[Not so] Huge statistical analysis on greatest ODI batsman and bowlers ranked

[ankitj]

S Rajesh does simpler and therefore better analyses. Here's one on ODI batsmen.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/22375790/best-odi-batsmen-eras

It's dated and rankings will look different now. Don't think Dhoni will hold on to his #2 spot and of course Kohli and ABD will feature near the top.

Refreshing this wouldn't be that hard I suppose. I will give it a shot over the weekend.

Here are the refreshed results. Some differences from the original analysis:

1. I used only matches between 15 teams for both player stats in consideration and for calculating benchmark stats. The 15 teams are: 12 test playing nations plus Asia XI, Africa XI and ICC world XI.
2. I limited exercise to batsmen who scored 2000+ runs at 30+ average against the 15 teams to limit the amount of data I am handling. This yielded a list of 158 batsmen.
3. I calculated benchmark stats for years that a player was active in rather than between precise dates of first and last match. So benchmark period for Tendulkar starts on 01 Jan 1989 and ends on 31 Dec 2012. I did this because I couldn't download a list of above 158 batsmen with their first and last match dates.

The file with full analysis can be found here: ODI Batsmen Analysis

List of top 50 Batsmen below:

Rank	Player	Avg	SR	Avg x SR	Benchmark Avg	Benchmark SR	Benchmark Avg x SR	Quality Ratio
1	IVA Richards	47.00	90.20	42.39	29.35	66.07	19.39	2.19
2	Zaheer Abbas	47.84	85.04	40.68	28.83	64.99	18.74	2.17
3	AB de Villiers	53.42	100.39	53.63	33.46	81.57	27.29	1.96
4	V Kohli	59.40	93.34	55.44	34.31	83.63	28.69	1.93
5	MG Bevan	54.42	74.31	40.44	30.98	72.63	22.50	1.80
6	MEK Hussey	48.92	86.94	42.53	32.33	78.35	25.33	1.68
7	GS Chappell	40.18	75.70	30.42	28.63	64.22	18.38	1.65
8	JC Buttler	41.41	119.51	49.49	35.08	85.28	29.91	1.65
9	DM Jones	44.61	72.56	32.37	29.90	66.76	19.96	1.62
10	JM Bairstow	46.19	102.92	47.54	34.86	84.69	29.52	1.61
11	MS Dhoni	50.31	87.45	44.00	33.60	81.59	27.42	1.60
12	SR Tendulkar	43.52	85.65	37.27	31.41	74.00	23.24	1.60
