zimcricketforums.com

Posted: **Sun Aug 20, 2017 7:30 am**

Following on from my post in the Tristan Holmes thread, here is a more definitive analysis of match-winning performances since July 1, 2001. All current players will be listed as well as a select few from the past.

My revised parameters were as such:

Batting

1st innings: at least 30% of innings total runs scored and at minimum of 80% of the final innings run rate or
any innings of 40+ runs at a strike rate of 120 or higher (ODIs), 30+ runs at 150 strike rate (T20I)

2nd innings: at least 30% of innings total runs scored at a minimum of 80% or the required run rate or
any innings of 40+ runs at a strike rate of 120 or higher, 30+ runs at 150 strike rate (T20I)

Bowling:

5 or more wickets and with an economy rate no more than 120% of the innings total run rate
3-4 wickets with an economy rate no more than 110% of the innings total run rate
fewer than 3 wickets economy rate must be 80% or less than innings total run rate

In Test matches I used 25% of the total runs for the batsmen and 4+ wicket hauls for the bowlers.

It should be noted that Taylor, Chibabha, Williams, and perhaps Masakadza and one or two others just barely missed out on increasing their MWPs by 1 due to my strict adherence to the above criteria. I didn't revise my list, so its possible there may be some errors, but you will get a very good idea of who, if anyone in particular, is significantly likely to win you a match.

As has been mentioned already, cricket is a team game of 11 men on the field, and most victories require a few people to chip in.

Batsmen since July 1, 2001 vs Top 8 sides

S Mire - 3 from 8 innings (37.5%)
A Campbell - 2 from 37 innings (5.4%)
Mawoyo - 1 from 25 innings (4.0%)
M Waller - 3 (1 bowling) from 84 innings (3.6%)
C Ervine - 2 from 56 innings (3.6%)
G Flower - 3 (1 bowling) from 130 innings (2.3%)
H Masakadza - 4 from 182 innings (2.2%)
S Raza - 2 (1 bowling) from 90 innings (2.2%)
Chigumbura - 5 (2 bowling) from 244 innings (2.0%)
B Taylor - 3 from 148 innings (2.0%)
S Williams - 3 (all 3 bowling) from 148 innings (2.0%)
Chibabha - 1 (bowling) from 138 innings (0.7%)
Taibu - 1 from 163 innings (0.6%)

Bowlers since July 1, 2001 vs Top 8 sides

Chatara - 2 from 36 innings (5.6%)
Cremer - 3 from 74 innings (4.1%)
R Price - 4 from 100 innings (4.0%)
Vitori - 1 from 27 innings (3.7%)
Blignaut - 2 from 55 innings (3.6%)
Panyangara - 1 from 52 innings (1.9%)
Mpofu - 1 from 69 innings (1.4%)

____________________

There are several more players with at least 1 MWP, but it was either in a specialty they aren't known for (Chisoro for example has a batting one) or are players who retired long ago (Heath Streak with 2).

I included Vitori since I find the ICC's protocol on banning fast bowlers highly dubious and thus I am not sure if he really does have an illegal action, but excluded Utseya because the ICC's seems to know when spinners truly are chucking.

Posted: **Sun Aug 20, 2017 7:33 am**

So for guys like Chigs, Raza, Waller, and Williams, the "innings" reflects total of batting and bowling innings since they have MWPs from both disciplines.

Posted: **Sun Aug 20, 2017 11:24 am**

I mentioned earlier that it would make sense if you:
1.Split the formats
2.Say "BATTING" and "BOWLING" so you don't have a situation where you're listing a batsman/bowler under a section they haven't contributed in, according to your parameters.

I also don't see how it makes sense for the ICC and MCC to still include Saqlain Mustaq, Saeed Ajamal and Muttiah Muralitharan in their lists, but somehow you exclude Utseya. To put it bluntly, a majority of Zimbabwe's wins against Top 8 sides would have been impossible without Utseya (same applies to a bulk of Pakistan and captain Misbah wins for example)! SEE FOR YOURSELF

In those matches all 3 of them (Utseya, Price, Cremer) played together and won against the "Top 8" for Zimbabwe, Utseya bowled a full 40 overs, and got the most wickets.

