Who is Edgware CC's best bowler over the last decade? (Statistically)
It's a question that has been asked time and time again, just who is Edgware's greatest bowler of the last decade?
It's close to an impossible question given the variance in the quality of opposition played over the last 5 seasons and the disparity in the number of games played by more than 45 players over the same time period. It is also goes without saying that sometimes the best bowlers do not always get the rewards they so rightly deserve, often beating the bat 5,6,7 if not more times during a single innings. However, ultimately as a society and as a sport we are driven and governed by statistics and therefore using the information we have available we will identify who (statistically) is Edgware's best bowler over the last decade.
The Assumptions
We are going to base our analysis on three key variables:
Bowling average (Total numbers of runs conceded / total number of wickets taken),
Strike rate (Total number of deliveries bowled / total number of wickets taken), and
Economy rate (Total number of runs conceded / total number of deliveries bowled)
The reason being that these are 'not necessarily' dictated by the number of games played (although some may argue you're likely to have a lower bowling average within your first few games, particularly if you managed to grab a couple of five-fors early doors!). In addition to this, in order to make the test fair we will also introduce some minimal requirements for consideration. All bowlers considered must have taken 20 or more wickets and bowled at least 50 overs.
The Analysis
The first part of the analysis is to plot the averages and strike rates of all 9 players up for consideration on an XY scatter graph. The lower number in each category is desired here, and therefore, the "more lethal bowlers" should congregate towards the bottom left of the graph.
The linear trend line in this instance determines the average strike rate for each bowling average, therefore those bowlers below the line have a much lower strike-rate than would be average for the their given bowling average amongst the population of players considered.
For the purposes of this analysis we will assign each bowler with a score depending on where they sit within the analysis.
Therefore after the first round of analysis, the leading bowlers in terms of lethality are as follows:
1. Vidanda Galgamuwa (VG) - 10 points
= Sajith Sriwickramasekaran (SS) - 10 points
3. Rohan Garara (RG) - 9 points
= Nakul Jilka (NJ) - 9 points
= Rahul Kothari (RK) - 9 points
= Ihtishaam Malik (IM) - 9 points
7. Ananya Dixit (AD) - 8 points
8. Raj Parmar (RP) - 7 points
9. Jude Saverus (JD) - 5 points
The second part of the analysis involves looking at bowler's economy rates and how effective they are at minimising runs and building pressure during the course of an innings.
Similar to what we did previously, we will assign a score relating to the economy rate of the bowler and the population interval it falls within.
Therefore at the end of round 2 of the analysis, we find ourselves with a three-way tie as follows:
1. Vidanda Galgamuwa (VG) - 14 points
= Rohan Garara (RG) - 14 points
= Rahul Kothari (RK) - 14 points
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4. Nakul Jilka (NJ) - 13 points
= Ihtishaam Malik (IM) - 13 points
6. Sajith Sriwickramasekaran (SS) - 12 points
7. Ananya Dixit (AD) - 10 points
= Raj Parmar (RP) - 10 points
9. Jude Saverus (JS) - 7 points
Unfortunately it's not possible to compare league cricket versus friendly cricket in this scenario given that both Vidanda and Rohan have played minimal league cricket. In fact the only player in the team to have taken 20 or more wickets in league cricket is Jude Saverus and therefore this would not be a fair test.
Conclusion
We started this journey on the search for the best Edgware CC bowler of the last decade, instead we have found the three best. We have dived into the stats and attempted to separate the best from the rest and it's been an impossible task to separate Vidanda Galgamuwa, Rohan Garara and Rahul Kothari. Each player's career spans over different time periods and has come up against varying strengths of opposition, but each player has been absolutely fantastic for the club and we look forward to seeing what the next decade has in store!
Who do you think Edgware's best player of the decade is? - Do you have another metric which could be used in this instance to separate the three? - Let us know!
