A contest within a contest

By Ben Roberts

Recently, during the Melbourne winter, I have taken to following the Major League Baseball from the USA. The sport has three big plus sides for my following it. The first two are that the sheer volume of games played mean that you are guaranteed to be able to follow the scores in a game every day, and the severe time difference between the USA and Melbourne make it perfect for having the tick over in the background while I am going about my day's work.

The third reason however is the simplicity in which one can follow the game without needing to invest in actually watching the games or listening to the calls. So heavy is the statistical analysis of every facet of baseball that one can obtain a clear picture of the state of the game from looking at what is provided on any number of websites that provide live scores.

A particular statistic, or group of statistics, from baseball grabbed my attention and led me to wonder about the possibility and worthiness of applying a similar analysis to cricket. Every time a batter steps up in baseball the follower is provided with a host of statistics on how well they have fared previously when facing the particular pitcher from the opposition. Now we often as followers of cricket feel that certain bowlers have the 'wood' over a batsman, or even vice versa, but I wondered whether we could actually find solid statistics that identified who was in fact the bowler who caused any particular batsman the most trouble.

Courtesy: niharsworld.com

Taking the undoubted greatest modern era batsman Sachin Tendulkar as my target I set about trying to identify what bowler he has his best and worst records against. Running the statistics I found that of all bowlers Muttiah Muralidaran has captured the wicket of Tendulkar on the most occasions. However of course Murali has faced Tendulkar the most times of any bowler. As well Murali was by far the best bowler for the Sri Lankan team, no risk therefore that others would usurp him for the wicket. The more I examined the list the more I realised how many more abnormalities exist with looking at a direct statistical analysis between a batsman and bowler, in particular the following led me to widen my analysis.

In baseball the vast majority of innings that a batter has he will only face one pitcher at a time, therefore despite there being other influences (state of the game for example) it truly is a one on one contest between bat and ball. Increasingly bowlers have stopped being seen as individual performers and started identifying themselves as partners or teams. Such identification now simply names a phenomenon that has occurred in cricket for many years. That against the better bowlers a batsman may survive, but the release of pressure in facing a bowler at the end or even the pressure to score when not facing as higher quality bowler can realise a wicket.

Therefore rather than view a head to head contest I sought to understand whether there was something about the influence a bowler could have over the performance of a batsman. In this analysis it is potentially open that a bowler may not in fact capture the wicket of the batsman at all. Again using Tendulkar as the subject the following statistics show the influence the three best bowlers of his era had on his statistics; the three bowlers being Murali, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath:

	Matches	Batting Average	Strike Rate
Career	177	56.94	54.08
McGrath	9	36.77	55.02
Difference		-20.17	0.94
Warne	12	60.45	64.65
Difference		3.51	10.57
Muralidaran	19	48.64	51.28
Difference		-8.3	-2.8

The above statistics come from querying what Tendulkar's record was against a team containing each of the above bowlers. Immediately it becomes clear that McGrath's presence caused Tendulkar the most difficulty as his average drops 20 runs from his overall career while his strike rate only rises slightly. Despite being the bowler to have taken the little master's wicket the most, Murali hasn't affected Tendulkar's statistics dramatically. Both average and strike rate fall slightly from career, however the resulting figures are still strong. Finally Warne, and it may surprise to see that his presence in the opposition has only strengthened the resulting statistics.

Being a bit cheeky with the statistics I decided to remove the first test match played between Warne and Tendulkar. History shows this test, Warne's first ever, as being the scene of Ravi Shastri and the very youthful Tendulkar dominating Australia's bowlers and Warne being blasted for figures of 1/150. Warne was nowhere near the dominant bowler he was to come, so what was his affect post this match? Tendulkar's average drops to near his career mark, but his strike rate remains well in excess of his career rate.

What is the learning? Well firstly statistics can mask the true value of a player. For a bowler, he may not be taking many wickets yet his influence can extend beyond this standard statistic of choice. Secondly cricket remains very much a team game. McGrath dismissed Tendulkar 6 times in 9 tests. This is less than once per test. In all tests against McGrath he batted twice therefore only a third of the time was dismissed by him. Still his output with the bat was so severely reduced when playing against the Australian quick. This is a moral lesson too that must be learned in all walks of life, it is not about individual's achieving but being part of a greater whole. McGrath's career, although stellar in its own right, was one of a player always focussed on team success. Challenges are always better faced as a team.

My Favourite Cricketer: Sir Ian Botham by Jonathon Kilroy

My Favourite Cricketer is a series run on Balanced Sports and World Cricket Watch that brings together some of the best Cricket writers and bloggers in the world to reminisce about the players who make us love this game.  This week's piece is by debutant Jonathon Kilroy.

It's strange to think that he's been retired for so long because his shadow hovers over English cricket. It's nearly twenty years now since his final fling, meaning Ian Botham has been a commentator for longer than he's I remember him playing for. Perhaps it's because he's never been out of the public eye and retains much of his intense likeability. In fact, it's thirty years this week (!) since his onslaught at Headingley turned the 1981 Ashes on its head and cemented his place among the greatest of the greats.

After an early career at Somerset and a remarkably high-profile stint in Melbourne club cricket, Ian "Beefy" Botham made his Test debut in 1977. He was fast, had the Somerset knack of moving the ball through the air and his formidable physique allowed him to dispatch the ball at extreme velocity with the willow. His early Tests showcased more of his swing bowling than batting (he batted at 8 in those days) and his combination of skills and obvious potential meant he was the next great All-Round prospect for England. Now, thirty-five yeras on, he remains the gold standard.

