Thread by @arhemant

#CricketThread: There’s a change I’d like to see in cricket metrics. I hope someone’s listening at @StarSportsIndia. It’s the matter of run rate, required rate (RR), economy rate (ER), and strike rate (SR).

They’re all the same thing described in different ways. A standardization of scales is needed. I believe it would be good for the game.

The metric that sticks out like a sore thumb is batting SR. Not one innings in nearly 15+ years of T20 cricket has reached 100 balls. The longest is 79 balls. Out of thousands, only 6 have passed 75 balls.

Even in ODIs, the average historical length of an innings is 30.59 balls. There's no point telling viewers what a batsman can score in 100 balls.

So here’s what I’m suggesting: measure batting SR on a scale of 6. The same as RR and ER.

This flattens the scales. Comparisons become easier. Match impact can be assessed easily. Good for the viewers as well as analysts.

Example:

Umesh Yadav’s T20 batting SR is 113. Meaningless stat.

Is he better than Sourav Ganguly at 107? Umesh faces only 3.5 balls per knock on average, and scores 3.95 runs in them.

On a scale of 6, his SR is 6.78.

Let’s say Umesh went in to bat with his team needing 10 off 9 balls (RR: 6.66). Looking at the SR of 6.78, even a layperson can determine that the odds favour Umesh.

Good for viewers.

For cricket analysts, I’m salivating at the prospect of all the interesting comparisons that can be.

Example, with scales flattened to 6:

@RCBTweets need 50 in the last 5 against @mipaltan.

RR: 10.00.

@imVkohli is in, striking at only 6.00.

MI have 2 overs from @Jaspritbumrah93, going for 8.00 on the day.

Both Kohli and Bumrah are having a below average day in the context of their career stats.

Kohli’s career SR is 7.98; Bumrah goes at 7.16.

But in the last 5 overs, assume that Kohli accelerates to 12.00 while Bumrah concedes only 8.00 in the same phase. And in one-on-ones, Kohli averages 6.50 against Bumrah.

This helps me contextualise their upcoming face-off. Clearly the odds favour Bumrah. So, in this situation, if Kohli takes 12 off a Bumrah over, he has:

1) Improved his personal SR in the context of the game
2) Overachieved in the context of that particular match situation
3) Beaten Bumrah in the context of their personal rivalry
4) Beaten Bumrah in the context of their overall career stats

TL;DR: measure batting strike rate on a scale of 6 instead of 100 to make analyses and comparisons more interesting. Your thoughts?

Tagging some people to share this idea and to welcome their views:

@prempanicker @cricketaakash @sanjaymanjrekar @bhogleharsha @Sandeepnyn @khamaniyo @sidvee @kanishkaab @BoredCricket @saurabh_42

As they say on @9GAG, sorry for the long post.

One last update. The people have spoken. Your move, @StarSportsIndia, @SkyCricket @FoxCricket