Skip to main content

A Startling Disparate Trend!

As the year draws to an end there is this opportunity to reflect upon cherish-able moments, outline trends and chart out the hits & misses of the preceding 12 months. Cliched as it sounds and repetitive as it gets this annual exercise with novel sets of examples never ceases to intrigue the followers of the sport. 2013 had only one global tournament (Champions Trophy in England), a couple of emotional send-offs, a couple of exciting ODI series, string of rising youngsters, bunch of record-breaking performances, and South Africa & India retained their pedestal status in Tests & ODIs throughout the year.

Amid these featured stories, there are a couple of hidden anecdotes that have been generated in the due course. Of the 43 test matches through 2013, 33 produced a result. Strikingly only 2 matches were won away from home (discounting the South Africa vs Pakistan series in UAE), and on both counts the losing side was Zimbabwe! Call it home domination, away blues, willful comebacks, complacency-laden over-confidence or anything but the dissimilarity in win/loss ratio at home (14.50) and away (0.06) is worth noticing and scrutinizing. 

But why is that such a notable phenomenon? Aren't teams expected to do much better at home? Yes but recent years suggest that even though the disparity in success ratios is evident, consistency with skewed series scorelines has been uncommon. 
Year
Matches
Results
Home W/L
Away W/L
2008
47
36
1.25
0.80
2009
41
26
1.88
0.52
2010
39
30
1.14
0.87
2011
36
26
1.00
1.00
2012
39
29
1.41
0.70
Is there a superficial reason for this sudden shift in patterns? Almost every test playing nation had an away tour assignment this year, albeit unsuccessful, hence it would be futile to delineate this observation by grouping teams. What is more startling is the drastic discrepancy in the performances with respect to the conditions; the distinct Ashes scorelines separated by less than six months highlight this astonishment. In the new year India will tour New Zealand, England and later Australia, England will travel to West Indies, Australia has a tour scheduled to South Africa and Sri Lanka will go to England during the summer; with such fixtures it would safe to wait and see whether 2013 was an aberration or an indicative sign of things to come.

In general what makes success on away tours so treasured? Yes the fact of playing outside your comfort zone is the primary reason. This further includes defeating moments of unanticipated challenges. These challenges comprise of mistimed injuries to key players, devised plans going awry, weary long fielding days, lack of a source of inspiration, type of bowlers in the armory misfit for the conditions and the rub of the green going against you! Over the last 12 months Pakistan in South Africa, Australia in India, Australia in England, England in Australia exhibited that such away-tour symptoms can swell out of control and the catch-up process becomes a mammoth task in lesser familiar environments.

Scroll down the rankings history in the recent past and you will realize that the position on the table directly varies with away performances and the quantum of such contests. Fans/followers wouldn't mind this phenomenon if it can promise quality cricket; like the one we have seen in the year-ending series between India & South Africa. International cricket is going through a fascinating phase with no team emerging as an outright world-beater. If this development indeed progresses, it could make the distinction between good and great sides a simpler process!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adieu Rahul Dravid

It could have been timed better, it could have come a little later, it could have been better celebrated but the retirement was always going to come some day. It is easier said than fathomed - the Indian test side without Dravid! The news on first instance was a moment of disbelief, followed by a moment of daze before logic struck saying that it had to come and the moment had indeed arrived. Dravid was never a glamorous character on or off the field, more of a thorough gentleman commanding respect from all quarters. His announcement was synonymous with his usual self - calm, composed, dignified and non-fussy. Dravid was, is and will always be remembered as a role model for his conduct, dignity, selflessness  on the cricket field & off it  along-with his technically impeccable batting. On the global scene the game has lost one of its modern-day great and an all-time legend. The clock was ticking for Dravid much before, but an exceptional tour of England postponed this event (
4 comments
Read more

India's problems begin from the top!

The middle order of India’s batting line-up has been the focus of all the criticism in the last couple of months. Amidst this chatter, an aspect of India’s success over the last decade or so - the opening has been a bit neglected. Yes the middle order deserves all the flak and resurrection in that department should be executed with priority but you cannot overlook the constant failure of the openers to deliver what is expected of them. Sehwag & Gambhir has been India’s best opening combine in terms of runs and also the longest serving duo. When you have the same pair at the top, you either don’t have too many options or they are doing too well to disturb; 23 opening stands of 50 or more & 10 stands of 100+ out of 76 outings is a reasonable stat and should endorse the latter view. Dissect that stat a bit and a few creepy things crop up. The duo has managed to provide an opening stand of 100 or more only on 3 occasions out of 34 times they have gone out to open the batting on
2 comments
Read more

Should Cricket Embrace The 5 Rings?

Another glorious edition of the Olympics goes into the sunset. A couple of weeks that showcased the best athletes compete for the ultimate glory, an event that exhibited disappointment, defeat, joy, pride, victory, glory and a portrait that had participation from 204 nations! A rich history, a massive platform, unparalleled glory and probably the biggest show sports can offer, makes an Olympic Games edition stand out. Ardent cricket fans/followers would feel left out from this marquee sports event. Unlike Motorsports, Cricket is a recognized by the International Olympic Committee. Though cricket wasn’t an outright success in multi-sport models previously, times have changed and today cricket has its T20 avatar to offer for such events. The ICC has 105 countries as its recognized members, spanning continents and covering most of the globe.
2 comments
Read more