In my article last month, The Problem with Using Career Averages, I briefly discussed the fact that not all T20 competitions are equal. In effect, some T20 tournaments are much easier to bat in, and others the opposite - they are extremely bowler friendly. In that article, I showed the following table, which illustrates the overall batting data for each major domestic T20 league in the world from the 2015 season onwards:-
Evidently, based on this table, it's much more difficult to bat in Bangladesh (BPL), Pakistan (PSL) and West Indies (CPL) than all other events, with the tournament batting averages, strike rates and boundary hitting percentages the lowest of all the major domestic T20 leagues. In that article, I also looked at the stats for Sunil Narine and Rashid Khan, making the point that Narine's IPL data is considerably worse than in the BPL, CPL and PSL, and it would appear that he's the bowling equivalent of a 'flat-track bully' - unbelievably good against weak batsmen and in conditions that suit him, but not particularly stand-out in other situations. Rashid Khan's numbers in the IPL were just a little less magnificent - they were still absolutely world-class. With this in mind, I wanted to look at the bowlers around the world who have experience from 2015 onwards of playing a considerable amount in the BPL/CPL/PSL - the easier leagues to bowl in - as well as other leagues, and the table below shows the data that I compiled. A player needed to bowl at least 50 overs in the BPL/CPL/PSL combined in this time period, and also across the other leagues listed above, and in T20 internationals.
Overall, 19 bowlers fitted this criteria, and very interestingly, a mere three bowlers of the 19 - Carlos Brathwaite, Samuel Badree and Shane Watson - had worse data in the BPL, CPL and PSL combined. In Watson's case, it was only just, while Brathwaite and Badree's data was considerably worse. The bowlers who fitted the 'flat-track bully' bracket - much better bowling figures in the BPL/CPL/PSL combined, generally against weaker batsmen and in bowler-friendly conditions, were the following - Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy, Kieron Pollard, Mohammad Amir, Thisara Perera (whose economy rate in non BPL/CPL/PSL matches was atrocious, at over 9.5 runs per over), Shakib Al Hasan, Tabraiz Shamsi and Wahab Riaz, as well as the aforementioned Narine. With the exception of Sammy, whose bowling figures were generally very mediocre indeed, the players listed in the above paragraph would be absolutely fine recruitments for the easier T20 bowling tournaments around the world, but if I was running recruitment for a Big Bash, T20 Blast or IPL team, I'd be very cautious indeed about signing them, purely from a bowling perspective. Given the bias towards better bowling figures in the BPL, CPL and PSL generally, it is clear that weighting for innings difficulty, recent performances and general situational elements is key to measuring a player's true level, and our unique Sports Analytics Advantage algorithm does just that - please feel free to enquire for further information on player analysis, and bespoke draft or auction strategies at sportsanalyticsadvantage@gmail.com. Finally, it was worth looking at the 19 players combined who fitted the criteria, and their data combined produced the following results:-
We can see that the 19 players combined achieved a bowling average of almost four runs per wicket less in the BPL/CPL/PSL combined, and saved just over half a run per over as well, compared to the other major T20 tournaments around the world where it is easier to bat - data which should surely providing food for thought for franchise decision-makers. |