A shuffle to the bowling crease belied his pace. He started as a genuine quick but as injuries took their toll - particularly an ailing back - he lost a lot of penetration, changing over time into a crafty medium. In the end it was no matter, for when "Golden Bollocks" was fit, he was picked. More than any other one player during his fifteen year international career, he was the archetypal matchwinner. No player in the world, perhaps to this day, could compare to his ability with bat, ball, or in the field. Especially - wonderfully - against the Australians.

Beefy saved his greatest feats for the Colonials. As Australian cricket was for so long the polar opposite of English, Botham had his antithesis in Allan Border. AB fought admirably for the Australians from a shifting base but with one great difference. Where Border fought first to survive and then to win, Botham served as the vanguard or as a one-man volatile rearguard. Rather than have terms dictated to him, "Beefy" would dominate or die trying. Egregious, almost garrulous, he carried that attitude off the park as well - one was always left with the sense he loved life.

You can't evaluate "Guy the Gorilla" without mentioning Botham's Ashes. In a sentence, he started the series shockingly out of form, was removed from the captaincy and then unleashed holy hell once the pressure lifted. That took the form of a blistering 149* to turn the series on its head at Headingley, followed by a spell of 5/1 at Edgbaston to seal victory for England. Botham had failed as a captain - like many of the era, many of his first Tests as skipper were against the West Indies and their fearsome pace attack. But that failure also led him to the most impossible high, cemented at The Oval with 118 in an innings Dennis Lillee rated better than his Headlingley counter-punching. To seal permanently his "Golden Balls" nickname, it was he who was thrown the ball to win England the match at Melbourne in 1982.

"Both" was only twenty-six at the time of his greatest triumph. Though he'd played at the highest level for only four years, his remarkable exploits were half over. Although he departed International cricket in 1992, he didn't score a hundred or take five wickets in an innings after the 1986-87 Ashes in Australia. By that time, his body had been robbed of much the explosiveness. It wasn't all gone as he monstered a youthful antipodean attack, including 22 from one Merv Hughes over. Had he retired after 200 (rather than 383) Test wickets, his career average would have been 21.2 - seven and a half runs less per wicket than he finished at (28.4) and third-best all time.

He had his fair share of down days - allegations of marijuana use, extra-marital affairs and a feud with Imran Khan amongst others - and occasionally rubbed the establishment (and apparently Ian Chappell) the wrong way, but that was simply a fucntion of his indomitable self-belief.

That confidence allowed him to accomplish what seemed miraculous at the time, deeds out of the ordinary which pulled England - not just the team, but the country - along with him. An oft-used quote of sportsmen is that one walks taller when knowing a certain player was in your line-up. It could be said of India and Sachin Tendulkar, Australia with Dennis Lillee and Pakistan with Imran Khan. This was most definitely true of Botham's England. He, like those other champions knew inherently, unshakeably that they could dramatically change the landscape of any game if only the captain would just give them the damned ball.

Since retirement, it's become apparent that Sir Ian Botham has been fitted with the enviable mix of gifts: of natural talent, the belief that brings and considerable self-awareness. He is also a remarkable humanitarian. Ian Terence Botham, a gregarious sports star with a conscience became eminently likeable as a beer-drinking, sociable everyman. A player who just happened to be blessed with more talent than anyone of his era.

He will always be the all-rounder by which Englishmen are judged.

Recommended viewing: ESPNCricinfo's Legends of Cricket: Ian Botham. 

Back to My Favourite Cricketer homepage.

Images courtesy: mirror.co.uk, hubpages.com, guardian.co.uk and tiptoptens.com

Scoring Stats - Messi and Ronaldo lead all (again!)

Any statistical analysis of a sporting event can go down one of two main routes. Firstly, they could be raw data, usually expressed as totals or percentages. In football, examples include the number of total corners a team concedes (or forces), the number of minutes a player is on the park for over the course of a season or even how many points a team accumulates. The second format usually depends on rate - goals per possession, corners per dribble, dribbles per game or even passing completion percentage.

Both have their uses, but as football (and other sports) become more and more subject to the moneyball theory and so-called "advanced metrics", rate has taken precedence over simple raw data. For instance in football, teams play at different tempos - one team may slowly build from the back while other teams favour quick incisive bursts. A team with a "lump it up" and lose possession philosophy is likely to create less chances by dint of not having the ball as often. It's fortunate we have two very visible clubs with vastly different methods of operating to easily point to: Barcelona dominate possession no matter who they play, while almost any team coached by Sam Allardyce feels more content without the ball than with it.

A Scoring Stat is defined as any goal or assist a player is credited with, therefore a player's total thereof is the number of goals and assists he accumulates over a season. So far we've examined trends throughout Europe, which players were individual total leaders and finally how much the dependence on a particular player varied across the four professional divisions in one country. Now it is time to evaluate which players provided the greatest lift, per game, to their individual teams.

Unfortunately, access to minutes-played data was very difficult to come by, so this is evaluated according to the number of games in which a player participated. In this analysis, only Team Leaders are evaluated (players who led their club in total Scoring Stats) - a follow-up analysis will include all of Europe.

