Test Report Card

[Mahmood]

Even though, many of us don't give much importance to numbers, it is still the ultimate report card when evaluating player performance. After BD has played the 2nd Test in SA, let's take look at the evaluation.

Habibul Tops the batting average while Masri tops the bowling.


Batting top 10 averages


1. Sumon - 34.13
2. Kapali - 33.60
3. Hannan - 28.83
4. Ash - 25.84
5. Golla - 23.68
5. Rokon - 22.61
7. Bulbul - 22.30
8. Rafiq - 20.66
9. Sanwar - 17.08
10. Pilot - 16.57


Bowling Top Ten


1. Masri - 31.16 (12)
2. Moni - 48.93 (16)
3. Talha - 51.44 (9)
4. Sanwar - 53.50 (2)
5. Durjoy - 54.54 (11)
6. Monjur - 57.09 (22)
7. Sharif - 65.07 (14)
8. Rafiq - 68.33 (3)
9. Sumit - 68.40 (5)
10. Bikash - 72.00 (1)

Kapali is definitely a great find as a batsman, but I wouldn't call him all rounder
with his 161.50 average (2 wickets). Definite entry in next series.

Sumon is definitely our best batsman. A must for next series.

Hannan - So far so good. Earned the berth in next series.

Ash - How could he be dropped after his great stand in SL!!! Beats me. Should be in the next series, but then again, they didn't even play him then A team in Challenge Trophy.

Golla - Still on the top 5, but form is off lately. I consider him a may be for the next series.

Rokon - Currently in great form, should do better in next series.

The next 2 are Bulbul and Rafiq, both over 20 average. The rest, not worth talking about, under 20 average, is not near world class batsman consideration. Rafiq is definitely doing great, he tops Sanwar (17.08), Pilot (16.57), Akram (16.16), Durjoy (15.69), Opee (14.85), Moni (14.30), Sujan (13.00), Bidyut (9.50) and our so called great TUSHAR (8.66).

For bowling, Masri is still the only world class with amazing 31.16 average. Moni and Talha seems good enough for now. However, I am shocked to see Sanwar at number 4 beating Durjoy, Monjur, Sharif, Rafiq and so on. On a side not, I don't see any point having players who average 60+ as bowlers. 60 average means, they will get the opponent all out at 600. I think you get the picture.

Disappointed to see Kapali (161.50 with 2 wickets) and Ash's (223.00 with 1 wicket)Average. Also, Taposh is not so good yet, even Shanto was better (Shanto was never good, but topped what we got).

Looking at the batting, I feel, we can do better than 150-180 innings. We should score 220+ with wisely selected players with performing their average. Selecting the wrong players is the key here. Example, Dropping Ash from the serise, or not playing Hannan in the first test, slecting Tushar in each test.

Bowling sucks. Only one bowler in 30's and one in 40's, and both not in the team!!!! The current bowling will give easy 500+ innings every time... no wonder.

[Edited on 30-10-2002 by Rajputro]

[handle]

Rafique may have a better batting avg, but Pilot has definitely led from the front in recent times. I think Moni is a better batsman in longer version matches.

[Sham]

Some MAJOR points have to be made about Rajputro's post.

Numbers may be the final telling point, but only after a certain time. The official statistics in cricket take a batsman's average into the all time list only after he has played 20 Test matches. If you play 15 Tests and your average is 102, they wouldn't put you ahead of Don Bradman. So, the number of Tests played should put some of these figures into perspective.

Alok Kapali looks very promising and 33.60 is a good start after three Test Matches. Even the commentators have been impressed by him. But I think its too early to judge him by numbers. If after 15 Tests his average is still over 30, that will say something.

Same thing with Hannan. He is averaging 28.83 at the moment but if he got caught at 5 in the first innings when he was dropped, his average would be 18.83. Not quite as impressive is it?

Rokon got a couple of poor decisions against SL. With better luck, he probably would have scored a lot more.

Ashraful's Test average is largely based on two innings. As Handle pointed out, Pilot has probably had a much bigger impact on our batting, even if his average is much lower.

Once again, after just three Tests, Rafiq's 20.66 means nothing.

What I am trying to say is, when someone has only played a few innings, one big score, one life or a couple of bad decisions can seriously pervert his average. Like I showed, if that one catch had been held, Hannan's average would have been 10 lower than it is.

As for our bowling, Monju has been the only one who has enjoyed an unbroken stint. Masri looks very promising, but after 4 Tests, I wouldn't call anyone 'world class'.

In the same way, I wouldn't think too much of Kapali or Taposh's bowling averages, even if they are in the 150s. They have only played three Test Matches. I can assure you that both Kapali and Baisya are better bowlers than Shanto, I saw them in the SL series. Don't forget, in his first Test Match, Shane Warne took one for a hundred odd.

A world class bowler will average round about 25 and a world class batsman around 40. So, if we really think about it, none of our players are, in Raana bhai's words, 'worth talking about.'

[Mahmood]

Cant agree more. Yet, I wanted to take a look at the current stage. However, I am not so sure about Kapali or Taposh being better bowler than Shanto. Ash is definitly good, and needs proper chance, but he has his own expectation obsticle.

For Pilot, he has picked up recently, after the captaincy, thats why his average is so low, that falls under form. This is just the average of current players.

[Pundit]

Durjoy the bowler: His 6 wicket haul by "throwing" the ball in BD's first test. This makes his data overvalued.

