After almost two years a limited over match (either T20 & ODI) is played in West Indies. It was Bangladesh who played the last limited over game, a bilateral series featuring 3 ODI matches in Aug 2014.
Surprisingly last year(2015)West Indies hosted two test series without any limited over games in that fixture. They played 3-Test series against England, and 2-Test series against Australia. Now after 22 months an international limited over series is held in Caribbean. A tri-series between host West Indies, South Africa and Australia.
After watching the first game between SAvWI one feels it would be a low-scoring event. The surface looks very similar to the pitches they recently been having in the UAE, a sheen look, with light-white colour with no visible dent or crack. There are apparent rough patches at foothold, but the surface seems solid, gradually keeping low.
All this lured me to look at their historic stats of this decade – since Jan 01, 2010
UAE and WestIndies have a similarity of performance.
Since 2010 grounds in UAE have hosted ICC World Cricket League featuring associate teams, therefore the quality of matches cannot be compared to those played in West Indies.The weather and heat plays a vital role. In UAE most times matches are played from Nov to Feb when the climate is less hot. In WestIndies the playing period is Feb to Aug when the weather is suitable, although in certain islands rainy season starts mid- June.
WestIndies is spinner’s paradise
The first game of the tri-series saw spinners getting maximum wicket(12 out of 16) in the match, mostly through poor shot selection. -Nevertheless same might be the case in their domestic tournament, the Nagico Super 50 played earlier this year(Jan7-23, 2016).In the list of most wicket taker, the top three are spinners.
Sulieman Benn was the highest wicket-taker. Playing for Barbados he picked 15 wickets in 7 games with an impressive eco rate of 3.39!.
Followed offie Jon- Russ Jaggesar who picked 14 wkts /6 games for Trinidad & Tobago with eco rate of 3.80.
The third is a leggie from Jamaica, Damion Jacobs. He too picked 14 wkts in 6 games @ 4.00/over.
Although it is too early too make assumption, and assess the situation after one game. Nevertheless the spinners have applied breaks whenever they were brought into the bowling attack in each phase of the first encounter!.
The first game of the tri-series saw spinners getting maximum wicket(12 out of 16) in the match, mostly through poor shot selection. -Nevertheless same might be the case in their domestic tournament, the Nagico Super 50 played earlier this year(Jan7-23, 2016). In the list of most wicket taker, the top three are spinners. Sulieman Benn was the highest wicket-taker. Playing for Barbados he picked 15 wickets in 7 games with an impressive eco rate of 3.39!. Followed offie Jon- Russ Jaggesar who picked 14 wkts /6 games for Trinidad & Tobago with eco rate of 3.80. The third is a leggie from Jamaica, Damion Jacobs. He too picked 14 wkts in 6 games @ 4.00/over. Although it is too early too make assumption, and assess the situation after one game. Nevertheless the spinners have applied breaks whenever they were brought into the bowling attack in each phase of the first encounter!. |
Below graphics displays run-rate of spinners in each phase against overall run-rate. |
All data is from Jan 1, 2010 till June 3, 2016 |