Going back to that scorecard whose mertits you dispute: Zimbabwe scored 254/5 in 50 overs and West Indies scored 252/9 in 50 overs. Batting wasn't easy. Pollard came in the 39th over and recorded a Strike Rate of just 35.71 (5 from 14 balls). So according to you Pollard comes in the 40th over against Zimbabwe(even Brendan Taylor bowled) and fails to get a single boundary in 14 balls with West Indies behind and chasing, but Vusi Sibanda who scores 95 runs at a Strike Rate of 58.64 doesn't qualify by your standards? Remember, he did get the Man of the Match award, plus scored 40% of Zimbabwe's total runs from the bat.

In any case, this is the second time you penalise a player after thoroughly going through a scorecard (not one you missed or omitted). Chisoro scored 42 off 35 balls(120 SR), then opened the bowling, got 2 wickets(openers), plus won the Man of the Mach award, but he gets no points while Sean earns them for a 2 ball duck and 2 wickets?

Don't you think it's silly to state "you will get a very good idea of who, if anyone in particular, is significantly likely to win you a match", then go on to list 3 Sean Williams bowling performances(none of them for batting), yet Sean has never gotten more than 2 wicket in any match that Zimbabwe have won against the "Top 8"...especially when he got a 2-ball duck while doing so...plus it was Chisoro who opened the bowling and got both openers out? What would your stats analysis tell Sean Williams about his career truly speaking? That he's one of Zimbabwe's best batsmen and a match "winner"...with the ball??? Even that win against Australia, it was Nyumbu and Utseya(your disqualified one) who virtually opened the bowling to kill off Australia getting both openers out, plus Elton Chigumbura whose batting clinched that one. Again Utseya was there when Zimbabwe beat India in that T20I, and was more economical than Williams(with his remodelled action).

I guarantee you this - one thing about following Zimbabwe cricket is that you will know and recollect from memory not stats when a player other than Hami, Elton, Taylor(only inside ZIM) and Utseya wins a match for Zimbabwe against a top side. Why else has Zimbabwe been losing so frequently lately, and against junk? No more match-winners left. For instance Raza was MoM in that decider against SL(playing that typical Utseya role of opening the bowling and keeping it tight), but crucially, Hami - one of the four constants in Zimbabwe's wins - was there plus top scored for Zimbabwe an dfell when just 66 were required form 26 overs(RRR 2.54). Would Zimbabwe have won that SL ODI series if Hami wasn't there? From memory Taibu played at a time when he was single-handedly carrying ZImbabwe in its losses - be it full internationals or the A/XI against top visiting sides. In many ways he was to Zimbabwe, what Andy Flower was in all those losses.

Only, Taibu, Vusi and Matsi have beeninvolved in a win again the "Top" in a match that did not involve match-winners Elton, Hami and Utseya. That's because Vusi and Matsi were often dropped or not selected, while Taibu was absent for various reasons. Lately it has been Hami most of the time, and he's had plenty bad days, but the others haven't done the job have they? This is recent memory. Every ZIM cricekt fan should know this.

Posted: **Sun Aug 20, 2017 11:55 am**

Averages for Zimbabwe players, away in matches Zimbabwe have won against the "Top 8"

