A method for the comparison of the bowling performances of bowlers in a match or a series of matches

Abstract

The combined bowling rate (CBR) has been developed (Lemmer, 2002) as a single measure to assess the bowling performance of a bowler. Its calculation makes use of O, the number of overs bowled, R, the number of runs conceded and W, the number of wickets taken. It was, however, mentioned that it might be desirable to weight the wickets of top order batsmen higher than those of lower order batsmen. This is especially important if one wants to compare the bowling performances of the bowlers in a single match because it is far more difficult to get a top quality batsman out than a tail-ender. Normally a bowler claiming the top three batsmen's wickets ought to get much more credit than one who gets the three tail-enders' wickets. This can be accomplished by giving weights to the wickets and replacing W, the number of wickets taken, in the CBR formula by W*, the sum of the weights of the wickets taken by the bowler. This paper develops suitable weights and uses these to rate the bowlers who were involved in the 2003 npower Test series between South Africa and England. From the results the need is observed for a measure that is more sensitive to a bowler's ability to take wickets and this is resolved by means of a modification of CBR. The dynamic bowling rate (DBR) is defined and is used to give the final ratings.

Keywords: bowlers, bowling performance, combined bowling rate, cricket, comparison of bowlers, dynamic bowling rate, weights in the calculation of CBR and DBR

South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation Vol. 27(1) 2005: 75-85