Most improved

[Coronis]

That’s crazy isn’t it

Very much so.

Similarly for Imran

70’s: 98 @ 31.88
80’s-92: 264 @ 19.88

Neither really blossomed til their late 20’s.

 

[Coronis]

Actually, looking at top bowlers in general, most have even/better career stats in their 30’s onwards as opposed to earlier.

Some notable exceptions being

Wasim, Lindwall, Pollock, Waqar and so far to some extent Cummins

 

[Ali TT]

For players with really long careers how much are these improvements to do with themselves and how much changing conditions in the game?

Take Jimmy - he was clearly a much better bowler in the back half of his career than when he first started. However, he also spanned the era of flatter wickets and strong batting lineups in the 00s/early-10s into the much bowler-friendly period of the latter 10s/20s. Stuart Broad also saw his stats improve (if you roughly split his career in half his average is 30 first half, 25 second) as his career went on but I'm not sure he was a much improved bowler.

 

[Shady Slim]

uzzie bags a guernsey here but part of that's probably down to him being picked to do what he's best at later on in his career

 

[Coronis]

For players with really long careers how much are these improvements to do with themselves and how much changing conditions in the game?

Take Jimmy - he was clearly a much better bowler in the back half of his career than when he first started. However, he also spanned the era of flatter wickets and strong batting lineups in the 00s/early-10s into the much bowler-friendly period of the latter 10s/20s. Stuart Broad also saw his stats improve (if you roughly split his career in half his average is 30 first half, 25 second) as his career went on but I'm not sure he was a much improved bowler.

 

[Ali TT]

View attachment 48005

Does this apply across the 70s and 80s though? Was it nice easier for Imran and Hadlee later in their careers?

 

[Captcha]

Pat cummins has improved a lot over time

 

[Chin Music]

Pat cummins has improved a lot over time

I'd more say that he's largely always been a class act who has stayed on a very good level for a long time. Without looking at the ICC rankings, I'd have always said he was in the top 3 over the last 8 years or so and often a fair shout for being the very best of them.

 

[Bolo.]

Smudge?

Not the kind of example I was talking about. He's an exaggerated version of most bats- meh early career, starting to peak mid or late 20s, and falling away a bit.

He's probably a better shout for improving faster than most. But it's a tricky comparison on account of him being initially selected with his bowling as a big factor. A lot of bats would have stunk it up initially they had debuted a few years before they actually did.

 

[Ali TT]

Mark Butcher - had stats that would make Zak Crawley weep for 30 or so tests but from the 173* onwards became a key component of the Hussain/early Vaughan years. He converted himself from something of a flashy shot maker into a stolid and effective #3.

 

[Coronis]

Oh an obvious one - Misbah.

 

[kevinw]

Mark Butcher - had stats that would make Zak Crawley weep for 30 or so tests but from the 173* onwards became a key component of the Hussain/early Vaughan years. He converted himself from something of a flashy shot maker into a stolid and effective #3.

Yeah averaged 41 from the Summer of 2001. Which is bloody good considering England were still shoddy for the next couple of years. Must have hit a trough at the end to get dropped for Bell.

 

[Blenkinsop]

Andrew Flintoff is an obvious example. In his first five years as a Test cricketer he averaged 5.7, 26.6, 13.8, 5.2 and 27.4 with the bat. Then in 2003 he had a breakthrough year where he averaged 40+ and never looked back. Similar story with his bowling except the breakthrough came in 2004.

 

[h_hurricane]

Alan Davidson

First 12 tests - 16 wickets @ 34.06
Next 32 tests - 170 wickets @ 19.25

Steve Waugh

First 46 tests - 2166 runs @ 36.10
Next 122 tests - 8761 runs @ 56.88

Clive Lloyd

First 26 tests - 1555 runs @ 34.55
Next 84 tests - 5960 runs @ 51.37

 

[kevinw]

Keshav Maharaj is definitely a much improved spinner, though ironically he took more wickets per match in his "worse" period.

First 30 Tests - averages 33.19

Next 28 Tests - averages 25.42

Averages against AUS and IND are poor but he's good at duffing up weaker teams.

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

I once got ‘most improved’ at U10 level for hitting 16 runs in 4 innings at an average of 16, after getting 4 ducks in a row the season before…honestly a lot of jammy runs there, not a proper cricket shot to be seen!

 

[AndrewB]

Benaud's averages after the 1956 Ashes were (bat) 21 and (bowl) 34. In the next 4 years, they were 29 and 20. Then for the last 4 years they dropped back to 25 and 36.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Ishant's got to be the ultimate example hasn't he? The 2015 SL tour is when I thought his improvement became really obvious.

Before that , his record was 187 wickets @37.43. From that point to the end of his career, he took 124 wickets @24.8.

Great numbers everywhere he played in this phase too.

 

[Johan]

Ishant followed the Jimmy career trajectory, liked that one.

 

[Ali TT]

Ishant followed the Jimmy career trajectory, liked that one.

Yeah, looks a bit different though.

Jimmy first 188 wickets @31.75
Next 516 wickets @24.53