No batsman can score runs of every ball. Dot balls are like air we breathe, it is essential part of cricket. One must not measure dot ball to inability to score runs or slow scoring. I believe dot balls are essential for all skill(batting bowling and fielding) as it helps players in building confidence and execute skills.
The ideal way to measure dot balls is to find how many consecutive balls were not scored off (viz dot ball)and compare them to scoring rate of theirs.
A comparison of both series for West Indies team phase wise.
In below table(last column) I have added this new indicators called as % 3 consecutive dot balls (4 successive dot balls).
Three (3) Consecutive dot balls : means no run was scored on 4 successive balls, viz more than half an over.
West Indies batting – Below table features their performance at home against Australia(2 Test). The analysis clearly indicates they start very slowly and hardly gain any momentum. In the first 3phases of their innings had more than 50% of 4 successive dot balls!!.
And when you look at balls per scoring shot, than it is easily clarified that every 6 or 5 balls one scoring shot is scored, and boundaries are hardly there, only 3/4 per 100 balls. The lesser scoring shots(1s,2s,3s) are also very few.
Table No.1 runs/wkts and their primary indicator of each phase of both series.
Table 2 – has scoring rate along with % 3 Consecutive dot balls.
The analysis shows West Indies batters have marginally improved in scoring runs,as we less of 3 Successive dot balls in middle phase, however they still need to get a solid start (in terms of run-rate).