Europe's Top Team leaders by match

League	Team	Player	Games	%	Stats per Game
La Liga	Barcelona	Lionel Messi	33	0.516	1.485
La Liga	Real Madrid	Cristiano Ronaldo	35	0.490	1.429
EPL	Arsenal	Robin Van Persie	25	0.347	1.000
Serie A	Udinese	Antonio Di Natale	36	0.538	0.972
Bundesliga	Bayern Munich	Mario Gomez	32	0.370	0.938
Serie A	Napoli	Edinson Cavani	35	0.542	0.914
Serie A	AC Milan	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	29	0.385	0.862
Serie A	Inter Milan	Samuel Eto'o	35	0.435	0.857
EPL	Man City	Carlos Tevez	31	0.433	0.839
EPL	Tottenham	Rafael Van der Vaart	28	0.382	0.750
EPL	Man United	Dimitar Berbatov	32	0.308	0.750
Bundesliga	Koln	Milivoje Novakovic	28	0.426	0.714
Bundesliga	Hannover	Didier Ya Konan	28	0.408	0.714
La Liga	Espanyol	Pablo Osvaldo	24	0.370	0.708
Bundesliga	Freiburg	Papiss Demba Cisse	32	0.537	0.688
Average	Levante's	Felipe Caciedo			0.559

Complete table can be found at Balanced Sports Scoring Stats page.

Once again, this only goes to highlight how far clear of the pack Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo remain as footballers. While the average Team Leader contributes about what teams look for from an effective, workmanlike striker (the adage goes "a goal every second game" and remember there are probably some relatively below-average Strikers leading their teams here), they nearly triple that average. After them, the next best - the perpetually injured Van Persie - only managed to average one goal or assist per match.

These totals, however, could be swayed for total numbers. Both Real and Barca scored a boatload of goals during season 2010-11. To evaluate the top fifteen clubs by goals-per-game across Europe is telling:

This table - comprised nearly completely of the usual suspects - leads us to suggest that while Messi and Ronaldo's influence is remarkbable, it is in part due to the increased number of goals their clubs score. This of course gives rise to the perpetual (and now, frankly, boring) Messi versus Ronaldo debate and prompts us to pose the "chicken or the egg" question once more - do they top the individual list because of their team rate, or do their teams top the goals-per-game table because of their phenomenal skill? Unfortunately the answer isn't easily forthcoming but suffice to suggest that both generate remarkable amounts of opportunities for their teams, and benefit from their teammates doing the same.

Finally, a note about VfB Stuttgart. The Reds finished a disappointing twelfth in the Bundesliga this year, yet pounded in 1.76 goals per game without having a player in the top 45 team leaders by rate. Their most productive forward by totals as Martin Harnik with 15 total scoring stats, who contributed to a quarter of their scores (averaging less than one scoring stat every two matches).

Stats for all players, teams and leagues can be found at Balanced Sports' Scoring Stats page.
Image courtesy: www.nevercaptainnickybutt.com

Charlie Adam: from Bottom to Top

Charlie Adam appears to have finally sealed a move to Liverpool, six months after it was first mooted during the January transfer window. Now, the questions that remain aren't so much when and how much (a mooted ₤7 million-plus-loanees), but how he and his magical left boot will fit into Liverpool's now increasingly crowded central midfield. While he indubitably has the skill, fire and vision, his greatest drawback may be his body shape as he hearkens back to the days of solid footballers, rather than lithe athletes.

Charlie Adam's Wikipedia page in January

Perhaps more interestingly, he becomes the first player to jump from a Premiership relegated club to one of the "big" clubs in quite some considerable time. He is certainly the first to go to an established , Old-School"Big Four" club for a sizeable fee (and thus expectation) since Peter Crouch moved from the south coast to the north-west. This indicates easily how reliant on him Blackpool became, and also how warmly fellow Scot Kenny Dalglish must think of his countryman.

Over the past few seasons, plenty of players have used the predicament of relegation to their advantage: in fact, raiding the relegated has become an annual pastime for those clubs chock-full of TV revenue. After season 2010-2011 alone, many players stand to improve their footballing and financial fortunes as their clubs slide back into the Championship. Adam's fellow Blackpool standouts David Vaughan, Matt Gilks and DJ Campbell look likely to depart - or have already. The entire Birmigham City defense looks liable to be for sale to the highest bid considering their English roots and 2009-10 efficacy, while Scott Parker, Rob Green, Carlton Cole, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Matthew Upson are all established Internationals with English roots and an eye for Premier League, rather than Championship, football.

That most (if not all) these players will be in the Premiership next term is testament to the wonderful season of English Premier League football we have just experienced - not vintage in terms of great play, but by recent standards surprising, combative and very, very even.

But very few players make the leap from the very bottom to the very top. Those who do often arrive as role players or depth and without significant expectation. In recent memory, those that stand out as being snaffled by top-six sides include Crouch, Michael Owen's fabulous Bosman from Newcastle to a new injury-list in the red half of Manchester and Ross Turnbull's astonishing free to Chelsea - surprising more for the Blues' desire than for any other reason; he's subsequently played two matches in two years. 

That clubs as small as Wigan and Blackpool have been able to make a good fist of staying up speaks volumes of the uniform nature of the Premier League when both could so easily have simply faded into gauche unadventurous football. Both clubs have in past had one player on whom they relied: the Tangerines on Adam, and the Latics last year on Charles N'Zogbia. They are almost featured players - soloists in otherwise pedestrian orchestras.

This reluctance for the big clubs to spend on the little guy could come for a couple of reasons - because the bigger fish may reason that the player isn't sufficiently talented or because there are better players available for a similar cost. Perhaps, amidst the ghastly sums thrown about for unproven and sulky forwards, the big clubs are seeking some semblance of Return on Investment; by opting for tried performers - albeit talent coming from performances in vastly different systems.

