Yeah, the Ranji Trophy isn't batting-friendly, per se. Comparing it South African franchise cricket.. RSA Franchise Cricket Overall Batting Averages 2004-2005 - 32.39 2005-2006 - 27.94 2006-2007 - 29.27 2007-2008 - 26.54 2008-2009 - 27.89 2009-2010 - 31.47 2010-2011 - 32.01 2011-2012 - 30.49 2012-2013 - 26.16 2013-2014 - 32.82 Ranji Trophy Overall Batting Averages 2004-2005 - 26.30 2005-2006 - 26.10 2006-2007 - 26.47 2007-2008 - 26.89 2008-2009 - 28.11 2009-2010 - 29.88 2010-2011 - 30.73 2011-2012 - 31.89 2012-2013 - 31.27 2013-2014 - 29.38 Very similar really. The difference is in the dilution of quality due to the massive numbers of teams. And that's very much taken into account via a complicated mathematical model.
The West Indies domestic competition is a complete anomaly and it wasn't what I was referring to when I said that. I replied to your quote about Indian domestic cricket. I haven't watched Miller nearly enough in FC cricket to make even a reasonable guess.
Yeah West Indian cricket is silly: 2003-2004 - 23.85 2004-2005 - 25.95 2005-2006 - 24.51 2006-2007 - 25.58 2007-2008 - 25.11 2008-2009 - 26.09 2009-2010 - 23.54 2010-2011 - 25.49 2011-2012 - 18.62 2012-2013 - 20.10 Would be even sillier if we just looked at spinners' averages.
It's all about comparative strengths though. You've got a better tail than me, so your argument about the relative weakness stands to reason there but there will be people with better tails than you so just saying "but all of my other players could bat a spot higher" won't justify you're 7 being weak in that situation, if you get what I mean. I'm not saying you do. I'm not saying it counts for anything in itself. I'll try and be as crystal clear as I can: On paper, your team looks fantastic. The numbers are incredible and some of the players are genuine, genuine quality. However, some of these numbers belie the true ability of the players. This is because all of the runs they've scored or wickets they've taken have been scored in domestic cricket, there are no Test runs in there, and of course Test runs are a better indicator of ability than domestic runs (or so you'd normally assume) because of the nature of Test cricket compared to different domestic competitions etc. Not only this, but the domestic competitions in which these runs have been scored/wickets have been taken are those which are traditionally considered 'weaker' competitions where such excellence isn't as extraordinary as it would be in the stronger competitions. This all combined means that in order to accurately assess the strength of this team you need to look much further behind the numbers than you do for many other sides. I don't think we actually disagree all that much, you just got pretty defensive over some pretty trivial stuff. You say you don't "rely" on such players but I'd argue when they make up 6/11 of your side then it qualifies as reliance.
Or the standard is low. I mean listen those guys are great FC batsmen but all I'm trying to say is a 71 average in India isn't as insanely h4x as it'd be somewhere else. And I know you didn't argue otherwise, all I was doing in my initial post if highlighting that I feel the batting isn't quite as ridiculously good as it looks at first glance. Because whenever I'd look at your team I'd first think "Gee, those are some mean stats" before realising they were largely subcontinental FC batsmen who hadn't played more than a Test or two, if any at all.
Well yeah, this is true. I don't think anyone was really arguing otherwise though. Averaging 60 odd in the Ranji Trophy isn't anywhere near as impressive as doing it in the Sunfoil Series or the Sheffield Shield or even the West Indian Regional Tournament (given its bowler-friendliness) but everyone knows that and it's something well taken into account by CPL in general.
Yeah OK just ignore me, I'm basically meaning everything Baxter said, I'm just saying it in a stupid way because I've just got back from babysitting my little cousins and had to sit through an hour of mermaid cartoons.
Yup, and I was just stating this, and highlighting its extended relevance here given that Eds' whole batting line-up consists of this sort of player.
Imagine averaging 20 as a specialist batsman in 2011-12 and yet still feeling you were contributing to the side and that your spot was relatively safe. Madness.
Haha yeah, looked through the Test-capped WI batsmen and found practically none of them average over 30. Hilarious, really.
Should bode well for Miller's batting. Basically agree with everything you said prior to this. I think it's really, really harsh to lump Tiwary in there given his record in Indian domestic cricket over the past five years is up there with what Sachin's or Dravid's or Laxman's was at five-year Ranji peak. But this is another argument that I don't really have any interest of getting into. As an aside, who would you say the Pakistani national team 'rely' on? Which players? Well yeah I agree with you. I don't think I gave the indication at any point that I took raw stats to be anything more than a quick glance and a bit of fun, did I? I'm not expecting Tiwary and Bawne to average 70 each.
Tiwary's injury has meant he's literally missed the whole last season; that'll be the worry with him. Didn't play the Duleep or the Ranji; no 2013-14 cricket for him.
I didn't claim you to have done so It was just a general statement that I made after taking another look at the team, that the team isn't as insanely strong as it looked if you didn't delve deeper into the stats. Which you've obviously done, and have still assembled a pretty strong team.
An extremely simple analysis (adding up the CPL ratings of the top 7 for both sides ) shows Eds and Prez to have batting lineups of a very similar quality, ftr.
The difference between your two batting lineups, ratings wise, is almost exactly the difference between Misbah and Trott. I'll let you two figure out what that means between you. You having two Sri Lankans means your side's ratings could change a lot though, as they play a lot of A cricket, and recently had that weird in-house triangular tournament too. That stuff hasn't been added to the database yet.
Oh look, they're 7 down. Oh look, they've got Alfonso fucking Thomas coming in to score a quick 50. Oh, and then there's Andrew Birch with his FC average of about 20 at number 10. Yeah I'd imagine Misbah to be a bit above Trott. Actually, I don't know :P
Haha, yeah. Should help Perera in particular given the Board XI was more or less the Sri Lankan side.