BATTING
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Code: Select all

Player 		Mat	NO 	Runs 	HS 	Ave	SR 	100 	50 	0 	4s 	6s
Sikandar Raza 	3 	2 	104 	67* 	104.00 	111.82 	0 	1 	0 	9 	3 
SF Mire 	3 	0 	198 	112 	66.00 	125.31 	1 	0 	0 	24 	4
V Sibanda 	2 	0 	95 	95 	47.50 	58.28 	0 	1 	1 	5 	1
CR Ervine 	3 	1 	89 	69* 	44.50 	105.95 	0 	1 	0 	10 	1
H Masakadza 	5 	0 	191 	73 	38.20 	80.25 	0 	1 	0 	23 	2
TK Musakanda 	2 	0 	67 	37 	33.50 	93.05 	0 	0 	0 	9 	0
E Chigumbura 	2 	0 	61 	34 	30.50 	148.78 	0 	0 	0 	3 	3
MN Waller 	3 	1 	61 	40* 	30.50 	135.55 	0 	0 	0 	7 	0
S Matsikenyeri 	3 	1 	60 	44 	30.00 	84.50 	0 	0 	1 	5 	1
SC Williams 	3 	0 	73 	65 	24.33 	85.88 	0 	1 	0 	7 	0
T Taibu 	5 	0 	68 	56 	17.00 	79.06 	0 	1 	1 	6 	0
AG Cremer 	5 	1 	13 	11* 	13.00 	81.25 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
GA Lamb 	2 	1 	13 	11 	13.00 	41.93 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
PJ Moor 	3 	1 	1 	1 	1.00 	14.28 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
BRM Taylor 	2 	0 	1 	1 	0.50 	20.00 	0 	0 	1 	0 	0

BOWLING
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Code: Select all

Player 		Mat 	Overs 	Mdns 	Runs 	Wkts 	BBI 	Ave 	Econ 	SR 	4 	5 
DT Hondo 	1 	8.3 	0 	37 	4 	4/37 	9.25 	4.35 	12.7 	1 	0 
SW Masakadza 	2 	4.0 	0 	42 	3 	3/36 	14.00 	10.50 	8.0 	0 	0 
GA Lamb 	2 	14.0 	0 	49 	3 	2/14 	16.33 	3.50 	28.0 	0 	0 
E Chigumbura 	2 	6.0 	0 	39 	2 	2/32 	19.50 	6.50 	18.0 	0 	0 
MN Waller 	3 	15.0 	0 	65 	3 	2/44 	21.66 	4.33 	30.0 	0 	0 
AM Blignaut 	1 	8.0 	0 	53 	2 	2/53 	26.50 	6.62 	24.0 	0 	0 
P Utseya 	2 	14.0 	1 	59 	2 	1/12 	29.50 	4.21 	42.0 	0 	0 
AG Cremer 	5 	43.0 	1 	186 	6 	3/11 	31.00 	4.32 	43.0 	0 	0 
TL Chatara 	3 	23.0 	2 	131 	4 	2/49 	32.75 	5.69 	34.5 	0 	0 
Sikandar Raza 	3 	28.0 	1 	135 	4 	3/21 	33.75 	4.82 	42.0 	0 	0 
RW Price 	3 	24.0 	4 	69 	2 	1/18 	34.50 	2.87 	72.0 	0 	0 
CB Mpofu 	2 	15.0 	0 	97 	2 	2/61 	48.50 	6.46 	45.0 	0 	0 
SC Williams 	3 	24.0 	0 	135 	2 	1/41 	67.50 	5.62 	72.0 	0 	0 
SF Mire 	3 	10.0 	0 	68 	1 	1/47 	68.00 	6.80 	60.0 	0 	0

Hami and Cremer have been involved in the most wins away... and with great stats(5). Cremer, who would have thought.

Of this lot, Mire has the only century in an away win (wow is he even aware of that record?). The previous record for the highest score was Vusi (but don't tell Kriterion that )