13	L Klusener	40.24	89.91	36.18	30.97	73.12	22.64	1.60
14	RG Sharma	49.31	88.95	43.86	34.16	83.15	28.41	1.54
15	A Symonds	39.30	92.87	36.50	31.54	75.38	23.77	1.54
16	HM Amla	49.57	88.31	43.78	34.24	83.51	28.59	1.53
17	DA Warner	46.01	95.57	43.97	34.50	84.00	28.98	1.52
18	Babar Azam	54.52	87.04	47.45	35.95	87.28	31.38	1.51
19	CG Greenidge	45.03	64.92	29.23	29.35	66.07	19.39	1.51
20	AJ Lamb	39.31	75.54	29.69	29.74	66.66	19.82	1.50
21	AC Gilchrist	35.79	97.34	34.84	31.36	74.49	23.36	1.49
22	JE Root	51.99	87.15	45.31	35.37	86.05	30.44	1.49
23	ML Hayden	43.58	78.42	34.18	31.22	73.58	22.97	1.49
24	IJL Trott	51.05	76.73	39.17	33.03	80.48	26.58	1.47
25	V Sehwag	34.57	103.56	35.80	31.89	76.56	24.42	1.47
26	Saeed Anwar	39.22	80.77	31.68	30.75	71.04	21.85	1.45
27	JJ Roy	42.50	107.28	45.59	36.06	87.41	31.52	1.45
28	S Dhawan	44.73	93.81	41.96	34.73	84.29	29.28	1.43
29	RT Ponting	42.32	80.38	34.02	31.64	75.55	23.90	1.42
30	LRPL Taylor	47.95	82.89	39.75	33.97	82.50	28.03	1.42
31	BC Lara	40.22	79.09	31.81	31.06	72.57	22.54	1.41
32	Javed Miandad	41.70	67.01	27.94	29.72	67.00	19.91	1.40
33	F du Plessis	46.78	88.08	41.20	34.77	84.55	29.40	1.40
34	Q de Kock	44.81	95.15	42.64	35.37	86.05	30.44	1.40
35	MD Crowe	38.55	72.63	28.00	29.90	67.02	20.04	1.40
36	DR Martyn	40.33	77.67	31.32	30.97	72.40	22.42	1.40
37	KP Pietersen	40.78	86.92	35.45	32.45	78.66	25.53	1.39
38	DA Miller	40.27	100.60	40.51	34.73	84.29	29.28	1.38
39	DS Lehmann	38.92	80.89	31.48	31.10	73.60	22.89	1.38
40	SR Watson	39.45	89.50	35.31	32.63	79.05	25.79	1.37
41	ME Trescothick	37.41	85.18	31.87	31.34	74.35	23.31	1.37
42	ME Waugh	38.79	76.80	29.79	30.79	70.89	21.82	1.37
43	WJ Cronje	38.31	76.14	29.17	30.58	70.53	21.56	1.35
44	GJ Maxwell	32.32	123.37	39.87	35.08	85.28	29.91	1.33
45	MJ Clarke	43.98	78.36	34.46	32.67	79.26	25.90	1.33
46	DL Haynes	41.37	63.09	26.10	29.67	66.29	19.67	1.33
47	G Gambhir	39.03	85.32	33.30	32.23	77.98	25.13	1.32
48	KS Williamson	47.29	81.57	38.57	34.73	84.29	29.28	1.32
49	NH Fairbrother	38.79	72.26	28.03	30.54	69.70	21.29	1.32
50	RA Smith	39.01	69.65	27.17	30.29	68.19	20.65	1.32

