A measure of the current bowling performance in cricket

Abstract

The combined bowling rate (CBR) defined in Lemmer (2002) for use in limited overs matches and the dynamic bowling rate (DBR) defined in Lemmer (2005) for unlimited overs matches are both measures of career bowling performances. There is, however, a need for measures that can be used to assess the current bowling performances of bowlers in conjunction with their career performances. In order to meet this need, the CBR and DBR measures will be modified to reflect current performances better. Secondly, due to the importance of selecting bowlers who have high probabilities of rendering good performances, the consistency of the bowler (which also reflects the present form of the bowler) should also form part of the measure. The CBP measure developed in this paper has been used to rank a selection of South African bowlers according to their one-day careers and also their test careers.

South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation Vol. 28(2) 2006: 91-103