Of course such theories are debunked easily and painfully by the ₤50 million Manchester United has offloaded already, a rumoured ₤20 million bid for Downing from Liverpool and Chelsea's concerted - and potentially unrequited - chase for Neymar.  While Financial Fair Play apparently isn't restricting the big clubs' overall spending, it is having a more subtle impact - it requires them to hold out for fiscal, as well as footballing Return on Investment. Ferguson's willingness to sell one-club lieutenants seems to indicate the greatest contribution they can now make to the Red Devils could be evening United's balance sheet.

As clubs enter the Premiership with a plan - and do good jobs of sticking to that blueprint - prepare to witness more of this phenomenon. All of QPR, Norwich City and Swansea City play an unsophisticated method - and the Canaries and Swans are exciting to watch. This could result in the same occurring next year: with Scott Sinclair, Wes Hoolahan or even James McCarthy taking the role of featured soloist.

An Open Letter to Carlos Tevez

Dear Carlos Tevez,

For five years now you've been a shedload of trouble for the entire English Premier League. With this letter, I'd like to invite you to please stop moaning about the loneliness of Northern England and return to Argentina as you have for so long suggested you'd like.

The biannual farce which into which the "Carlos Tevez submits Transfer Request" headline has degenerated - which while admittedly spurring me to write this letter - has become a parody of a a parody, like a Monty Python sketch which starts funny but then feels as if it never ends. While we all understand how trying it is to be parted from friends and family (some of us have even shared your heartbreaking isolation in a country in which we do not speak the language), complaining every six months about a situation into which you walked of your own volition has turned what begun a sympathetic posture into a cynical one.

Please understand I'm not trying to minimise the pain of separation from your daughters at all. It's just the predictability with which this storm-in-a-teacup occurs means you have exhausted any supply of public sympathy for your plight. (And "earning" 200,000+ a week should preclude us from using the world "plight" anyway). Unless it is for obviously laudable reasons a transfer request is often met with scorn from your current team's support base. After being trotted out several times now, the recent spate of "I miss my daughters" has morphed from a tragic reality of a footballer's life into seemingly a ploy where - though undoubtedly true you miss your girls - the aim seems to be directing public ire away from you in a situation almost entirely of your own creation.  If this sounds familiar, think "Bomber" Thompson.

Welcomed to "Manchester".  Will he be farewelled as fondly?

It was said of the great basketballer Shaquille O'Neal that, with the exception of his last teams Boston and Cleveland, whenever he moved clubs, he did so amidst acrimonious circumstance. The same could be said of you - at Boca, at Corinthians, West Ham and finally Manchester United you have left more enemies than friends. Which, on the face of it, is really quite sad and perhaps - just perhaps - gives the public eye a big glimpse of your inner happiness. In a game where one often has to look out for themselves first, you and Kia Joorabchian have done so admirably; but if your latest statements are to be believed, it hasn't contented you.

Many of us have had to move intercontinentally. It is exceedingly difficult, though ultimately rewarding - it allows us to grow, to see that life is much larger than the small corners of existence we previously inhabited. Some of us are rewarded romantically, spiritually or even fiscally for the pain of separation.

You certainly have earned signficant monies as a result of your footballing success - so why not put some of that where your cakehole is? Rather than having said sweet baked good and eating it too, take (one mother of) a pay cut to play in South America - for none of us are able to figure out how Madrid or Milan - or, heaven forbid, Chelsea - are closer to Argentina than Millionaire's row in Cheshire. It's not that we don't feel for you, but many of us think you're trying to use this situation to your gain. It seems your position is that you are disadvantaged by playing for City; a move to Real or Inter would be "fair".

Unfortunately, that is a posture for the misguided.

In careers, we are forced to take the good with the bad. In football, if you want the big bucks and the best competition, you are forced to move. It is a flat fact of existence at the top level of almost any profession. Sacrifices must be made for a career - or for family. And while we applaud you for your devotion to your daughters, we also implore you to put up, or shut up. For the ball is in your court.

Sincerely,

A very bored former admirer.

The author would like all who read this to know that he has no truck with Monty Python and indeed thinks they were amongst (if not THE) the greatest comedians of all time.

My Favourite Cricketer: Sachin Tendulkar, by Subash Jayaraman

In a series called "My Favourite Cricketer", it was only a matter of time before Sachin Tendulkar was nominated. Fittingly, this tribute is by Subash Jayaraman of The Cricket Couch, who has contributed to both Balanced Sports and World Cricket Watch.

“Gentlemen, Tendulkar never fails”, said the elderly selector. This wasn’t uttered after Sachin Tendulkar had captured the imagination of a cricket-crazy nation or after the finest leg spin bowler to play the game admitted to having nightmares because of Tendulkar. It was on the eve of the Indian national team selection to the tour of West Indies in 1989. Tendulkar wasn’t 16 yet. The selector was responding to doubts from other gentlemen in the selection panel about exposing a 15-year old to the might of Ambrose and Walsh.

I was 13. I had to look up the meaning of the word “wunderkid” in a dictionary, as it had recently entered my vocabulary through the several articles on newspapers and magazines praising this precocious batting talent coming out of the Bombay cricket scene. He was lighting up scoreboards at every level he played and was destined to take over the mantle of the next great Indian batsman from Sunil Gavaskar.

