SJS
Hall of Fame Member
To compare two batsmen and their relative merits AS BATSMEN, purely on the basis of their career averages (or averages over a period of their careers), shows ones total inability to look at cricket and cricketing skills and analyse individual performances during ones career. The sum of a cricketer's is his performances over his career and these cant be evaluated by just clubbing all the figures together to come to a total picture of his worth as a cricketer.
You dont need to know much about the game to compare stats in cold terms. Unfortunately that doesnt make you an authority on the game.
Unfortunately, a large proportion of the game's followers cant do much better than that so the media also concentrates on the same. Unfortunately, in places like the subcontinent, those asked by the media to cover the game also, a very large proportion of them, are very poor students of the game as such so stats are a very convinient fast-food for these arm-chair-critics.
To say that two batsmen are, more or less equal, equal if their career averages are the same is to say that Imran is as good a batsman as Atherton. !!! The difference in their averages being 0.01 per innings !!!
Even if one is incapable of looking at anything other than stats, one could do beter than look at just the average.
If one saw that while averaging the same, Atherton scored 16 centuries and 46 fifities (in 115 tests) while Imran scored 6 100's and 18 fifties (in 88 tests) one would be forced to think what this meant.
In his first 88 tests, (to compare with Imrans eventual 88)
Botham scored 4809 runs at 35.4 per innings
& Imran scored 3807runs at 37.7 per innings
ONE THOUSAND RUNS MORE in the same number of tests !! Bu**er the average !!
Botham's runs included 14 hundreds and 21 fifties with a top score of 208
& Imran's runs included 6 hundreds and 18 fifties with a top score of 137
MORE THAN TWICE AS MANY HUNDREDS in the same number of tests!! Bu**er the average !!
To put it differently, to score 3806 runs in test matches
Imran
-averaged 37.7
-scored 6 hundreds doing it
-took 88 tests to do it
Botham
-averaged 36.4
- scored 13 hundreds doing it
- took 67 tests to do it !!
Botham took 21 tests less to do what Imran did over his career and in the process scored 13 centuries to his 6 !! Averages be bu**ered !!
I repeat, stats are an imperfect tool to measure relative merits of two players but for those who insist, integrity would dictate looking at more details.
You dont need to know much about the game to compare stats in cold terms. Unfortunately that doesnt make you an authority on the game.
Unfortunately, a large proportion of the game's followers cant do much better than that so the media also concentrates on the same. Unfortunately, in places like the subcontinent, those asked by the media to cover the game also, a very large proportion of them, are very poor students of the game as such so stats are a very convinient fast-food for these arm-chair-critics.
To say that two batsmen are, more or less equal, equal if their career averages are the same is to say that Imran is as good a batsman as Atherton. !!! The difference in their averages being 0.01 per innings !!!
Even if one is incapable of looking at anything other than stats, one could do beter than look at just the average.
If one saw that while averaging the same, Atherton scored 16 centuries and 46 fifities (in 115 tests) while Imran scored 6 100's and 18 fifties (in 88 tests) one would be forced to think what this meant.
In his first 88 tests, (to compare with Imrans eventual 88)
Botham scored 4809 runs at 35.4 per innings
& Imran scored 3807runs at 37.7 per innings
ONE THOUSAND RUNS MORE in the same number of tests !! Bu**er the average !!
Botham's runs included 14 hundreds and 21 fifties with a top score of 208
& Imran's runs included 6 hundreds and 18 fifties with a top score of 137
MORE THAN TWICE AS MANY HUNDREDS in the same number of tests!! Bu**er the average !!
To put it differently, to score 3806 runs in test matches
Imran
-averaged 37.7
-scored 6 hundreds doing it
-took 88 tests to do it
Botham
-averaged 36.4
- scored 13 hundreds doing it
- took 67 tests to do it !!
Botham took 21 tests less to do what Imran did over his career and in the process scored 13 centuries to his 6 !! Averages be bu**ered !!
I repeat, stats are an imperfect tool to measure relative merits of two players but for those who insist, integrity would dictate looking at more details.
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