 

[honestbharani]

I think you do have factor in longevity and number of games etc and then stuff like conditions but a great attempt. And I know you are only refreshing a methodology already done. Just don't like a rating that will consider Bairstow better than Rohit Sharma, forget Sachin Tendulkar.

 

[ankitj]

Yeah not pleased with the result. Can add longevity factor in form of log of career runs. Will try later.

 

[ankitj]

Top 50 after multiplying quality score with longevity factor which is calculated as log (span in years +1) *

Rank	Player	Avg x SR	Benchmark Avg x SR	Quality Ratio	Longevity factor	Adjusted Quality Score
1	IVA Richards	42.39	19.39	2.19	1.26	2.74
2	Zaheer Abbas	40.68	18.74	2.17	1.11	2.42
3	AB de Villiers	53.63	27.29	1.96	1.18	2.31
4	SR Tendulkar	37.27	23.24	1.60	1.40	2.24
5	V Kohli	55.44	28.69	1.93	1.15	2.21
6	MS Dhoni	44.00	27.42	1.60	1.23	1.97
7	MG Bevan	40.44	22.50	1.80	1.08	1.94
8	Javed Miandad	27.94	19.91	1.40	1.36	1.91
9	GS Chappell	30.42	18.38	1.65	1.15	1.90
10	CG Greenidge	29.23	19.39	1.51	1.26	1.89
11	ML Hayden	34.18	22.97	1.49	1.23	1.83
12	RT Ponting	34.02	23.90	1.42	1.28	1.82
13	RG Sharma	43.86	28.41	1.54	1.18	1.82
14	BC Lara	31.81	22.54	1.41	1.28	1.80
15	V Sehwag	35.80	24.42	1.47	1.20	1.77
16	DM Jones	32.37	19.96	1.62	1.08	1.75
17	Saeed Anwar	31.68	21.85	1.45	1.20	1.75
18	ST Jayasuriya	29.26	23.13	1.26	1.38	1.75
19	PA de Silva	27.83	21.43	1.30	1.32	1.72
20	A Symonds	36.50	23.77	1.54	1.11	1.71
21	AC Gilchrist	34.84	23.36	1.49	1.15	1.71
22	LRPL Taylor	39.75	28.03	1.42	1.20	1.71
23	HM Amla	43.78	28.59	1.53	1.11	1.71
24	DA Warner	43.97	28.98	1.52	1.11	1.69
25	DR Martyn	31.32	22.42	1.40	1.20	1.68
26	MEK Hussey	42.53	25.33	1.68	1.00	1.68
27	TM Dilshan	33.16	25.26	1.31	1.28	1.68
28	A Ranatunga	27.33	20.82	1.31	1.28	1.68
29	JH Kallis	31.41	24.37	1.29	1.30	1.68
30	JM Bairstow	47.54	29.52	1.61	1.04	1.68
31	DL Haynes	26.10	19.67	1.33	1.26	1.67
32	ME Waugh	29.79	21.82	1.37	1.20	1.64
33	MD Crowe	28.00	20.04	1.40	1.18	1.64
34	Inzamam-ul-Haq	29.54	22.60	1.31	1.26	1.64
35	Imran Khan	24.27	19.44	1.25	1.30	1.62
36	AJ Lamb	29.69	19.82	1.50	1.08	1.62
37	SR Watson	35.31	25.79	1.37	1.18	1.61
38	CH Gayle	31.14	26.08	1.19	1.34	1.60
39	L Klusener	36.18	22.64	1.60	1.00	1.60
40	M Azharuddin	27.24	21.11	1.29	1.23	1.59
41	JC Buttler	49.49	29.91	1.65	0.95	1.58
42	CL Hooper	27.37	21.77	1.26	1.26	1.58
43	SC Ganguly	29.03	22.67	1.28	1.23	1.58
44	KC Sangakkara	32.45	25.35	1.28	1.23	1.58
45	Yuvraj Singh	31.60	25.88	1.22	1.28	1.56
46	Saleem Malik	25.37	20.82	1.22	1.28	1.56
47	S Dhawan	41.96	29.28	1.43	1.08	1.55
48	S Chanderpaul	28.60	23.70	1.21	1.28	1.54
49	GA Gooch	22.76	19.70	1.16	1.32	1.53
50	MJ Clarke	34.46	25.90	1.33	1.15	1.53

* Chosen mainly for ease of calculation.

 

[honestbharani]

Years is a good measure but I would say you have to look at the number of matches too to be completely accurate. This list looks much better thant he first one though for sure.

 

[stephen]

Pretty amazing how badly modern batsmen are penalised in the standardisation.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Pretty amazing how badly modern batsmen are penalised in the standardisation.

I don't think so at all. Most modern batsmen are either about where they should be, or higher IMO

 

[ankitj]

Notice Imran Khan at #35 in second table. WAG

 

[ankitj]

Did this for bowlers. Standardized Avg x ER (divided by 6). Shortlist criteria was 80+ wickets at under 40 average which yielded 170 bowlers.

The file with full analysis can be found here: ODI Bowlers Analysis

Top 50 bowlers without longevity adjustment:

Rank	Player	Avg	ER	Avg x ER	Benchmark Avg	Benchmark ER	Benchmark Avg x ER	Quality Ratio
1	Rashid Khan	18.40	4.11	12.60	34.98	5.38	31.39	0.40
2	J Garner	18.85	3.10	9.74	30.21	4.05	20.41	0.48
3	Saeed Ajmal	22.92	4.19	16.01	33.35	5.09	28.27	0.57
4	Sir RJ Hadlee	21.50	3.34	11.97	30.68	4.11	21.01	0.57
5	SE Bond	21.13	4.33	15.25	32.95	4.87	26.75	0.57
6	GD McGrath	22.50	3.91	14.66	32.83	4.64	25.41	0.58
7	MA Holding	21.37	3.33	11.86	30.13	4.05	20.36	0.58
8	JJ Bumrah	24.43	4.56	18.57	34.97	5.38	31.34	0.59
9	CEL Ambrose	24.43	3.51	14.29	32.60	4.43	24.09	0.59
10	SM Pollock	25.00	3.72	15.50	32.85	4.71	25.82	0.60
11	M Muralitharan	23.79	3.96	15.70	32.83	4.71	25.80	0.61
12	AME Roberts	20.36	3.40	11.54	28.80	3.90	18.70	0.62
13	Saqlain Mushtaq	21.88	4.29	15.64	32.70	4.61	25.11	0.62
14	SP Narine	26.47	4.13	18.22	33.53	5.17	28.89	0.63
15	Mustafizur Rahman	23.05	5.22	20.05	35.14	5.39	31.58	0.63
16	AA Donald	22.36	4.19	15.61	32.60	4.52	24.55	0.64
17	BAW Mendis	22.32	4.90	18.23	33.35	5.09	28.27	0.64
18	MA Starc	22.66	5.12	19.34	34.10	5.22	29.69	0.65
19	Wasim Akram	24.10	3.91	15.71	32.39	4.45	24.01	0.65
20	TM Alderman	23.36	3.66	14.25	31.21	4.18	21.73	0.66
21	Imran Tahir	25.08	4.67	19.52	34.05	5.24	29.71	0.66
22	DK Lillee	20.83	3.58	12.43	28.83	3.89	18.71	0.66
23	CG Rackemann	22.35	3.94	14.68	31.33	4.19	21.88	0.67
24	NW Bracken	24.39	4.43	18.01	32.90	4.82	26.46	0.68
25	PS de Villiers	27.48	3.56	16.30	32.60	4.37	23.77	0.69
26	TA Boult	25.48	5.05	21.45	34.41	5.29	30.32	0.71
27	A Flintoff	24.86	4.45	18.44	32.78	4.77	26.05	0.71
28	Kuldeep Yadav	26.26	5.13	22.45	35.33	5.38	31.69	0.71
29	YS Chahal	26.19	5.09	22.22	34.97	5.38	31.34	0.71
30	CJ McKay	24.44	4.84	19.71	33.05	5.05	27.81	0.71
31	LL Tsotsobe	24.62	4.77	19.57	33.02	5.01	27.59	0.71
32	B Lee	23.69	4.80	18.95	32.94	4.83	26.53	0.71
33	CJ McDermott	24.78	4.04	16.69	32.18	4.29	23.00	0.73
34	K Rabada	27.34	5.00	22.78	34.98	5.38	31.39	0.73
35	EJ Chatfield	25.84	3.58	15.42	30.89	4.12	21.19	0.73
36	SK Warne	25.87	4.26	18.37	32.81	4.60	25.18	0.73
37	M Ntini	24.88	4.60	19.07	32.90	4.77	26.15	0.73
38	MD Marshall	26.96	3.54	15.91	31.29	4.16	21.72	0.73
39	MG Johnson	25.32	4.86	20.51	33.33	5.03	27.95	0.73
40	DW Steyn	25.88	4.89	21.09	33.69	5.12	28.72	0.73
41	JN Gillespie	26.68	4.23	18.81	32.89	4.67	25.59	0.74
42	M Morkel	25.20	5.01	21.04	33.45	5.12	28.55	0.74
43	DW Fleming	25.44	4.45	18.87	32.95	4.54	24.96	0.76
44	WPUJC Vaas	27.90	4.21	19.58	32.89	4.68	25.65	0.76
45	D Gough	26.65	4.41	19.59	32.92	4.64	25.47	0.77
46	MJ Henry	26.49	5.41	23.89	34.69	5.36	30.98	0.77
47	C Pringle	23.87	4.45	17.70	32.26	4.26	22.92	0.77
48	Mohammed Shami	25.42	5.59	23.68	34.51	5.32	30.60	0.77
49	Waqar Younis	24.16	4.72	19.01	32.57	4.50	24.43	0.78
50	N Kapil Dev	27.45	3.72	17.02	31.35	4.16	21.74	0.78