With a mop of curly hair peeking out from the sides of his grill-less helmet, a boy amongst men took the first steps of an international career not showing signs of slowing down even 22 years later in Pakistan. My family did not have a television set at that time and I had to imagine the ambience that Tendulkar must’ve walked out to at Karachi from radio commentary and newspaper reports the next day. My school mates and I gushed about the gumption in this little boy-man to halt the senior Pakistani bowler in his run up so that he could have everything just the way he wanted it - perfect. The legend was born when he was dealt a bloody nose in his debut test but refused medical attention to prove a point to everyone around him that, despite his teenybopper looks, he belonged on the stage where men went at each other’s throats.

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Old habits die hard. I was back in India after a gap of 9 years. There was a test series going on between the top two sides in the world – India and South Africa and the World Number One ranking was at stake. The match was interestingly poised - but then Tendulkar got out. My brother, nearly 20 years my senior – I learned my cricket from him – got up, turned the TV off and walked away. I was a bit distracted and had missed the dismissal. When I inquired, pat came the response: “Tendulkar is out. What is left to watch?” This wasn't an unusual scene in the 90’s but I was a bit surprised to see it in 2010, even after the successes the Indian team has had and the team's ability to forge towards wins without overly relying on contribution from Tendulkar.

Greg Baum once wrote in The Age, “I was on a night train winding down from Simla to Kalka that stopped halfway for refreshments at a station lit by flaming torches. On a small television screen wreathed in cigarette smoke in the corner of the dining room Tendulkar was batting in a match in Mumbai. No one moved or spoke or looked away. The train was delayed by 20 minutes. Not until Tendulkar was out could the world resume its normal timetables and rhythms.”

Every thing stopped in India for Tendulkar and Tendulkar moved everything for India.

This is what Tendulkar continues to represent for a large part of the country’s population. He burst onto the cricket arena, captured the nation’s collective imagination and people saw in him and his battles on the field a reflection of their own struggles in their day-to-day lives. When he waged battles, single-handedly willing India to improbable victories, he began to personify the hopes and dreams of millions of Indians.

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The last 15 years Indian cricket has seen four of the best middle order batsmen, perhaps even the game has ever seen. Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar. Each of these batsmen brought their own inimitable styles to the game and cricket is richer for it. The studious, bloody-mindedness of Dravid, the elegance of Ganguly and the lazy ease and fabulous wrist work of Laxman – you can’t go wrong with any of them as your favorite cricketer, but Tendulkar was all that and some.

A perfectly balanced stance, the pure arc of the bat, the still head, nimble feet, swift transfer of weight made Tendulkar a delight to watch. No wonder The Don thought of Tendulkar to be the closest in batting style to him.

When he began his international career he played with the sort of flair and flamboyance only the fearlessness of youth can bring. He played the most audacious shots against the toughest of the bowlers. He was wont to play shots “on the up” to the quickest of the bowlers as he picked the length very early. Ian Healy is known to have said the century that Tendulkar scored at lightning quick WACA in 1992 was the best display of cuts and pulls he has seen from a batsman from outside of Australia. In the same tour, Merv Hughes is reputed to have told the then Australian captain Allan Border, “This little prick is gonna end up making a lot more runs than you A.B.” How prescient of Hughes that was.

Not only has Tendulkar gone ahead of Border but he has smashed the record books in to smithereens and has set an almost impossible benchmark for greatness and longevity. You know all the stats and the records, so there's little point in me regurgitating them for you here.

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There is a video of the young school boy Tendulkar being interviewed. Give it a whirl. I’ll wait.

Welcome back. Did you hear the part when he was asked whether he would like to face the Malcolm Marshalls of the world? His response: “I prefer facing pacemen as the ball would come on to the bat”. So matter of fact. So Tendulkar. That’s a boy not even 16 yet. If not a batting genius, what else?

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He is the pride of India. Everybody wants him. Everybody wants to be him. He was the first mega-star of the cricket world in terms of revenues from commercials. When he said, “Boost is the secret of my energy”, we believed him. When the dark clouds of match-fixing robbed us of our innocence in 2000. When Tendulkar said, “We will get through this”, We believed him. Whenever he stepped on to the field, we believed in him.

When, after hitting the winning runs in Chennai, he said of the terrible tragedy that befell his hometown Mumbai in 2008 “It's not only for the people of Mumbai, it's for all of us. We're Indians and that is how I look at it and I'd like to dedicate this hundred to all the people who have gone through such terrible times”, we shed tears of joy and sorrow.

When he was carried on the shoulders of his teammates for a victory lap at his homeground of Wankhede earlier this year after grabbing the one trophy that had eluded him and young Virat Kohli said, “He has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years and it’s about time we carried him”, we felt our hearts fill with joy for this dedicated servant of Indian cricket. You may not be a fan of the Indian cricket team, but at that moment, I am sure you felt unconditional happiness for this player who has for so long filled our consciousness with so many batting masterpieces.

We have seen many geniuses fall. History is littered with the remnants of athletes that seemed almost super-human. Tiger Woods comes to mind immediately. Even Shane Warne. Even with a billion pairs of prying eyes watching his every move, Tendulkar has pretty much lived a scandal free life. He is humble and defers to the people that came before him. Every kid who has picked up a bat since 1989 probably wanted to be like Sachin: some of those kids actually play alongside him for India. But every parent in India wants their kids to be like Sachin the way he was off the cricket field and that’s the best compliment one can ever receive: A good, decent human being, a good husband and a father.

