Thread by @ErikaMorris79

With the latest season of the #Blast23 starting soon I’ve been looking into the data and seeing what insights it tells us. If you don’t like T20 & data look away now as it’s a long ride. Firstly detail of a few of the data parameters I used to do this.

For all players their career T20 figures were used, those who haven’t played aren’t displayed
Team battings averages - the figures for batters, wicket keepers and all-rounders have been used
Teams bowling averages - the figures for bowlers and all-rounders have been used #Blast23

One other important factor to call out is the stats are based on the whole squad, including those named as partial replacements for players who will go off on international duty. Hence there will be teams who have more players than others. #Blast23

Let’s start with the makeup of each team. There is a huge focus on all-rounders and Durham have their fair share at 42% of their squad. A huge 46% of the Northants squad are bowlers, are they going with the ‘batters win you games, bowlers win you tournaments’ approach? #Blast23

Is the #Blast23 a young man’s game? With 9 players 30+ in their ranks its Somerset who are the old man’s army at an avg age of 30. On the flip side Sussex have the youngest squad at just 33.02, in fact they only have 4 players over 30! will youth win over experience?

Taking a look at the batting surprisingly it’s Middlesex with the best avg at 21.43, infact only they and Somerset average above 20! Somerset are the intent merchants @131.08 thanks to the big hitting Abel & Smeed. With the lowest avg and SR, Leics could find batting tough

Looking at the bowling and the strike and economy rates by teams and last years #VitalityBlast winners Hampshire have the miserly bowlers at an economy of 7.93. Despite a star studded line-up Surrey have the worst economy at 9.10 and the 2nd worst strike rate #Blast23

What about the best overall team? This heat map shows teams ranking on batting and bowling stats. With a strong batting & top 4 bowling figures, Somerset are looking the early favourites closely followed by Durham. Surrey on the other hand look like having a tough #Blast23

Now for a dive into each teams and first up is BIR. This looks like a great batting unit but then any team with Glenn Maxwell in it will do! It’s not all about the big show though, backed up by Hain and Moeen, Mousley and Benjamin there could be fireworks watching this line up

Will their bowlers be able to win them games? Lintott is the standout with 7.53 econ, infact BIR have the 3rdbest economy in #Blast23 . If you’re looking for frequent wickets then Brookes strikes every 16 calls with Lintot, Miles, Woakes and OHD all under 20

Onto DER & their batting. As a team they – somewhat surprisingly - have the 6th highest batting average with players like Wood, Madsen, and Du Plooy above 30. With only 6 players sriking above the magic 130, big big power to clear the ropes could be lacking #Blast23

Does their bowling match their batting powers? In a word No, only young Nick Potts has a decent economy at 6.69 and with Aitchison and Conners going at 11+ an over we could see some big scores being set against DER. This bowling attack looks a quality overseas bowler light.

Despite Durham not being a team packed of standout stars they have the 4th best avg with 8 batters averaging above 20 and the second best strike rate! This batting unit really is an example of a team being stronger than its component parts #Blast23

Will their bowlers be able to win them games? From a statistical stand point it looks like it with solid econmy rates and Bas de Leede having one of the best strike rates of #Blast23 with Stokes & Wood likely to be missing on IPL/test duty could this be too big a miss?

Onto Essex and what does their batting look like? It’s a mixed bag to be honest, in terms of SR they are 6thbest with players like Sams, Lawrence, Walter & Rossington striking at 140+ but on batting avgs they sit a lowly 15th. Some of these players will need to up their average

Will their bowlers be able to win them games though? It’s another big bag I’m afraid with 7th best strike rate – infact 7 players take wickets less than every 20 balls - but only the 12th best economy rate with only Lawrence, Harmer and Critchley under 8 an over #Blast23

The GLA batting line up is yet another tale of two halves, strike rate wise they look strong with Cooke, Ingram, Douthwaite and Byrom all having big boy power but with only Northeast averaging above 30 they steem to lack staying power. It could make for fun watching though!

Looking through GLA and their bowlers there are no real stand out performers, backed up by 13th in the economy ratings. The experience of van de Gugten, Neser and could be crucial for them in this years #Blast23but for me this line up looks a quality overseas seamer light

We all know about GLO’s Tim Price and his CC heroics but can this transfer into #VitalityBlast? It is actually the inexperienced Wells and the other Price in Oliver with the best average and strike rate, will they get a run in the team to show they can do it on the big stage?

