Bradmanesque peaks

[Coronis]

So this was done with Howstat. I’m ranking by averages here (80 innings for batsmen and 52 matches for bowlers - only allowed to select innings for batsmen and matches for bowlers) and they rank them by aggregate, so this is only up to and including the top 100 runscorers and wickettakers over 80 innings or 52 matches.

Batsmen (top 25)

Bradman 6996 @ 99.94 29 tons
Smith 5350 @ 78.68 22 tons
Ponting 5052 @ 75.40 19 tons
Sobers 4969 @ 73.07 18 tons
Kallis 4711 @ 71.38 18 tons
Chanderpaul 4199 @ 69.98 14 tons
Sangakkara 5027 @ 68.86 18 tons
Dravid 4652 @ 68.41 14 tons
Williamson 4712 @ 67.31 17 tons
Yousuf 4884 @ 66.90 19 tons
Tendulkar 4817 @ 65.99 19 tons
Hayden 4743 @ 65.88 19 tons
Hutton 4555 @ 65.07 12 tons
Barrington 4546 @ 64.03 15 tons
Lara 4985 @ 63.91 16 tons
de Villiers 4524 @ 63.72 14 tons
Hobbs 4753 @ 63.37 15 tons
Border 4233 @ 63.18 14 tons
Waugh 4040 @ 63.13 11 tons
Jayawardene 4716 @ 62.88 16 tons
Kohli 4761 @ 62.64 19 tons
Younis 4509 @ 62.63 14 tons
Amla 4443 @ 62.58 17 tons
Hammond 4443 @ 62.58 13 tons
Sutcliffe 4425 @ 62.32 16 tons

Players that didn’t make the 25
Most runs: Richards 4741 @ 60.78 16 tons
Most tons: Gavaskar 4528 @ 59.58 18 tons

Bowlers (top 25)

Muralitharan 385 @ 18.12 36 5’fers
Marshall 285 @ 19.08 22 5’fers
Hadlee 295 @ 19.41 29 5’fers
Imran 262 @ 19.87 19 5’fers
Pollock 230 @ 20.10 13 5’fers
McGrath 264 @ 20.20 17 5’fers
Ambrose 236 @ 20.20 16 5’fers
Garner 229 @ 20.40 7 5’fers
Trueman 240 @ 20.78 14 5’fers
Wasim 258 @ 20.79 17 5’fers
Waqar 269 @ 20.81 21 5’fers
Anderson 224 @ 21.12 11 5’fers
Steyn 281 @ 21.27 18 5’fers
Rabada 259 @ 21.31 12 5’fers
Cummins 234 @ 21.59 11 5’fers
Donald 260 @ 21.65 17 5’fers
Holding 233 @ 21.76 13 5’fers
Lindwall 207 @ 21.85 12 5’fers
Philander 193 @ 22.20 12 5’fers
Statham 210 @ 22.31 8 5’fers
Miller 163 @ 22.45 7 5’fers
Walsh 234 @ 22.68 14 5’fers
Lillee 286 @ 23.18 20 5’fers
Botham 239 @ 23.45 18 5’fers
Underwood 195 @ 23.62 13 5’fers

Most wickets not in the top 25
Pace: Ntini 252 @ 25.62 16 5’fers
Spin: Warne 303 @ 24.61 18 5’fers

Most 5’fers not in the top 25
Pace: Kapil 220 @ 26.37 18 5’fers
Spin: Herath 295 @ 25.03 27 5’fers

 

[subshakerz]

52 matches is helluva long time for bowlers. Not reasonable for a peak. Should be around 30-40

 

[kyear2]

52 matches is helluva long time for bowlers. Not reasonable for a peak. Should be around 30-40

Kinda disagree, also allayed a concern I had for a particular bowler. That long a peak is more than enough to prove quality.

 

[Ali TT]

52 matches is helluva long time for bowlers. Not reasonable for a peak. Should be around 30-40

Would you do 27 tests (50 innings), the length of Sidney Barnes's career?

