knocks they play with no support. If he represented his team in an era where his team was ranked very low but he maintained an average over 40 , he would be benefited with extra points. (Aravinda, Flower etc)

11.Double centuries play an important role as well. They represent the players capabilty in playing anchor roles over a long period. Double centuries scored in non-comfort zones would be benefited heavily by extra points.

This was a long analysis and a special thanks goes to Ibadaman for reminding me the importance of double centuries for the rankings..

I know this analysis cant be 100% correct and I would like to finetune this by your suggestions when time permits