In the bowling area they are only 13th placed in terms of strike rate but economy wise an impressive 8th. The experience of Payne, van Buuren, van Meerkeren and the smart addition of big Marchant de Lange could well cause a few teams some trouble they weren’t expecting #Blast23

Looking at the batting of champions HAMP we all know how dangerous Vince can be at this level, he is one of 7 players with a SR above 130. Adding the explosive McDermott into the line-up for #VitalityBlast with help develop some of the younger promising players

Moving onto HAMP and what we already know to be a great bowling unit. As a team they have the lowest bowling economy in #Blast23 and boast 7 players who strike at under 17. Adding the skilful Benny Howell to a line-up of Ellis, Fuller, Wheal and Wood was a smart move #Blast23

Stats wise Kent have the 3rd best batting line up of #Blast23 8 players have a strike rate of 130+ including Cox, Billings, Bell Drummond, Stewart and Zak Crawley. With the latter nailed down for an Ashes opening spot there still looks enough in this team to score big #Blast23

Will their bowlers be able to win them games though? Well this really is a tale of two halves with the worst strike rate of all #Blast23 teams but the 2nd best economy rate. With the experience of Hogan, Richardson and Agar around the team they will outperform their stats

LANC batting has some big hitters in Livi, Buttler, Villas and Phil Salt yet they are 12th best place in terms of SR, Looking at batting avg where they are 3rd in #VitalityBlast overall but the key could be how much will their big name batters actually play for them?

Looking next at their bowling they have one of the best strike rates as a team in #Blast23 with 6 bowlers taking wickets less than every 18 balls. Including Parkinson at just 14.27. Economy wise it’s the spinners of Parky and Hartley that stand out.

Leics are sitting joint last in the batting table and looking at the stats it’s not hard to see why. They only have twp players – Kimber and Lilley who strike at 135+ and only Welch averaging at over 30. Some big names will need to step up for this team to succeed #Blast23

Can their bowling save them? There are some bright patches, Naveen-ul-Haq was a great selection last season and with a good IPL Leics will be glad to have him in what otherwise could be a poor bowling line up. Overall I think things could be really tricky for them this season

Onto yet another mix bag batting wise in MID. Positives first and being the team with the highest batting average in #Blast23 thanks to Pieter Malan with the highest of all players at 38.79. However they sit at 14th in the strike rate stakes with just Eskinazi at 135+

Sadly the bowling has more downs that ups, not one of their bowlers goes at less than 8 runs an over so they will need to watch the runs they give away as opposition teams could look to exploit this and go big against them in #Blast23

NOR have fairly impressive team batting stats sitting at 8th % 7th in terms of average and strike rate despite not being a stat studded line up. Adding the experienced all-rounder in David Willey will always help a team to rise up but could his IPL sustained injury hold him down?

We saw earlier that 46% of the NOR team are bowlers so you would hope they do well in this area! It actually makes fairly stable viewing, the strike rate is hugely distorted by Russell and his huge wicket every 48 balls, they also have the most bowlers whose economy is under 8

NOT are always a curious team to me, stats wise they have a power packed batting line up with Hales, Munro, Mullaney and Moores but they really seem to all click together. Hales and Munro are the stand out players with averages above 30 and SR above 140

NOT bowling is faily mid table with the 6th best econ and 13th best strike rate, although Huttons strike rate of 34 is know doubt dragging the team down. With experience in Ball, Fletcher, Stone, Patel & I see this bowling attack outperforming their stats.

Onto our best team statistically in SOM so what makes them so good? Where to start, a top order of Smeed, Banton, TKC and Abell is enough but add an experienced middle order of Gregory, Lammonby and van de Merwe there could be fireworks watching this team in #VitalityBlast

Does their bowling match their batting powers? Sadly for opposition teams the answer is Yes, as a team they have the best strike rate in #Blast23 with all but 2 players taking wickets less than every 20 balls. Only Gregory and Lammonby go at more than 9 an over

Despite a line-up that reads like an embarrassment of riches (Curran, Roy, Narine and Jacks) SUR are statistically speaking the worst overall and batting team in #VitalityBlast. With some availability concerns to juggle the fitness of Jacks could be crucial here.

The news doesn’t get any easier for Surrey fans either when it comes to bowling. Despite Narine they have the highest economy rate and with injury concerns to Topley we could see them going the distance in a lot of #Blast23 games this year.

