An analysis of test grounds since 1980

[Precambrian]

An interesting analysis at Cricinfo.com

Cricinfo - Blogs - It Figures - 19 grounds, 19 years - an in-depth study

The writer has taken the scores at major grounds, and found mean totals for each innings. The results are quite interesting (barring the Dhaka stadium which occupies the lowest rung understandably.

Ground                    Num   Total   Mean   Last Ratio
                         Tests   Runs         5 mat

National Stadium, Dhaka    10    2229   222.9   238  1.07
Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy    16    4098   256.1   173  0.68
Kingsmead, Durban          16    4333   270.8   247  0.91
Basin Reserve, Wellington  24    6752   281.3   231  0.82
National Stadium, Karachi  12    3446   287.2   299  1.04
Sabina Park, Kingston      15    4373   291.5   320  1.10
Eden Park, Auckland        16    4706   294.1   282  0.96
S.S.C Ground, Colombo      29    8966   309.2   278  0.90
M.A.C Stadium, Chennai      9    2871   319.0   285  0.89
Kensington, Bridgetown     19    6115   321.8   344  1.07
Wanderers, Johannesburg    19    6118   322.0   261  0.81
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore    16    5204   325.2   363  1.12
Melbourne Cricket Ground   20    6707   335.4   318  0.95
Sydney Cricket Ground      22    7900   359.1   399  1.11
Lord's, London             32   11665   364.5   449  1.23
Headingley, Leeds          16    5860   366.2   407  1.11
Eden Gardens, Calcutta      9    3348   372.0   426  1.15
W.A.C.A. Ground, Perth     19    7090   373.2   431  1.16
Kennington Oval, London    19    7380   388.4   374  0.96

Interestingly, almost all the top positions are occupied by grounds in Australia and England. Does this mean the cliched subcontinental batting paradises are not actually based on fact?

[Goughy]

Having read it, it is meaningless. Its a poor methodology.

Why 19 yrs? Why only pick a small proportion of grounds? Why give equal weighting to all innings?

The sample size is too small and ignoring scores of 500-5 actually hurts easy batting tracks. How can 300-2 count the same as 300 all out?

Having read it, I think its impossible to draw any conclusions from it.

[pskov]

I think this is a fairer and more representative list. Over the same period (since 1990), every ground that has hosted at least 10 test matches, excluding any games between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, sorted by average runs per wicket fallen.

Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's, Antigua - West Indies
1990-2006	17	8	0	9	18255	482	36465	37.87	3.00	
Old Trafford, Manchester - England
1990-2008	16	9	0	7	17947	498	34312	36.03	3.13	
Kennington Oval, London - England
1990-2008	19	14	0	5	20937	583	38907	35.91	3.22	
Sydney Cricket Ground - Australia
1990-2009	22	16	0	6	24478	685	46767	35.73	3.14	
Lord's, London - England
1990-2008	32	20	0	12	34200	965	63978	35.44	3.20	
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore - Pakistan
1990-2007	16	8	0	8	15823	447	29177	35.39	3.25	
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai - India
1993-2008	10	6	0	4	9640	274	19001	35.18	3.04	
Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo - Sri Lanka
1992-2008	29	22	0	7	30338	873	59836	34.75	3.04	
Adelaide Oval - Australia
1990-2008	20	16	0	4	23351	677	46672	34.49	3.00	
P.Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo - Sri Lanka
1993-2008	10	7	0	3	10265	300	19323	34.21	3.18	
Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo - Zimbabwe
1994-2005	15	9	0	6	15126	443	31583	34.14	2.87	
AMI Stadium, Christchurch - New Zealand
1990-2006	12	9	0	3	11992	352	24393	34.06	2.94	
W.A.C.A. Ground, Perth - Australia
1991-2008	19	16	0	3	20195	601	36263	33.60	3.34	
Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane - Australia
1990-2008	19	15	0	4	19816	591	38099	33.52	3.12	
Headingley, Leeds - England
1991-2008	16	14	0	2	16751	503	31032	33.30	3.23	
Newlands, Cape Town - South Africa
1993-2008	19	16	0	3	19668	592	39404	33.22	2.99	
Trent Bridge, Nottingham - England
1990-2008	17	11	0	6	18059	544	35193	33.19	3.07	
Eden Park, Auckland - New Zealand
1990-2006	16	11	0	5	17085	527	33844	32.41	3.02	
National Stadium, Karachi - Pakistan
1990-2007	12	11	0	1	13329	412	25919	32.35	3.08	
Basin Reserve, Wellington - New Zealand
1990-2008	24	18	0	6	22727	706	46656	32.19	2.92	
Edgbaston, Birmingham - England
1990-2008	17	14	0	3	16611	524	30431	31.70	3.27	
Galle International Stadium - Sri Lanka
1998-2008	13	9	0	4	12460	395	27012	31.54	2.76	
Kingsmead, Durban - South Africa
1992-2008	16	10	0	6	15042	488	30547	30.82	2.95	
Melbourne Cricket Ground - Australia
1990-2008	20	18	0	2	20099	654	41386	30.73	2.91	
SuperSport Park, Centurion - South Africa
1995-2008	14	12	0	2	12463	407	22996	30.62	3.25	
The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg - South Africa
1992-2007	19	14	0	5	18828	618	36335	30.46	3.10	
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados - West Indies
1990-2008	19	16	0	3	19880	653	39268	30.44	3.03	
Harare Sports Club - Zimbabwe
1992-2005	24	16	0	8	22380	740	48464	30.24	2.77	
Seddon Park, Hamilton - New Zealand
1991-2008	14	8	0	6	13424	447	27142	30.03	2.96	
Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad - Pakistan
1990-2006	11	7	0	4	11458	385	22047	29.76	3.11	
Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica - West Indies
1990-2009	17	13	0	3	14891	510	30021	29.19	2.97	
Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy - Sri Lanka
1993-2007	17	13	0	4	14312	510	28475	28.06	3.01	
St George's Park, Port Elizabeth - South Africa
1992-2007	11	8	0	3	10279	377	22413	27.26	2.75	
Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad - West Indies
1990-2008	16	13	0	3	14440	555	31386	26.01	2.76

Still has a couple of English grounds at the top. No surprise with Lord's and the Oval which have been real roads lately, but I didn't expect Old Trafford to be up there.

[Precambrian]

And the Aussie grounds too. I don;t think the subcontinental tracks can be termed as bat friendlier than Aussie or ENglish grounds.

[pskov]

And the Aussie grounds too. I don;t think the subcontinental tracks can be termed as bat friendlier than Aussie or ENglish grounds.

Well if you just go by host country, India is still top.

in India
1990-2008	74	49	0	25	77727	2244	156078	34.63	2.98	
in England
1990-2008	120	85	0	35	127155	3703	238212	34.33	3.20	
in Australia
1990-2009	111	89	0	22	119023	3537	229874	33.65	3.10	
in Pakistan
1990-2007	64	43	0	21	64701	1963	124643	32.96	3.11	
in Sri Lanka
1992-2008	79	54	0	25	76806	2345	154938	32.75	2.97	
in New Zealand
1990-2008	76	50	0	26	74368	2297	150220	32.37	2.97	
in Zimbabwe
1992-2005	40	25	0	15	38469	1202	81901	32.00	2.81	
in West Indies
1990-2009	86	56	0	30	85240	2666	172815	31.97	2.95	
in South Africa
1992-2008	85	66	0	19	81987	2655	162149	30.88	3.03	
in Bangladesh
1999-2009	26	24	0	2	23682	774	44761	30.59	3.17	
in United Arab Emirates
2002-2002	4	4	0	0	3684	130	7083	28.33	3.12