Posted: **Sun Aug 20, 2017 12:21 pm**

Home wins against "Top 8" sides

BATTING
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Code: Select all

Player 		Mat 	Inns 	NO 	Runs 	HS 	Ave 	BF 	SR 	100 	50 	0 	4s 	6s 
CR Ervine 	6 	4 	2 	211 	130* 	105.50 	199 	106.03 	1 	1 	0 	17 	5 
T Taibu 	6 	5 	3 	155 	53 	77.50 	167 	92.81 	0 	1 	0 	7 	5 
BRM Taylor 	8 	9 	2 	529 	119* 	75.57 	721 	73.37 	1 	4 	0 	47 	6 
E Chigumbura 	11 	10 	4 	342 	67 	57.00 	360 	95.00 	0 	3 	0 	19 	14 
CJ Chibhabha 	7 	7 	0 	359 	90 	51.28 	420 	85.47 	0 	4 	0 	39 	2 
MN Waller 	6 	6 	2 	172 	99* 	43.00 	205 	83.90 	0 	1 	0 	20 	1 
TS Chisoro 	1 	1 	1 	42 	42* 	- 	35 	120.00 	0 	0 	0 	2 	2 
H Masakadza 	13 	14 	0 	564 	85 	40.28 	868 	64.97 	0 	4 	0 	54 	10 
Sikandar Raza 	6 	5 	1 	158 	76* 	39.50 	181 	87.29 	0 	1 	0 	12 	1 
BB Chari 	2 	2 	0 	58 	39 	29.00 	109 	53.21 	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 
AM Blignaut 	5 	2 	0 	51 	35 	25.50 	64 	79.68 	0 	0 	0 	7 	2 
R Mutumbami 	3 	4 	2 	51 	29 	25.50 	80 	63.75 	0 	0 	0 	8 	0 
TMK Mawoyo 	2 	3 	0 	73 	58 	24.33 	211 	34.59 	0 	1 	1 	8 	0 
S Matsikenyeri 	3 	3 	0 	66 	55 	22.00 	70 	94.28 	0 	1 	0 	5 	1 
P Utseya 	9 	5 	2 	64 	30* 	21.33 	133 	48.12 	0 	0 	0 	4 	1 
SC Williams 	6 	6 	2 	77 	39* 	19.25 	65 	118.46 	0 	0 	1 	8 	1 
BV Vitori 	2 	2 	2 	19 	19* 	- 	36 	52.77 	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 
CK Coventry 	4 	3 	0 	56 	32 	18.66 	58 	96.55 	0 	0 	0 	2 	3 
T Maruma 	1 	1 	0 	18 	18 	18.00 	22 	81.81 	0 	0 	0 	1 	1 
V Sibanda 	6 	7 	0 	103 	54 	14.71 	235 	43.82 	0 	1 	2 	12 	0 
PJ Moor 	1 	1 	0 	13 	13 	13.00 	11 	118.18 	0 	0 	0 	1 	1 
T Panyangara 	4 	2 	0 	24 	24 	12.00 	30 	80.00 	0 	0 	1 	4 	0 
TL Chatara 	3 	2 	0 	22 	21 	11.00 	88 	25.00 	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 
DT Tiripano 	3 	2 	0 	18 	15 	9.00 	45 	40.00 	0 	0 	0 	1 	0 
N M'shangwe 	1 	1 	0 	7 	7 	7.00 	10 	70.00 	0 	0 	0 	0 	1 
N Madziva 	1 	1 	1 	5 	5* 	- 	5 	100.00 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 
LM Jongwe 	1 	1 	1 	4 	4* 	- 	2 	200.00 	0 	0 	0 	1 	0 
AG Cremer 	8 	3 	1 	5 	4 	2.50 	10 	50.00 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 
RW Price 	7 	1 	0 	2 	2 	2.00 	7 	28.57 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0

Only Taylor and Craig Ervine have centuries

Hami has the most wins (13), followed by Elton Chigumbura, but Hami's 40.28 average is not boosted by any not outs, plus he batted top 3. Same applies to Chibhabha.

Fair to say Williams' 150 odd runs Home and Away, at such poor averages underlines his irrelevance to Zimbabwe's triumphs.

Mark Vermeulen was silly to side with the "rebels". Stole huge chunks of his time and talent and maybe mind .

