20 Oct / 2014(263)…Test summary: Asian teams prefer to bat second

Is batting first in Test match a good option for teams ?.

It will depend on how their top order counter the new ball, and in doing so how many runs/wkts they score in 1^st session/day one/1^st innings.

Here is a summary of 1^st innings year wise – featuring first batting/1^st innings, and second batting/1^st innings.

Table 1 :

features all records in all nations since 2011. The fluctuation of averages is very similar whether you bat first or second in 1^st innings!.

Table 2 :

Sub-continent

Its very apparent that sub-continent fetches more runs, but host prefer to bat second. Year 2013 & 2014 is a great example of team’s performance while batting second. Along with average their scoring rate has increased, helping their boundary rate as well.

Table 3 :

Team’s performance in 1^st innings.     Certain team prefer aperform better while batting first(Aus, SA, WI, NZ & ZIM)in the first innings.  However teams from sub-continent (India, Pak, SL and Bangladesh) prefer and perform better batting second in 1^st innings, as you can find a huge difference in their batting average.

Table 4

In table 3 , we saw overall Asian team perform/prefer batting second. Is this the same in sub-continent?. No, this does not remain the same for stronger batting sides!.

Teams like India, SL perform well in either innings, its only Pak & Bangladesh who fair poorly when they are bat first in 1^st innings.

Interestingly West Indies have performed much better in sub-continent than at home or away(non-asian grounds).

SA have a balanced performance.

England like Pak, Bangladesh prefer to bat second, and Australia haven’t batted second in sub-continent in last 4 years.

Here is a link to meaning of all indicators/formula –

A Guide to Indicator & Formula. Its meaning and explanation.