Of course, there’s a lot more to a cricket season than silverware, but in the dog-eat-dog competitive world of modern sport it would unusual to use any other yardstick to review performance.
But end of season reviews are now a lot more interesting thanks to the amazing statistics produced by John Boomer on the Cricket Europe website. Long gone are the days when batting and bowling averages were the only benchmarks, as John’s wide-ranging tables now allow captains and coaches a deeper insight into what their team did right, and what they did wrong. The analyses also highlight the rewards for clubs with good pitches and perhaps it is no accident that top grounds like Stormont, The Lawn and The Green have not only produced the top batting performances, but also forced the home bowlers to raise their standards to counter the batting advantage.
The 2011 statistics have also confirmed something we all knew before the season started-modern cricket conditions overwhelmingly favour the batsmen and with five team scores well over the 300 mark and two close to 400, it was another tough year for bowlers. North Down’s Martin Moreland was top wicket-taker with 33, a long way short of the halcyon years of Monteith, Corlett and Ian Harrison. Only seven bowlers passed the 30 wickets mark, and no bowler took seven in an innings. Of course, we live in a different era and while wickets and runs are very important, they do not have the same significance as strike rates and economy rates in limited overs cricket. Waringstown taught us this 40 years ago, but it has taken a long time for other teams to fully understand and apply the strategy. Andrew White, Kyle McCallan and Nigel Jones do it better than most with economy rates below three runs an over and, not surprisingly, this formidable trio also figure prominently in the batting and all-rounder tables. On review, it would seem taking wickets has lost some of its glitz in the modern game, although the euphoria shown when a wicket falls every Saturday afternoon would indicate otherwise. Why not the same emotions for three successive maiden overs one asks? More and more top bowlers average less than two wickets a game including top wicket-taker Moreland whose strike rate is close to four runs an over, although in fairness he bowls on a super batting track every other week.
Civil Service North’s Marc Ellison (929 runs) and Rory McCann (899 runs) had brilliants seasons, but it was the phenomenal Obus Pienaar who blew up the record book. The South African blitzed virtually every attack he faced and his 800 runs in 12 innings came at an average of 100. Not bad for a player recruited as a bowler who could bat!
Obus lifted the other Waringstown batsmen to new heights and figured in a record 303-run partnership with Lee Nelson against CIYMS. And there was no respite for the eventual league winners North Down who were savaged for 392 at The Lawn. What might have happened had he not been recalled to South Africa remains conjecture, but so many records lay at his mercy by early July.
James Hall had the best bowling strike rate, but unfortunately there is no similar table for batsmen and that is the only statistic that is missing from an otherwise comprehensive set of figures. There were many outstanding batting performances and over a season it would have been interesting to see who scored fastest and more often.
The modern game breeds all-rounders and there were plenty of top performers this season. Nigel Jones was best, but each of the top five would be an asset in any team. Nigel’s Civil Service North colleague Corin Goodall will also gain a lot of satisfaction from finishing top wicket-keeper ahead of Johnny Bushe and Peter Shields, who have virtually monopolized this discipline in the last decade.
It is often said you can do anything with figures, so everyone will have plenty of fun over the winter putting a positive spin on John Boomer’s stats.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