Back to My Favourite Cricketer series page.

Sunderland AFC: The Blueprint for Europe?

Sunderland FC under Chairman Niall Quinn have no fear of change. Of this much we can be certain. Since Quinn led a cohort of investors in purchasing the Wearside club in 2006, the team has embarked on a remarkable remodeling of the then-recently relagated club, solidified this week as the club signed promising South Korea striker Ji Dong-won, highly-touted Ipswich forward Connor Wickham and finally - perhaps definitively - Birmingham midfielder Craig Gardner.

Deals for Manchester United trio John O'Shea, Wes Brown and Darron Gibson are still pending and the club reinforced its goalkeeper and right-side last week by signing established internationals Keiren Westwood and Sebastian Larsson on free transfer deals last week. Egyptian winger Ahmed Elmohamedy signed a permanent deal two weeks ago. Should the United deals go through - it appears the bids have been accepted by the Red Devils - the Mackems could field a side almost completely made up of new players next year. This is in keeping with manager Steve Bruce's modus operandi, as since Darren Bent's departure in January has announced the club in desperate need of remodeling.

The funds have come from player sales. Bent's January sale to Aston Villa brought in £24 million, while emergent midfielder Jordan Henderson cashed up to a reported £20 million. Sunderland - perhaps like even Arsenal now - have developed behind Shrek's pink cousin (Bruce) a reputation for developing players to on-sell. As a management philosophy, it's as practical and pragmatic as it gets - contending for the title is unrealistic, so building a solid contender for European football is a big win for a club only years removed from the embarrassment of footing the Championship.

In the five years since Quinn took control, he's brought in three managers after the demise of Mick McCarthy. Irishman McCarthy, who subsequently took Wolves to the Premiership and has kept them there for two years, was hamstrung in 2005-06 with a substandard squad which claimed a record-low Premier League points tally until Derby County's calamitous season two years later. Quinn invested unexpectedly in Roy Keane, who took Sunderland from the bottom of the Championship to the title. When Keane soured, the unlamented (and ill-suited) Ricky Sbragia was brought in, followed by Steve Bruce - another with a Man U connection.

The Wearsiders have re-tooled various times over the past five years; and though they flirted with the drop zone last season they are with Stoke city now considered the model that promoted teams should attempt to mimic should they want to retain their EPL status. It started with experience as players like Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Danny Higginbotham. There's a certain United theme to their squad as all the above, plus Kieren Richardson, Paul McShane, Fraizer Campbell, Phillip Bardsley plus loanees Jonny Evans and Danny Welbeck have apparated Wearside from the red half of Manchester, no doubt a direct consequence of the managers' places in United lore.

Season 2010-11 presented the Mackem support with their first top-10 finish since Peter Reid led them to seventh twice in Quinn's halcyon years partnering Kevin Phillips. The aim next season with such quality inclusions should be to replicate last season's success and perhaps sneak into Europe - Gardner and Larsson were Birmingham's shining midfielders last term, while releasing the versatile pair of Gibson and O'Shea could pay benefits. The "little and large" combination of Quinn and Phillips could have it's best long-term succession in two six-plus footers Gyan and Wickham.

Quinn, Keane and Bruce - uncompromising as during their playing days - along with majority owner Ellis Short, have assembled perhaps the most apposite mid- to long-term plan in the Premiership. However, the day by day management of Sunderland isn't above question - Bruce's skill as a tactician has been the subject of occasional scorn, while their squad still appears a striker short. It wouldn't be surprising at all to see Federico Macheda in the Northeast next season, perhaps accompanied by a tried-and-tested Assistant Manager (Ray Wilkins, anybody?). More importantly, they also need to get healthy after the end of last season was obliterated by injury.

Sunderland AFC - and subsequently Stoke City and even (perhaps) Wolves could solidify themselves as regular mid-table-or-better teams in the English Premiership. Swansea City, Norwich City and QPR would be wise to heed their example.

Image of Craig Gardner courtesy: www.goal.com. Image of Bruce/Quinn: sunderlandafc.info

Scoring Stats - Dependable European forwards

A scoring stat is defined as any goal or assist and through this combination we have so far investigated how reliant certain clubs across Europe are on star individuals. So which players actually contributed the most to the success of their teams in season 2010-2011?

Unsurprisingly, the most dominant forces by way of contributing to their teams forces came from Germany or Italy. In fact, there is a definite "continental" flavour to the players who contribute most to their teams: of the nineteen players who contributed to over 40% of their teams scores with a goal or assist, only one came from England - Manchester City's Carlos Tevez. This could be a function of his manager's heritage and tactics or simply more evidence to suggest his vital nature to the Citizens' attack. Of those nineteen individuals, there were six forwards from Serie A, seven from La Liga and five who played in the Bundesrepublik.

