WORLD CUP 2019 TEAMS REVIEW - PART 3 : The Momentum Look

May 28, 2019
Summarizing how 2019 Cricket World Cup participants have performed against each other in last 4 years versus in the last 2 years

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WORLD CUP 2019 TEAMS REVIEW - PART 2 : Since ICC Champions Trophy 2017

May 28, 2019
Narrowing down the period for our Review of 2019 World Cup participants – on the basis of their Win-Loss Ratio – to last 2 years, more specifically since the last ICC event, here is a look at how teams have scored during this period.

and here’s how each team has done against other opponents since ICC Champions Trophy 2017

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WORLD CUP 2019 TEAMS REVIEW - PART 1 : World Cup Runners Against Each Other Since 2015 World Cup

May 23, 2019
Right, so we are into the final week before ICC Cricket World Cup and the customary World Cup fever has just kicked in.

There’s no more Cricket to talk about for the next one week, leaving the fans around the world with nothing but ample time to take out their microscopes and analyze the teams participating in the contest through various statistical views, angles and dimensions.

Is there any right statistical view that could provide definitive evaluation of the teams participating in the World Cup 2019? The simple answer is, no – unless resorting to such methods and algorithms that become too complicated for a common fan to comprehend. Instead, there are quite a few popular views to benchmark the contestants of the World Cup.

One of such scenario is analysis of teams since the last World Cup. To make it even more relevant, let’s take look at the teams, specifically, against each other since the last World Cup, held in 2015.

That pretty much reflects the form of participating teams amongst each other in the last 4 years.





Moving on, let’s take a quick look at how teams have fared against the other 9 teams in this period, starting with Pakistan

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England vs Pakistan ODI Series 2019 - Bowling Analysis

May 20, 2019
The series termed as the full-dress rehearsal of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is over. It provided 4 days of run fest with 7 out of 8 completed innings going well above the 300 runs mark.

In such a high scoring series, bowling looked the harder of the traits and – to an extent – eventually deciding the fate of the series as well. Here’s a quick recap of bowling performance from both the teams

Leading bowlers in the series by STRIKE RATE:

Leading bowlers in the series by BOWLING AVERAGE:

Leading bowlers in the series by ECONOMY:

Leading bowlers in the series by DOT BALL PERCENTAGE:

Leading bowlers in the series by BOUNDARY PERCENTAGE:

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Graphical Recap of England vs Pakistan - 2nd ODI - 11 May 2019

It was battle of the bats at Southampton that saw over 700 runs scored in a day. Here's a graphical recap of the match:

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ICC T20I Rankings Annual Update - No change in Top 4

South Africa will swap places with England at rank 5 and 6 in official ICC T20I Rankings update after this year’s annual update. The top 4 T20I teams - Pakistan, Australia, India and New Zealand - and 7th ranked West Indies will retain their current rankings.

Afghanistan will swap places at 8 and 9 with Sri Lanka while Scotland is expected to do the same at 10 and 11 with Bangladesh and Netherlands with Zimbabwe at 12 and 13. Since the T20I teams from non-Test playing nations haven’t played T20Is with same frequency as of T20I teams from Test Playing nations, ICC is expected to apply special formulas for their comparative rankings.

Similarly, in terms of rating points - the fundamental factor in the rankings that is awarded for each match based on the latest ranking of the opponent before that particular match - the impact of annual update on Teams' rating points will not be of any major significance.

However, in terms of teams earning the highest rating points in the last ICC T20I Rankings Season - May 2017 to April 2018 - Australia finishes at the top, followed closely by Pakistan.

Australia accumulated 155 rating points in this period which is incredible in itself, however, this tally was 44 points more than what they had on May 1, 2017 which makes the last season of ICC T20I Rankings even more remarkable for Australians.

Instead, if the performance of T20I teams during May 2017 and April 2018 is compared with their current rating points, Australia's performance still stands out.

The other team that performed even higher than outstanding benchmark was Pakistan who amassed 150 rating points in this period. This is the second successive ICC Ranking Season in which Pakistan achieved more than 150 rating points; the last season they compiled 155 rating points. As a result Fof these consistently outstanding performances, Pakistan became the number 1 T20I team in the world for the first time since the commencement of official ICC T20I Rankings in 2012.

To conclude this brief analysis, here is a quick view of how T20I Teams have progressed since the last annual update of ICC T20I Rankings

Disclaimer: 
All future calculations are for indicative purposes only & are based on information publicly available about Rankings formulas & rankings at different points in time; minor variation with official update is possible
Official status to be shared ICC in coming weeks.

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England to claim number 1 ODI Ranking after annual update

England will return to the top spot, for the first time since December 2012, at the annual update of the Rankings on May 1, 2018. The overall rankings will remain pretty much the same with only 4 teams exchanging positions in the table. England will replace India at the top while New Zealand will replace South Africa at number 3. There will be no change of ranking for eight other ranked teams.

In terms of Rating, 4 teams – England, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe – will benefit from the annual update while rating of 6 teams – New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Australia – will take a blow. The rating of Bangladesh and India will only have fractional impact of this year’s update.

More specifically, this is how the 12 ranked ODI teams have performed in terms of rating since the last rankings update on May 1, 2017.

The ICC Rankings works on a weighted average model for a period of last 36 to 48 months. Every team is awarded rating points for each match it plays within the last 36 to 48 months. The rating points earned since the last annual update carries full weight while the weightage of rating points earned for matches played between the last and the third last annual update is halved. Since 2013, ICC applies the annual update on May 1 every year.

On May 1, 2018, the weightage of rating points earned between May 1, 2016 and April 30, 2017 will be reduced to half while performances before May 1, 2015 shall be expunged from the calculations. It will be the first ICC Rankings table free of any impact of performances during 2015 ICC Cricket World or earlier.

England and Pakistan come out as the top gainers of 2018 update. Unsurprisingly, these two teams were the most disappointing performers of 2015 World Cup. Both of them were carrying the burden of below-par performances in 2015 World Cup and earlier, and as soon as those performances have been discarded from the equation, their ratings improve substantially.

From the nightmare of failing to qualify for the Quarter Finals of 2015 World Cup to reclaiming the throne within three years, it has been a fascinating tale of resurgence of English Cricket. They had slipped to number 6 in February 2015 and touched their lowest rating points tally of 94 in May 2015. Since then, their rejigged method and approach to ODI Cricket has been bringing them the results and, finally, it has put them back to the top of ICC ODI Rankings table.

The other team whose performance catches the attention is Pakistan. Around 19 months ago, they had slipped to their worst ever rating points tally of 84 while at the start of last ICC ODI Rankings season, they were facing an embarrassing possibility of missing the direct qualification for 2019 World Cup. Since then, it has been a fascinating revival that saw them accumulate highest number of ranking points in any ICC ODI Rankings Season in last 5 years. This is also the first time in 5 years that their Season tally has gone beyond the benchmark of 100 rating points.

The next part of this review of annual ICC ODI Rankings Update will cover more in-depth details and analysis of ODI teams in corresponding period. Here is the summary view of how ODI teams have performed in ICC ODI Rankings since the last annual update, to conclude this part, for now.

Disclaimer: 
All future calculations are for indicative purposes only & are based on information publicly available about Rankings formulas & rankings at different points in time; minor variation with official update is possible
Official status to be shared ICC in coming weeks.

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