BOWLING
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Code: Select all

Player 		Span 		Mat 	Inns 	Overs 	Mdns 	Runs 	Wkts 	BBI 	BBM 	Ave 	Econ 	SR 	5 	10 
TS Chisoro 	2016-2016 	1 	1 	6.0 	1 	23 	2 	2/23 	2/23 	11.50 	3.83 	18.0 	0 	0 
T Muzarabani 	2015-2016 	2 	2 	7.0 	0 	54 	3 	2/31 	2/31 	18.00 	7.71 	14.0 	0 	0 
AM Blignaut 	2001-2010 	5 	6 	79.5 	16 	255 	13 	5/74 	6/158 	19.61 	3.19 	36.8 	1 	0 
BV Vitori 	2013-2013 	2 	3 	58.5 	13 	172 	8 	5/61 	6/130 	21.50 	2.92 	44.1 	1 	0 
N Ncube 	2011-2011 	1 	1 	8.5 	1 	69 	3 	3/69 	3/69 	23.00 	7.81 	17.6 	0 	0 
DT Tiripano 	2014-2016 	3 	2 	10.0 	1 	69 	3 	2/34 	2/34 	23.00 	6.90 	20.0 	0 	0 
TL Chatara 	2013-2014 	3 	4 	68.0 	14 	194 	8 	5/61 	6/106 	24.25 	2.85 	51.0 	1 	0 
T Panyangara 	2013-2015 	4 	5 	67.0 	14 	218 	8 	3/43 	4/86 	27.25 	3.25 	50.2 	0 	0 
GA Lamb 	2010-2010 	2 	2 	20.0 	0 	85 	3 	3/45 	3/45 	28.33 	4.25 	40.0 	0 	0 
SC Williams 	2013-2016 	6 	6 	39.0 	3 	148 	5 	2/18 	2/18 	29.60 	3.79 	46.8 	0 	0 
N Madziva 	2016-2016 	1 	1 	4.0 	0 	34 	1 	1/34 	1/34 	34.00 	8.50 	24.0 	0 	0 
H Masakadza 	2007-2016 	13 	5 	21.0 	5 	69 	2 	1/12 	1/12 	34.50 	3.28 	63.0 	0 	0 
MN Waller 	2011-2016 	6 	3 	14.0 	0 	70 	2 	1/21 	1/21 	35.00 	5.00 	42.0 	0 	0 
CJ Chibhabha 	2007-2016 	7 	6 	31.0 	2 	213 	6 	2/13 	2/13 	35.50 	6.87 	31.0 	0 	0 
AG Cremer 	2010-2016 	8 	8 	49.1 	0 	252 	7 	3/18 	3/18 	36.00 	5.12 	42.1 	0 	0 
LM Jongwe 	2015-2015 	1 	1 	8.0 	1 	41 	1 	1/41 	1/41 	41.00 	5.12 	48.0 	0 	0 
E Chigumbura 	2007-2016 	11 	7 	31.1 	3 	174 	4 	3/25 	3/25 	43.50 	5.58 	46.7 	0 	0 
CB Mpofu 	2010-2016 	5 	5 	35.0 	2 	229 	5 	2/32 	2/32 	45.80 	6.54 	42.0 	0 	0 
GB Brent 	2003-2007 	3 	3 	24.0 	3 	97 	2 	1/18 	1/18 	48.50 	4.04 	72.0 	0 	0 
P Utseya 	2007-2015 	9 	10 	101.0 	2 	442 	9 	2/41 	2/41 	49.11 	4.37 	67.3 	0 	0 
RW Price 	2003-2011 	7 	7 	69.5 	5 	273 	5 	2/16 	2/16 	54.60 	3.90 	83.8 	0 	0 
J Nyumbu 	2014-2015 	2 	2 	16.2 	1 	68 	1 	1/30 	1/30 	68.00 	4.16 	98.0 	0 	0

-Chatara and Panyangara have done extremely well for Zimbabwe at home across formats. Utseya bowled way more than everyone, but he actually pays for those few innings he bowled with his remodelled action, otherwise he would;ve wound up in the 30s.