 

[subshakerz]

Would you do 27 tests (50 innings), the length of Sidney Barnes's career?

Yes

Test streaks: 52 and 27 matches long

A look at the best batting and bowling streaks in Tests

www.espncricinfo.com

 

[subshakerz]

Kinda disagree, also allayed a concern I had for a particular bowler. That long a peak is more than enough to prove quality.

Which bowler?

It defeats the purpose. A peak is just a long stretch of sustained form, a phase of a career. 52 tests will exclud

Most pacers rarely have peaks lasting longer than 30-40 games. Even your beloved Marshall maxed at 40 odd games.

 

[kyear2]

Which bowler?

It defeats the purpose. A peak is just a long stretch of sustained form, a phase of a career. 52 tests will exclud

Most pacers rarely have peaks lasting longer than 30-40 games. Even your beloved Marshall maxed at 40 odd games.

It's fine. No issues with the number.

 

[Coronis]

Well looking at the minimums accepted for highest batting and lowest bowling average being 20 innings and 2000 balls bowled respectively, perhaps 8000 balls bowled would be a better cutoff.

 

[Coronis]

Anyway shoutout to Underwood for making the list - I did not expect that honestly. In terms of pure aggregate over the 52 tests, 5 of the top 6 - Murali, Warne, Herath, Ashwin and Kumble - were spinners. Lyon was next at 20th.

Michael Holding - I never realised how much his poor start changes his career stats. In this excercise it used 8-59 out of his 60 matches, which takes almost 2 whole points off his average. In his first 7 tests he has 16 @ 45.50. (last test is 0/99)

There was some other interesting things I noticed - can’t recall any batting ones rn cos I did them first. But one notable one is Ashwin’s best 52 test stretch being his first 52 tests, which is a feat itself.

 

[Ali TT]

Anyway shoutout to Underwood for making the list - I did not expect that honestly. In terms of pure aggregate over the 52 tests, 5 of the top 6 - Murali, Warne, Herath, Ashwin and Kumble - were spinners. Lyon was next at 20th.

Michael Holding - I never realised how much his poor start changes his career stats. In this excercise it used 8-59 out of his 60 matches, which takes almost 2 whole points off his average. In his first 7 tests he has 16 @ 45.50. (last test is 0/99)

There was some other interesting things I noticed - can’t recall any batting ones rn cos I did them first. But one notable one is Ashwin’s best 52 test stretch being his first 52 tests, which is a feat itself.

I don't think there's anything exceptional in Holding's start. He just didn't play a huge number of tests in the grand scheme of things so it's not surprising the start has a big impact on his final record.

 

[Bolo.]

Players tend to peak for a number of years more than a number of games. This list is kind to players who played a higher number of games per year.

Most of the bats would be kicked off this list by older ones if we were looking a number of years instead.

 

[Coronis]

Players tend to peak for a number of years more than a number of games. This list is kind to players who played a higher number of games per year.

Most of the bats would be kicked off this list by older ones if we were looking a number of years instead.

heh, a Bradmanesque peak would require an 18 and a half hear career though, knocking off quite a few more.

 

[karan_fromthestands]

I think only Scott Steiner has Bradmanesque peaks (and freaks).

 

[Ali TT]

What was Bradman's peak?

 

[Coronis]

What was Bradman's peak?

Technically, if you wanted to halve his career it would be 34-48. Again like Hammond, not including his best score or highest scoring series. And also technically his best 40 innings run would exclude his final test and add his second triple ton (btw his only innings with multiple 6’s)

 

[howitzer]

Funnily enough there is at least one example of a player having a better average over a longer period. Kallis has a 108 innings period between the Zimbabwe series in 2001 and the New Zealand series in 2007 where he averaged 72.61.

 

[howitzer]

Kallis also has a 14 calendar year period (1999-2012 inclusive with 232 innings) where he averaged 61.33, more than Richards' 80 innings peak.

Edit: That time period is also longer than Greg Chappell's entire Test career.