Next up is the surprisingly 3rdbest team statistically Sussex. Batting wise they’ve an impressive strike rate and boast the player – Orr at a huge 174.6 – with the best in #VitalityBlast. Infact 62% of the player’s stike at 135+ so they’ve actually assembled a good hitting squad

SUS have quietly built themselves a really decent bowling line up that there is a lot to like about with pace from Finn, Mills, Garton, Archer & Robinson and the spin of Shadab and Rawlins. The only watch out for them is how they will go with Archer & Robinson likely in the Ashes

Onto WOR and with Mo returning home their batting looks weak , they have the 17th lowest SR of all teams & only the 12th best avg. Only Hose and Haynes strike above 135 and with only 3 players avg over 30 I fear they could really struggle in this years #Blast23

Their bowling makes marginally better reading with players like Finch, Pennington, Stanley and their overseas players Santner and Bracewell taking a wicket every 18 balls or less but economy wise there is only Bracewell and D’Olivera who go at under 9 an over

Looking at YOR batting with names like Lyth, Wiese, Malan, Brook, Root & Bairstow you’d expect to see them higher than 11th on strike rate and 17th on average. With the later 3 likely to be away with England if Lyth and Malan fail to fire they could find themselves struggling

Despite not having players like Willey and Shadab this year, bowling wise is a better picture with the 5thbest bowling economy in #Blast23 and the 11th best strike rate. One thing that does seem missing is a slow left arm spinner, no T20 team is complete without a SLA

Does T20i experience result in success in #Blast23? Well Bears will hope so with an avg of 16 caps across their players, some way ahead of YOR at an avg of 12.65. GLA however have an avg of just .48 caps across their whole team, will this lack of international experience show?

How valuable is knowing the pressures of the #Blast23 ? It’s HAMPS this time who top this out with an avg of 52.8 games per player. On the other end of the scale its Derbyshire whose squad have only played an average of 28 games per player, will this hold them back?

Franchise cricket is growing worldwide so what does that domestic t20 games per player look like? NOTT will hope having an average of 98 games per player (helped by players like Hales, Samit, and Munro) will help guide them through #Blast23

Who are the experienced campaigners in #Blast23 that teams will want to guide their younger players? It’s the old campaigner Sunil Narine with 448 T20 games, closely followed by Bopara at 436. Will this experience world wide help their teams?

Which countries players have played the most T20 games? Taking out the 1 player countries it’s the IRE players at an avg of 62 each, with NZ someway behind next at 36 games. Its actually SA who have the lowest number of games per player at just 3.37

So much emphasis is put on left/right hand batting combinations, are there enough lefties to go around? Middlesex have their fair share with 44% of their players being lefties. Leics have the lowest with just 2 (9%) lefties. Have teams got their combinations right for #Blast23

Are spinners the bowlers to have in a #VitalityBlast team? SLA unorthodox spinners have lowest econ @7.24 whereas it’s left arm fast with best strike rate @17.42. Right arm fast-medium have highest econ at 8.50, will players like Mahmood, Jordan & TCurran be targeted?

We know that West Indies have a reputation of being big hitters but it’s the NZ players who lead both the best strike rate by country at just over 137 & batting average at 24.15. WORC and LANCS will hope having 2 Kiwis in their team will spur the rest of their batting line up on

Onto the bowling by country (taking out the 1 player countries) it’s actually SCO that have both the best strike rate at just 16.63 whereas if its economy you want then it’s the PAK bowlers at and economy at 7.62 ENG have the most expensive bowlers at 8.7 #Blast23

Does age have an impact on batting ability? It is the 33 year olds who who will give you the best avg @24.35 and who are the #VitalityBlast8 big hitters with a strike rate of 126.67 but with players like JRoy, Buttler, Stirling and Lynn it’s not hard to see why they are the best.

Equally what’s the optimum bowling age that teams want? Well if you want econ then it’s the 38 year olds who excel with the likes of Samit, Wiese and Siddle coming in at 7.08. if its frequent wickers the it’s the 26 year olds (Agar, Crane and Mahmood) at just 17.30 that you want.

And finally.. I know there are a lot of people with strong opinions on franchise cricket but this isn’t about whether it is the right thing for sport, whether it’s the pawn of satan or the best thing since sliced bread. It is about data, trends and what we can draw from numbers

Well for those of you who are still here and saw it through to the end – THANK YOU! Hopefully it gives you an insight into each team, their chances and might help with those last minute fantasy team picks. Now lets see what the inaugural #Blast23 brings us