-Blignaut was a huge loss.

-Williams drops to semething reasonable in wins.

-So Jarvis was never ever involved in a win against a "Top 8" side at home in any format??? Interesting!

-In the end, is it fair to ask if Price was overrated and Greg Lamb underrated? Guess one would have to consider pre-Jan2001 stats to assess him fairly in Zim victories against top sides, but surely they didn't win that many back then either, and he wasn't a chief spinner. Perhaps like Andy Flower initially, then Tatenda Taibu after, maybe Price was the bridge - carrying the side? Then again, Price was trying to settle in County cricket and he actually wasn't there so was rather overrrated? Anyway someone else will break down his career.

Posted: **Sun Aug 20, 2017 6:54 pm**

The formats essentially are split. There is only 1 Test and 2 T20 matches. Its almost exclusively an ODI list.

Utseya has been left off since he's been chucking for some time. Vitori has been included because no one knows if his action is really illegal or not. ICC claimed Kusal Perera was doping and had to retract his ban.

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2017 1:29 am**

On the subject of spinners who have been banned I have sympathy for spinners who get caught chucking because their coaches should have picked up on it instead of letting them go for so long but in the end of the day they're cheating and have an advantage over the batsman.

I'll tolerate the ones who can adjust their action and return or only have their 'doosra' banned but can still bowl the off spinner or arm ball. But it's the guys like Utseya and Ajmal who couldn't correct their action that I think should have a little * next to their names.

Was Muttiah ever banned or found guilty of chucking ? Or was he just reported ?

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2017 5:22 am**

jaybro wrote: ↑
Mon Aug 21, 2017 1:29 am
On the subject of spinners who have been banned I have sympathy for spinners who get caught chucking because their coaches should have picked up on it instead of letting them go for so long but in the end of the day they're cheating and have an advantage over the batsman.

I'll tolerate the ones who can adjust their action and return or only have their 'doosra' banned but can still bowl the off spinner or arm ball. But it's the guys like Utseya and Ajmal who couldn't correct their action that I think should have a little * next to their names.

Was Muttiah ever banned or found guilty of chucking ? Or was he just reported ?

Murali was never banned only repoted. Apparently he has a weird elbow so he gives the illusion of chucking but he's not. I dont if that is true. I also keep hearing the 15 degree rule was instituted so Murali could still bowl. Again no clue if that is true.

if youu watch replays carefully, you will see most spinners chuck occaisionally. Or appear to chuck. There have been allegations that Jadeja chucks blantantly when he's struggling to pick wickets.

as far as Ajmal goes...he did fix his action and get cleared, but he sucked and got dropped. he was 35 anyways...from what I remember Prosper never even fixed his action and just started bowling slow mediums.

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2017 6:23 am**

I was watching Narine & Shillingford in the CPL they still look sus. I always thought Ashwin looks sus but I guess he's ok since he hasn't been reported.

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2017 7:38 am**

Just to compare, I also ran Bangladesh's data from 2000 to the end of 2009 - a period where Bangladesh only registered 8 wins vs top 8 sides and thus could be comparable to Zimbabwe's level. As it turns out, the data also matches. Bangladesh had a similarly low percentage of MWPs amongst their leading players as follows:

Batsmen

Shakib - 3 (2 bowling) from 126 innings (2.4%)
Ashraful - 3 from 181 innings (1.7%)
Aftab - 1 from 74 innings (1.4%)
Tamim - 0 from all innings (0%)

Bowlers

Mashrafee - 5 from 111 innings (4.5%)
Rasel - 2 from 45 innings (4.4%)
Rafique - 3 from 107 innings (2.8%)

So the most sensible conclusion, is that poor teams have players with relatively lower rates of MWPs, which makes intuitive sense.

I will try and look at Bangladesh's stats since the 2015 World Cup tomorrow to see if there is a significant rise.

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