 

[ankitj]

Top 50 with longevity adjustment:

Rank	Player	Avg x ER	Benchmark Avg x ER	Quality Ratio	Longevity Factor	Adjusted Quality Ratio
1	J Garner	9.74	20.41	0.48	1.08	0.44
2	RJ Hadlee	11.97	21.01	0.57	1.28	0.45
3	M Muralitharan	15.70	25.80	0.61	1.30	0.47
4	GD McGrath	14.66	25.41	0.58	1.20	0.48
5	Wasim Akram	15.71	24.01	0.65	1.32	0.49
6	Rashid Khan	12.60	31.39	0.40	0.78	0.52
7	CEL Ambrose	14.29	24.09	0.59	1.15	0.52
8	MA Holding	11.86	20.36	0.58	1.11	0.52
9	SM Pollock	15.50	25.82	0.60	1.15	0.52
10	AA Donald	15.61	24.55	0.64	1.15	0.55
11	SE Bond	15.25	26.75	0.57	1.00	0.57
12	Saeed Ajmal	16.01	28.27	0.57	0.95	0.59
13	DK Lillee	12.43	18.71	0.66	1.11	0.60
14	MA Starc	19.34	29.69	0.65	1.08	0.60
15	TM Alderman	14.25	21.73	0.66	1.08	0.61
16	DW Steyn	21.09	28.72	0.73	1.20	0.61
17	AME Roberts	11.54	18.70	0.62	1.00	0.62
18	Saqlain Mushtaq	15.64	25.11	0.62	1.00	0.62
19	B Lee	18.95	26.53	0.71	1.15	0.62
20	N Kapil Dev	17.02	21.74	0.78	1.26	0.62
21	Imran Khan	17.34	21.30	0.81	1.30	0.63
22	WPUJC Vaas	19.58	25.65	0.76	1.20	0.63
23	SK Warne	18.37	25.18	0.73	1.15	0.64
24	MD Marshall	15.91	21.72	0.73	1.15	0.64
25	DL Vettori	22.42	26.84	0.84	1.30	0.64
26	Waqar Younis	19.01	24.43	0.78	1.20	0.65
27	CJ McDermott	16.69	23.00	0.73	1.11	0.65
28	M Ntini	19.07	26.15	0.73	1.11	0.65
29	KD Mills	21.52	27.27	0.79	1.20	0.66
30	A Flintoff	18.44	26.05	0.71	1.08	0.66
31	Imran Tahir	19.52	29.71	0.66	1.00	0.66
32	M Morkel	21.04	28.55	0.74	1.11	0.66
33	Shoaib Akhtar	20.66	26.31	0.79	1.18	0.67
34	CG Rackemann	14.68	21.88	0.67	1.00	0.67
35	D Gough	19.59	25.47	0.77	1.15	0.67
36	EJ Chatfield	15.42	21.19	0.73	1.08	0.67
37	BAW Mendis	18.23	28.27	0.64	0.95	0.68
38	CA Walsh	19.88	23.84	0.83	1.23	0.68
39	MG Johnson	20.51	27.95	0.73	1.08	0.68
40	NW Bracken	18.01	26.46	0.68	1.00	0.68
41	Shakib Al Hasan	23.10	28.74	0.80	1.18	0.68
42	GP Swann	21.60	26.60	0.81	1.18	0.69
43	GB Hogg	20.76	25.82	0.80	1.15	0.70
44	JN Gillespie	18.81	25.59	0.74	1.04	0.71
45	TA Boult	21.45	30.32	0.71	1.00	0.71
46	IT Botham	19.01	21.35	0.89	1.26	0.71
47	Harbhajan Singh	24.63	26.91	0.92	1.28	0.72
48	A Kumble	23.53	25.13	0.94	1.28	0.73
49	Mohammad Amir	23.55	29.41	0.80	1.08	0.74
50	MF Maharoof	23.78	27.94	0.85	1.15	0.74

 

[ankitj]

Can a mod change the title of the thread to indicate it has analysis for both batsmen and bowlers? Thanks.

