2012 Activity rates

A batsman's activity rate is the runs scored per delivery not hit to the fence.

For example two batsmen have 10 off 10. One has hit two 4's, two singles and faced out 6 dot balls. He would have an activity rate of 0.25 because he hit 2 runs off the 8 balls that he didn't hit a boundary off. The second batsman hit one 4, two 2's and two singles. He would have an activity rate of 0.67 because he hit 6 runs off 9 balls that didn't go to the fence.

Here are the batsmen with the highest activity rates:

Test Matches (min 100 balls faced, average of 20)

Player	Matches	Boundry Runs	Run Runs	Activity Rate
NLTC Perera (SL)	2	54	56	0.434
MG Johnson (Aus)	2	28	74	0.416
Shakib Al Hasan (Ban)	2	104	101	0.391
V Sehwag (India)	9	322	183	0.368
MA Starc (Aus)	4	88	56	0.364
RJ Harris (Aus)	4	46	83	0.362
MJ Clarke (Aus)	11	792	803	0.361
DA Warner (Aus)	11	446	342	0.361
Mahmudullah (Ban)	2	80	89	0.353
RT Ponting (Aus)	9	232	368	0.341

This year the trend is that there are lots of Australians in the list, and particularly a lot of Australia bowlers. Two names that might surprise a lot of people are Warner and Sehwag. Sehwag certainly doesn't have a reputation for speed between the wickets, and does seem rather loathe to try for a 3, but he and Gambhir have made a real effort to step up their quick singles in the last year. It has certainly been shown out in Sehwag's numbers. Likewise Warner has scored almost as many runs by running as by hitting boundaries. His 50 at the MCG was remarkable for both the speed, but also for how well he ran between wickets. His 50 came up in 34 balls, but it only included four 4's and one 6. It meant that he had scored 28 runs off the 29 balls he didn't hit to the fence.

One Day Internationals (min 100 balls faced, average of 20)

Player	Matches	Boundry Runs	Run Runs	Activity Rate
AB de Villiers (SA)	13	276	369	0.695
Shakib Al Hasan (Ban)	4	110	127	0.672
GJ Maxwell (Aus)	4	60	64	0.66
AD Mathews (SL)	27	180	354	0.659
V Kohli (India)	17	398	628	0.63
DJ Hussey (Aus)	25	264	464	0.629
SK Raina (India)	17	204	288	0.623
R Ashwin (India)	16	44	91	0.619
EJG Morgan (Eng)	15	164	200	0.599
Sarfraz Ahmed (Pak)	8	24	61	0.598

Last year almost the whole list was made up of spin bowlers (which is unsurprising, given that spin bowlers are generally smarter (and better looking) than most other players). This year the spinners still make their presence felt. Shakib is the only player on the Test and ODI list.

Twenty20 Internationals (min 100 balls faced, average of 15)

Player	Matches	Boundry Runs	Run Runs	Activity Rate
AN Kervezee (Neth)	4	44	110	0.873
LRPL Taylor (NZ)	8	86	100	0.82
KC Sangakkara (SL)	10	94	103	0.78
DJ Bravo (WI)	10	128	132	0.776
JP Duminy (SA)	10	94	143	0.765
F du Plessis (SA)	7	102	90	0.763
SK Raina (India)	14	128	129	0.75
JC Buttler (Eng)	14	74	69	0.75
AD Hales (Eng)	10	188	155	0.745
MS Dhoni (India)	14	132	136	0.743

There was certainly a surprising name at the top of this list. Alex Kervezee was actually the highest averaging batsman in T20 Internationals too. Ross Taylor is also a surprise, as he had previously been someone who tended to score in multiples of 4. Suresh Raina is the only player in the top 10 for both ODI's and T20's.

The Block-Bash players:

At the other end of the spectrum are the players who specialise in blocking the good balls and cashing in on the bad ones. These players don't see a lot of value in singles, and prefer to get their runs in multiples of 4 or 6.

Test Matches (min 100 balls faced, average of 20)

Player	Matches	Boundry Runs	Run Runs	Activity Rate
AB Fudadin (WI)	3	60	62	0.17
F du Plessis (SA)	2	178	115	0.171
JL Pattinson (Aus)	4	72	31	0.173
Mohammad Ayub (Pak)	1	16	31	0.189
Mushfiqur Rahim (Ban)	2	66	41	0.19
DR Flynn (NZ)	6	174	153	0.199
SR Tendulkar (India)	9	220	137	0.199
Taufeeq Umar (Pak)	6	164	82	0.2
N Deonarine (WI)	6	116	102	0.204
MJ Guptill (NZ)	10	306	261	0.208

Suprisingly, Martin Guptill makes this list again this year, despite improving his activity rate by quite a margin. Generally this is a list of batsmen who are not in great form, and with an average in the twenties despite his obvious talent, this is probably a fair reflection. Daniel Flynn is also on the list, but this possibly has more to do with the way that bowlers have often been trying to get him out playing at wide balls, so have been bowling a 7th stump line to him, trying to get him to give in and have a slash at one. It's hard to hit a single off a ball that you really shouldn't be playing at.

One Day Internationals (min 100 balls faced, average of 20)

Player	Matches	Boundry Runs	Run Runs	Activity Rate
AB Barath (WI)	2	60	23	0.256
CH Gayle (WI)	11	252	93	0.279
CS Baugh (WI)	5	34	30	0.297
DM Bravo (WI)	11	104	113	0.298
MR Swart (Neth)	2	60	34	0.306
KJ O'Brien (Ire)	4	54	35	0.307
Anamul Haque (Ban)	5	110	85	0.343
Imran Farhat (Pak)	5	104	70	0.348
Mohammad Nabi (Afg)	5	62	67	0.358
MN Samuels (WI)	17	248	234	0.373

There are a lot of West Indians in this list. However, if I could hit the ball like Chris Gayle, I probably wouldn't bother running too much either.

Twenty20 Internationals (min 60 balls faced)

Player	Matches	Boundry Runs	Run Runs	Activity Rate
DR Smith (WI)	7	152	47	0.412
J Charles (WI)	11	176	75	0.434
C Kieswetter (Eng)	11	108	72	0.474
Imran Nazir (Pak)	9	126	50	0.476
CH Gayle (WI)	11	270	98	0.492
RE Levi (SA)	13	170	66	0.5
RJ Nicol (NZ)	17	194	121	0.515
WTS Porterfield (Ire)	13	148	64	0.516
Mohammad Ashraful (Ban)	6	60	58	0.527
KJ O'Brien (Ire)	13	78	64	0.533

It turns out that being a West Indian opener means that you are unlikely to be very good at running between wickets. Johnson Charles' numbers are even worse than last year when he had the lowest activity rate of any player. It's just that this year another West Indian has been even lazier than him. Rob Nicol is an interesting name there, because he's generally a very busy player in domestic cricket.