Maxwell joins Pringle

One of the matches that got me hooked on cricket was this one in Hobart in 1990, when Australia needed 2 runs to win going into the final over, and Chris Pringle bowled a maiden (assisted by a slightly dubious non-wide call early in the over).

Today, Glenn Maxwell has joined Pringle in the required last over maiden club by bowling Australia to victory in similar circumstances.

It was an incredible effort from Maxwell, but unfortunately, with the history of both Pakistan and of matches held in the Emirates, there is a sniff of suspicion about it.  I really hope that every player was making a genuine effort, as the result is a storybook one.

Big Occasion Bates

Yesterday the (mighty) Auckland Aces were playing in their third consecutive HRV Cup final. Auckland won convincingly. During the time between their first and third final they have also played Pakistan in a tour T20 match and played 2 Champions League matches.

Throughout these 6 big occasion matches one player has really been extraordinary: left arm quick bowler Michael Bates.

Here are his results:

Match	Opposition	Result	Figures
2009/10 HRV Cup final	Central Districts	Loss	4-0-61-3
Tour match	Pakistan	Win	3-0-11-4
2010/11 HRV Cup Final	Central Districts	Win	4-1-18-4
2011 Champions League T20	Kolkata Knight Riders	Loss	4-0-13-1
2011 Champions League T20	Somerset	Loss	4-1-13-2
2011/12 HRV Cup Final	Canterbury	Win	3-0-18-3
Overall			22-2-134-17

This gives him an average of 7.88, an economy rate of 6.09 and a strike rate of 7.64. If we just look at the last 2 years, removing the first final at the postage stamp sized Pukekura Park, his figures become 18-2-73-14. That is a breath-takingly low economy rate of 4.06, average of 5.2 and strike rate of 7.71.

How good are those numbers? Here are some comparisons: The best averaging bowler in the world is Krishmar Santoki from Jamaica who averages 8.56; the best economy rate is Samuel Badree from Trinidad and Tobago who's economy rate is 4.43; the best strike rate is also Santoki at 9.3. Bates's figures in the last 5 finals are better than all of these. Now it is true that 5 matches is a small sample size, but the results are still outstanding.

Given these numbers it is staggering that he hasn't been picked up by an overseas team of some variety. He hasn't even been picked for New Zealand A.

Now sometimes a bowler can get good figures by getting bad batsmen out. Not the case with Bates, here is the list of his dismissals:
Ross Taylor*
Kieran Noema-Barnett
Jacob Oram*
Mohammad Hafeez*
Shahid Afridi*
Ahmed Shezad*
Wahab Riaz
Peter Ingram*
Jamie How*
Ian Blackwell*
Doug Bracewell
Manvinder Bisla
Peter Trego
Nick Compton
Rob Nichol*
Andrew Ellis
Reece Young*
* - has batted in the top 6 in International Cricket

In his other T20 matches, when the stage is not so big, he has preformed reasonably well, but not nearly as well as he has on the big stage. Here are his stats excluding these matches: 86.5-1-755-25 Average 30.2, Economy Rate 8.73, Strike Rate 20.76.

Teams need consistent performers. But they also need players that can step up on the big occasions. So far Michael Bates has proved that he can do just that.

Double after 30?

There is an old adage that to get a good gauge of the score that a team is going to get, double their score at 30.

Last night India were at 197/1 off 30 overs last night, and yet they only managed to get 296.

As I mentioned in a couple of previous posts, India have not managed to score double their 30 over score once in the last 2 years. Which makes me ask, is double after 30 realistic.

I've gone through the first innings of every game in the world cup and looked at the halfway point in terms of runs.

Of the 27 matches in which the first inning was completed 9 times the total score was double or more than double the 30 over score.

The team that left their run the latest was New Zealand, in the Taylor blitz against Pakistan, where they scored the same in the last 12 overs as they did in the first 38. I remember that clearly, as I went to bed after 34 overs and woke up expecting to hear that New Zealand had lost.

The worst was Bangladesh against West Indies, where they were looking reasonable at 30/2 off 6, but then collapsed to 58 all out.

Overall the mark is actually normally close to 28: 13 times it was between 26 and 31. All of the top 8 teams except England and India have had at least one game that they have doubled after 30, but of the other 6 only the Netherlands have managed it. (although Canada haven't batted first in a match yet).

If we were to look for a guideline, perhaps we could say double after 29 for a test playing nation against another test playing nation, but go under that for a non-test nation, and over that for a test nation against a non-test nation.

Death bowling

Just a quick point: over the last 2 years India have not once hit more runs in the last 20 overs than the first 30 in an official match. Last night they scored a lot more. This is a reflection of four things.

1. New Zealand bowled well with the new ball, and as a result India got off to a slower than usual start.

2. India played extra batsmen due to the game being an unofficial match.

3. Dhoni and Raina were awesome.

4. New Zealand bowled poorly. Regardless of any other factor, there is no excuse for going for that many runs in the last 16 overs.