Line and Length
International Coach
I have always enjoyed participating in drafts and have come to expect that, when it comes to judgement time (ie voting) I finish well down in the rankings.
However, when we completed and voted on the “Other Guys” draft I had expectations of doing reasonably well. Two of my three votes went to the eventual joint winners and I thought my side compared reasonably well to both teams. Yet, when the crunch came, I scored just a single vote (Thanks @Fuller Pilch ).
I then decided it was time to analyse where I was going wrong, so I compared the top two teams with my own. All three had similar structures – a batting lined-up comprising 2 openers and 3 middle order bats. Positions 6 and 7 were occupied in all three teams by an all-rounder and a wicketkeeper while the tail was made up of 3 pace bowlers plus a spinner.
Looking statistically at the three teams I noted the following:
The 5 batsmen
All of my batsmen (1-5) average over 40 compared with Pothas’s team with 4 over 40 and Bitmap’s 2. The average runs per competed innings for these top 5 batsmen were:
Line & Length 42.46; Pothas 41.37 and Bitmap 38.53.
The All-Rounder
Interestingly all three teams had a Kiwi all-rounder. Batting-wise all three were close. Mine (de Grandhomme) averaged 38.27, Bitmap’s (Astle) 37.02 and Pothas’s (Oram) 36.33. Bowling-wise, Oram (60 @ 32.92) and de Grandhomme (49 @ 32.96) were close but Astle (51 @ 42.02) was well down on average and WPM (0.62 to 1.81 and 1.69).
The Wicketkeeper
Bitmap probably had the best keeper in Foakes while Pothas had Chandimal who only kept in 28 of his 89 Tests. Chandimal had the best batting average (43.41) but this slides below 40 when keeping. My selection , Sarfaraz Ahmed, averages a healthy 37.42 – well clear of Foakes (29.21). When keeping, Chandimal averaged 2.86 dismissals per match compared with Foakes (3.16) and Sarfaraz (3.38).
The Bowlers
Looking at the pace trios, mine was less experienced than the other two (130 Tests compared with Bitmap’s 199 and Pothas’s 190). Average wise Pothas’s pace bowlers averaged 3.76 wpm at an average of 27.81 while Bitmap’s trio averaged 3.83 wpm @ 29.22 and mine 3.67 wpm @ 29.06. I might add, both mine and Bitmap’s pace average suffered from having the most experienced bowlers with the most wickets (Southee and Lee) averaging a shade over 30.
Looking at the 3 spinners mine (Ian Johnson) was one of the ‘Invincibles’ and averaged 29.19 compared with Harbhajan Singh (Pothas) 32.46 and Mushtaq Ahmed (Bitmap) 32.97.
Batting from the tail can also be a factor. Bitmap’s tail scored 9 innings over 50 in 251 Tests. Pothas had a tail that contributed 13 scores over 50 (including 2 ‘tons’) in 293 Tests whilst my tail scored 17 knocks over 50 in 175 Tests.
So where am I going wrong? I’m not claiming in any way that my team should have won the vote, but to finish bottom with just a solitary vote when it clearly lines up reasonably well against the top teams is puzzling and frustrating.
I would really appreciate your suggestions as to how I can improve my drafting technique and, just as importantly, what do I need to do to attract the odd vote or two.
However, when we completed and voted on the “Other Guys” draft I had expectations of doing reasonably well. Two of my three votes went to the eventual joint winners and I thought my side compared reasonably well to both teams. Yet, when the crunch came, I scored just a single vote (Thanks @Fuller Pilch ).
I then decided it was time to analyse where I was going wrong, so I compared the top two teams with my own. All three had similar structures – a batting lined-up comprising 2 openers and 3 middle order bats. Positions 6 and 7 were occupied in all three teams by an all-rounder and a wicketkeeper while the tail was made up of 3 pace bowlers plus a spinner.
Looking statistically at the three teams I noted the following:
The 5 batsmen
All of my batsmen (1-5) average over 40 compared with Pothas’s team with 4 over 40 and Bitmap’s 2. The average runs per competed innings for these top 5 batsmen were:
Line & Length 42.46; Pothas 41.37 and Bitmap 38.53.
The All-Rounder
Interestingly all three teams had a Kiwi all-rounder. Batting-wise all three were close. Mine (de Grandhomme) averaged 38.27, Bitmap’s (Astle) 37.02 and Pothas’s (Oram) 36.33. Bowling-wise, Oram (60 @ 32.92) and de Grandhomme (49 @ 32.96) were close but Astle (51 @ 42.02) was well down on average and WPM (0.62 to 1.81 and 1.69).
The Wicketkeeper
Bitmap probably had the best keeper in Foakes while Pothas had Chandimal who only kept in 28 of his 89 Tests. Chandimal had the best batting average (43.41) but this slides below 40 when keeping. My selection , Sarfaraz Ahmed, averages a healthy 37.42 – well clear of Foakes (29.21). When keeping, Chandimal averaged 2.86 dismissals per match compared with Foakes (3.16) and Sarfaraz (3.38).
The Bowlers
Looking at the pace trios, mine was less experienced than the other two (130 Tests compared with Bitmap’s 199 and Pothas’s 190). Average wise Pothas’s pace bowlers averaged 3.76 wpm at an average of 27.81 while Bitmap’s trio averaged 3.83 wpm @ 29.22 and mine 3.67 wpm @ 29.06. I might add, both mine and Bitmap’s pace average suffered from having the most experienced bowlers with the most wickets (Southee and Lee) averaging a shade over 30.
Looking at the 3 spinners mine (Ian Johnson) was one of the ‘Invincibles’ and averaged 29.19 compared with Harbhajan Singh (Pothas) 32.46 and Mushtaq Ahmed (Bitmap) 32.97.
Batting from the tail can also be a factor. Bitmap’s tail scored 9 innings over 50 in 251 Tests. Pothas had a tail that contributed 13 scores over 50 (including 2 ‘tons’) in 293 Tests whilst my tail scored 17 knocks over 50 in 175 Tests.
So where am I going wrong? I’m not claiming in any way that my team should have won the vote, but to finish bottom with just a solitary vote when it clearly lines up reasonably well against the top teams is puzzling and frustrating.
I would really appreciate your suggestions as to how I can improve my drafting technique and, just as importantly, what do I need to do to attract the odd vote or two.