Bologna's captain Marco Di Vaio was statistically the player most involved in his team's goals throughout Europe, while relegated Frankfurt were perhaps too reliant on the goals of Theofanis Gekas. The full table can be found at Balanced Sports' Scoring Stats page. All nineteen players who contributed to over forty percent of their team's goals can be found in the table below:

League	Team	Player	% Contribution
Serie A	Bologna	Marco Di Vaio	0.600
Bundesliga	Frankfurt	Theofanis Gekas	0.581
Serie A	Napoli	Edinson Cavani	0.542
Serie A	Udinese	Antonio Di Natale	0.538
Bundesliga	Freiburg	Papiss Demba Cisse	0.537
La Liga	Barcelona	Lionel Messi	0.516
La Liga	Real Madrid	Cristiano Ronaldo	0.490
Serie A	Inter Milan	Samuel Eto'o	0.435
EPL	Manchester City	Carlos Tevez	0.433
La Liga	Villarreal	Giuseppe Rossi	0.426
Bundesliga	Koln	Milivoje Novakovic	0.426
Bundesliga	Schalke 04	Raul	0.421
Serie A	Chievo Verona	Sergio Pellissier	0.421
La Liga	Mallorca	Pierre Webo	0.415
Serie A	Brescia	Andrea Caracciolo	0.412
Bundesliga	Hannover	Didier Ya Konan	0.408
Serie A	Real Sociedad	Xabi Prieto	0.408
Serie A	Sevilla	Alvarao Negredo	0.403
Serie A	Real Zaragoza	Gabi	0.400
Average	Wigan	Charles N'Zogbia	0.350

While very few of these numbers have changed significantly since first sight, the greatest surprise is seeing FC Cologne forward Novakovic so high in the rankings. The Slovenian scored twenty goals in a contract drive which saw him named the league's third highest scorer.

Koln's forward press

In April when we first evaluated how important individuals were to their clubs by this admittedly simple measure, there was another representative from the Cathedral city who made the top fifteen most important, forward Lukas Podolski. That Novakovic unseated him first as Koln's statistically most important forward isn't necessarily suprising - Podolski contributed to 43.4% of his club's scoring only six weeks prior to these readings, while Novakovic was involved in in 42.6% at the end of the season. This could be due to one of three reasons - a slow (read: injured) start to the season by Novakovic, a remarkable finish by the same player, or a spectacular drop-off from Podolski.

What it can't be is one providing assists for the other to finish - they totalled seven assists between them. What it does starkly indicate is how little scoring the Billy Goats received from their midfield - Podolski and Novakovic managed between themselves to contribute to 78.7% of all FC Koln's goals.

Which leads us to ask - as we did in April - what the breakdown is between scores and assists across Europe. The following table lays out the differences between the leagues over the period of six weeks. As you can see, forwards playing in Germany and Italy took on increased passing responsibilities while team leaders in La Liga started to look more for the goal than the assist.

League	Goals	Assists	Percentage Goals
EPL - April	174	105	62.37
EPL - Season end	216	123	63.72
La Liga - April	210	89	70.23
La Liga - Season end	290	99	74.55
Serie A - April	204	86	70.34
Serie A - Season end	234	109	68.22
Bundesliga - April	193	63	75.39
Bundesliga - Season end	221	92	70.61

In Part three of our investigation into Scoring Stats, we'll look at which players are the most effective in Europe - who provides the largest boost to their club not over the course of a season, but per game. In the meantime, for all the raw data, visit Balanced Sports Scoring Stats page.

Book review: First Tests - by Steve Cannane

by Balanced Sports columnist Ben Roberts. A re-post from our affiliate book-review blog "Books with Balls". If you're interested in participating by writing a book review, contact us at balancedsports (at) gmail.com.

As I sat on a winters Saturday afternoon with the football call in the background I delved into a work that for a long time I had been desiring to read. First Tests by Steve Cannane recalled in me dreams of hot summers and backyard cricket; of the innocent yet ferocious contests played out in country and city alike every Australian summer.

Premised upon the search for the reasons why our champions of today and yesteryear played the way they do/did the link between the backyard conditions and future technique can be tenuous at times, but in other instances you would have very little doubt as to its effect on the young champions. That Neil Harvey grew up dicing with the sideways movement of a cobblestone pitch, and the Chappells playing shots between many backyard items serving as fielders would be two examples of correlation to later skills.

The real story though in each of the chapters is the love of the game from a young age that our champions showed, and the unrelenting desire to play cricket at all available times. In a world where we are force fed information from different directions constantly it is refreshing to read of children simply pursuing dreams, dawn to dusk, for pleasure.

If you have read reasonably extensively on Australian cricketers and their lives you may find that the stories used by Cannane are repetitive and contain few new insights. We all know how Sir Donald Bradman hit a golf ball with a stump against a water tank. Also, the overriding rhetoric that it was better in the old days than today's sterile academy based environment could detract from the beauty that is reading of Australian sporting culture.

A bonus however is you get more from this work than just a cricketing technique or history lesson, you read Australia growing as a nation through the window of probably the national sport of the country. You begin to understand the depths of despair and disease that the great depression brought. Yet through all this children still played, all day and all night if they could. This was more than the individuals too, remember our champions all needed someone to bowl to or bat against at one time or another.

Pick this one up and let it inspire you to reminisce about your own childhood and cricketing dreams. Let it encourage you to enjoy the most out of everyday. Once you have finished reading I can guarantee you will run straight outside and start playing like you used to. I did, but unlike Clarrie Grimmatt's fox terrier mine won't return the balls!

image thanks to angusandrobertson.com.au

My Favourite Cricketer: Curtly Ambrose - Matthew Wood

As we involve noted cricket writers and bloggers on our topic "My Favourite Cricketer" - the brainchild of Balanced Sports' Matthew Wood - sees the series creator delve into his happy childhood memories to pay homage to the baddest, coolest fast bowler in recent memory: Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose.

