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The first analysis - 50+ Frequencies

So I've finally gotten down to doing some real statistical analysis. I will start out with Test cricket because that's the form of the game I find most fascinating. And (as most cricket lovers seem to be) being biased towards batsmen, my first few pieces will probably revolve around batting :-)

I should also mention how indebted I am to Cricinfo's "godsend-to-geeks" Statsguru. Its probably what I devote the maximum number of my daily internet pageviews to, sometimes even more than email! Without it, most of the analysis I have ever done would not have been possible.

So first up, I thought it would be worth looking at a simple stat that's slightly different from the more traditional batting average or its second cousin, runs per innings. There's a lot of analysis that's been done around number of innings per 100 but not for the number of innings per 50+ score. A look at that stat (using a minimum of twenty 50+scores) reveals some interesting facts. Bradman of course is at the top as the only man with a sub 2.00 figure. The rest of the top ten has some expected names such as Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Barrington, Weekes, Walcott, Richards, and Ponting. One major surprise is to see Saeed Anwar at #6. Doug Walters as the third Aussie in the top ten and ahead of Ponting will also probably raise a few eyebrows. Amongst other masters of all time, Sobers is at 31, Gavaskar at 17, Hutton at 11, Kallis at 13, Greg Chappell at 19, Tendulkar at 20, Lara at 28, Miandad at 32, Border at 36. Its also interesting that apart from Ponting, most of the other Aussie greats of the modern era are ranked below 50.

As for the bottom 10, as can be expected, its largely made up of wicketkeepers and allrounders. The only specialist batsmen are the Aussie opener Graeme Wood, and two Zimbabweans, Campbell and Grant Flower. The bottom ten are also the only ones at the time of writing with a 5.00+ score. The full list of all 176 players is here. (note: these numbers are as of the end of the 2nd Test between Ind and SL, the 1st Test between NZ and Pak, and the 1st Test between Aus and WI in the 2009-2010 season).

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