 

[marc71178]

It’ll be interesting to see how much Rashid Khan drops if he starts playing against the better sides.

 

[ankitj]

Yeah, I limited to 15 sides only but obviously Rashid Khan still benefits from playing a lot against Ireland and Zimbabwe I believe.

 

[trundler]

My man Ajmal appropriately high. Used to bowl at the death, dry up runs, take key wickets — the whole shabang. Of course whether he was bowling or not is a separate matter.

 

[ankitj]

Based on the longevity adjusted lists:

Top 2 openers - Tendulkar, Greendige
Top 3 middle order batsmen - Richards, Abbas, de Villiears
Top wicketkeeper batsman - Dhoni
Top 4 bowlers: Garner, Hadlee Muralitharan, McGrath
Top all rounder: Imran Khan (only one to feature in top 50 of both)

So an ATG XI will be:

Sachin Tendulkar
Gordon Greendige
Zaheer Abbas
Viv Richards
AB de Villiers
MS Dhoni +
Imran Khan *
Richard Hadlee
Joel Garner
Muttiah Muralitharan
Glenn McGrath

 

[honestbharani]

Wait for stephen and TJB to come barging in given there is only one Aussie..


But seriously, very good work, ankitj. Gives a lot to mull over and ranks the players reasonably accurately inspite of being a very straightforward statistical analysis.

 

[Malcolm]

What is the point of multiplying with ER, when average itself is the product of SR and ER?

 

[ankitj]

Yes, but taken alone average and ER are independent. Between those 3 stats there is 2 degrees of freedom and so it's fine to combine any 2 of them.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Wait for stephen and TJB to come barging in given there is only one Aussie..

Can't help yourself can you? And the irony

not everyone thinks like you mate

 

[stephen]

Wait for stephen and TJB to come barging in given there is only one Aussie..

But seriously, very good work, ankitj. Gives a lot to mull over and ranks the players reasonably accurately inspite of being a very straightforward statistical analysis.

I've said it before, but statistical analyses without taking into account ground sizes, quality of opposition and clutch performances aren't going to do anything more than give a rough indicator.

Having said that, there are enough Australian batsmen in the top 37 to fill two top 6s. Which would be:


ML Hayden
AC Gilchrist
RT Ponting
GS Chappell
A Symonds
MG Bevan

DA Warner
ME Waugh
DM Jones
DR Martyn
MEK Hussey
SR Watson

With just Clarke left over to round out the top 50. This would make the backbone of two pretty formidable sides.

The bowling attacks would be:

GD McGrath
DK Lillee
MA Starc
SK Warne

TM Alderman
B Lee
CJ McDermott
GB Hogg

with left over:

CG Rackemann
MG Johnson
NW Bracken
JN Gillespie

Not sure I like Alderman or Rackemann in the 2nd XI. I'd take Johnson or Bracken over either of them. The first side can pick anyone, so they will get Clarke at 7. The second side needs a keeper so they will take Haddin at 7. Giving:

ML Hayden
AC Gilchrist +
RT Ponting
GS Chappell (5)
A Symonds (6)
MG Bevan (7)
M Clarke (8)
MA Starc (3)
SK Warne (4)
DK Lillee (2)
GD McGrath (1)

and

DA Warner
ME Waugh (6)
DM Jones
DR Martyn
MEK Hussey
SR Watson (5)
B Haddin +
GB Hogg (4)
B Lee (1)
TM Alderman (3)
CJ McDermott (2)

Which actually are both pretty strong sides who have tails that can hold a bat. They come pretty close to my own Australian first and second 11 sides too.