Ash the batsman: His century against SL. However, he has tremendous potential, and that should not be taken away from him.

Monjur the bowler: His only value in the TEST team is that he possibly frustrates the batsmen to such extent that they try wreckless shots against other bowlers, awarding them the wicket. He is therefore undervalued.

Kapali the batsman: He has begun his career against the stronger teams (not India as it was when we played them, nor Zimbabwe). So, the hope is that his average can only climb. He too is undervalued.

Rafiq the batsman (really ?) : Is this Rafiq the spinner ? Given his bowling prowess in test matches he will hardly be getting into the team. Therefore his good average hardly matters. He is overvalued.

I say give Tushar's spot to Ashraful. Not Bulbul, not Nannu (his age means that he is a serious case of diminishing return), and CERTAINLEY NOT Akram Khan.

[zakir]

A nice thread of interesting articles.
It may be a good idea if someone
can send the copies of these discussions
to our selection committee members.
They may not have the habit or
time to read these from the internet.

[Nasif]

Our selectors are "thick headed", they never listen to any constuctive opinion about players. They do whatever they wish. Its all about their whim.

[Sham]

Two points,

The best thing our selectors ever pulled was not selecting Sumon for our First Test. Then changing their minds due to media pressure and letting him play only to watch him score a 100 runs in the match.

Secondly, have the folks who are rooting for Ashraful actually seen him bat? I was REALLY excited about him when he first got into the side and scored that hundred against SL. But when I got back home last winter and saw him bat against Pak, I was really disappointed. This guy is not a Test batsman. He is small and fidgety. Prods around at everything. Sometimes, he does put his head down and plays maturely but most of the time, he just flays his bat at everything. Ashraful does have potential, but he has to tighten his game a little bit. Get his head down and not play every damn ball. Once he starts doing that, he'll be in my team. Right now, I'm not too sure.



[Edited on 31-10-2002 by Sham]

[Ockey]

I was just reviewing the scorecards from the SA tour and it seems that Sanwar has scored the most number of runs, if you take into account the practice games. This, of course, does not mean much as he played in evey single game.



[Edited on 3-11-2002 by Ockey]

[samircreep]

Stats can olny do so much. What they don't reveal are two vital components needed in any form of the game--heart and "stickability." I have seen pretty much most of Taposh's games so far and although others may think I'm judging prematurely, I think I can safely say that along with Pilot, these two lads have plenty of heart. Watch this lad bowl or bat and you can see that he is 100% committed in both the depratments.

As for stickability, the award must go to Golla and Sanwar. For sheer guts and determination, these two are unparalelled. Remember Sanwar's reply when he was bounced by Donald?And even if he did not play all that well in the second test, a hundred against any regional side in SA is better than a century against any of our Premeire League teams. And I don't think we should underestimate his bowling either.

As for Javed, this guy is a genuine opening batsman, the Real McCoy.Maybe his technique isn't the best, but Golla loves staying at the crease and holding one end up. How many of our other batsmen can actually do that?

[Tehsin]

Not me, but our managers with our batsmen. Have them sit infront of the TV and a take heart from both Tendulkar and Laxman. Granted that Tendu and Lax are in a whole diff level but even so, Tendu played 296 balls (that's 50 overs folks) and Laxman played a whopping 396 balls (66 overs) to save his match. That's pretty much the amount of overs our two innings last in any test.

In those 396 balls, Laxman scored only (yes only) 154 runs. Those who know him know that this guys likes to play his shots but he held back until he reached his 100. That's what our batsmen need to learn. instead of going after everything that moves (or doesn't), take your time to settle down (Golla's been the best but then all the 'talk' about how 'slow' he is probably got to him and he kinda lost his way, I think he is trying to go back to his original cricket) specially since we are out there to learn, not to prove ourselves. This reminds of of Ash. No matter how many balls he wastes, I think the coaches need to allow the kid to play against West Indies. he should have been picked for SA but our selectors have a thing about 'sticking' to their team selection and for some unknown reason can not add a player if he happens to play well 'after' they have named the team (Ash's last innings against SA).

Anyways, I was looking forward to the WI tour up until the last test. Now, i am worried.

[Sham]

Now I am well worried.

But I completely agree with you. Test cricket is all about occupying the crease. We have to learn to do that. The quick 20s and 30th dont mean much. Khaled Mashud usually does the best job of sticking around, even when he only scores 16.

I read a comment by Dave Houghton a few weeks ago where he said that in the first few years, Zimbabwe just tried to do the basics right and learn to draw Test Matches. They didn't even think of winning, they just wanted to compete with the big boys. He suggested that we do the same, forget about doing any fancy stuff, just learn to stick around and draw Test matches. Once we do that often enough, we will win a Test or two once in a while like Zimbabwe does. Tehsin bhai is right, our point is to learn, not to prove ourselves.

I am really looking forward to the BD v BD A game. I know that its not the best indicator to who will do well in the Tests but I want to see who stakes a claim in the Test side. Since we are all in agreement that Tushar and Rafiqul aren't ready for Test cricket, it will be interesting to see who puts their hand up for selection. So far, Moni, Bulbul and to a lesser degree Akram haven't done their chances any harm. I really hope some of the younger guys (Seezan, Opee, Mridul) do well!

[Sham]

Forgot to mention Ashraful! Anyone know why he didnt play in the last game? Or did he?

[Mahmood]

According to the newspapers, Bulbul decided the match 11, and didnt select Ash.