As cricket fans, we favour iconoclasts and champions. Every player in this series is likely to fall into one category or the other. The players who appeal most express a certain freedom - of emotion, thought, preparation, leadership or skill. Our game, more than any other, creates artistry - in batsmanship, bowling, fielding and captaincy. That liberty allows one to create results from nothing a la Shane Warne, to redefine the game as Jardine or one's own game like Lillee; to propagate evolution by force of will alone in the mould of Allan Border or simply just to be oneself, enormous moustache and all - Merv Hughes.

I spent months considering who actually is my favourite cricketer; narrowing the list of potentials proving more difficult than anticipated. Certain players I respect for their skill and resulting achievement: Sir Donald Bradman, Warne or McGrath. The Chappell brothers remain straight-shooters, one an iconoclast and the other a fractured savant. My childhood favourite? Merv Hughes. Stylistically, no-one comes within galaxies of Sir Viv Richards, while the greatest moment of cricket perspective was Keith Miller's "Pressure is a Messerschmitt up your arse, not playing cricket".

Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose didn't redefine fast bowling, but re-imagined it. The last in almost a half-century of the truly great West Indian pacemen, he not only picked up the legacy of forbears Hall, Griffith, Roberts, Holding, Croft, Garner and Marshall but added his own chapter to cricket's most exciting history. His stature - 6'7 - led to constant, inevitable and overstated references to a basketball career, but he shouldn't be remembered for that length but for it's deadly effect when combined with his natural talent and work ethic.

Fast strides to the wicket turned into a quickish amble as the years passed, but Ambrose casually delivered the ball from over 9 feet high at extreme pace for twelve years at Test level. Instead of losing accuracy due to his height, he turned that divine gift into a stock ball which reared off a good length: he had the accuracy of McGrath, the malice of Holding, the movement of Marshall and the faster changeup of the killer Roberts. He had everything any fast bowler could want, including a murderous yorker and a bouncer so evil it hissed "Luke, I am your father" as the ball passed their throat.

Loose-jointed and almost outrageously fast, he was the evolutionary Joel Garner. His languid appearance, nevermore on show than when bowing to Bay 13, often gave the impression of coasting. He could afford to celebrate victories as they kept him going - cricket never meant that much to him. Unlike some others, he appeared a to have a life outside cricket and now combines with former captain and fellow Antiguan Richie Richardson in a reggae outfit.

After years of competition between bowlers to get into the West Indian side, the destiny of their pace attack rested with Curtly, who became the sole embodiment of the Caribbean fast bowling progression. He was criticised more often for coasting than he actually did. Much of that may have come from poor use as necessity harnessed him into the role of combo bowler, stock-plus-strike. Perhaps fittingly his only competition for the title of "best paceman" over the past twenty years is McGrath, who successfully combined those fraught roles. The large man was human and prone to emotion which focused his mind on delivering missiles that seemed to come from orbit.

That human side came out in his final assault on Australian shores in 1996-97. Down on form and luck, he announced before the third Test in Melbourne he would take ten wickets and Brian Lara would score a century. Lara couldn't fulfill his end, but Ambrose performed magnificently, taking 9 for 72. So good - and gracious - was he that no-one begrudged his success and most were left disappointed when he couldn't quite manage the ten-fer. After missing the next match through injury (unsurprisingly, the West Indians lost), he returned for Perth and in a 10-wicket triumph took 7/93 - Curtly owned Perth.

His Test averages speak for themselves: 405 Test wickets at 20.99 and an Economy rate of 2.3. He has the lowest economy rate of any fast bowler with over 200 wickets, and is fifth overall. The average stands the third best of any of the greats: .05 behind Marshall and .02 behind his prototype Garner.

Ambrose's most famous moments came against the Australians - he toured Australia three times - in 1988-89 as a rookie , in 92-93 as the best bowler in the world and in 1996-97 as a fading force still commanding ultimate respect.

The most revered spell of fast bowling in recent Australian memory, talked about as the greatest of follies of all time occurred in a One-Day match in Brisbane in 1993. The recently-reinstated Dean Jones asked him to remove his white wristband. Instantly, commentators, spectators and the West Indian fielders knew he had made a mistake and Curtly told him so - in words and actions. He unleashed the most unholy spell of fast bowling, claiming 5/32 and running himself into an seeing-is-believing stretch of form climaxing when he ensured the retention of the Sir Frank Worrell trophy with a villainous spell of 7/1 at the WACA.

His 1995 stouch with Steve Waugh at Trinidad turned Bankstown's finest from "good" to "great" and was the last great tribulation for Waugh before he could claim to be amongst the all-timers. Curtly Ambrose, so long a man-mountain of fast bowlers, was Waugh's - and with Lara, Australia's - Everest. The best of the 1980s had to succumb to the best of the 1990s. West Indian cricket has not since been the same.

It's not fair - and very wrong - that Curtly Ambrose is probably not considered at the same level as Lillee, Hall, Marshall and McGrath. He was every bit as talented and driven as those bowlers yet for the majority of his career was supported by a gimpy Ian Bishop and the corpse of Courtney Walsh. After he became the attack leader, he never had the support of a Thomson, Warne or Gillespie, meaning he had to know when to attack and when to defend. The freedom to go all out was denied him for the last seven years of his career. His pacy Islander ancestors could rely on the guy at the other end joining you in ritually strangling the batsmen. Curtly could not.

Don't tell me Curtly Ambrose wasn't amongst the greats. Mike Atherton and Steve Waugh certainly think he was. His combination of lethal pace, pinpoint accuracy and devastating "troat balls". Of all the players I remember seeing, the one of whom I have the fondest memories for who he was, was Curtley Ambrose.

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