ICC Teams of the Decade
Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:59 pmThe ICC announced three sides for their team of the decade recently.
Test - Cook, Warner, Kohli, Williamson, Smith, Sangakarra (WKT), Stokes, Ashwin, Steyn, Broad, Anderson
Vern Philander, Rabada and Pat Cummins might feel particularly hard done by to miss out on the bowlers considering they both average far less than Broad. Herath too makes a case for Ashwin's place, but not that I feel I would pick him. Younis Khan and Chanderpaul have very strong batting records in this period.
Although the most obviously stupid pick is that of Sangakarra as keeper; he did not keep in a single test in the qualifying decade. ABDV averaged 60 in 22 tests as keeper, and averaged 57 (identical) to Sangakarra as a bat alone, playing the statistically worst country to bat in during the period. He was surely the right man to pick here. Cook has by far the worst average, but put into context of other openers, he is worthy of his place.
ODI - Sharma, Warner, Kohli, ABDV, Shakib, Dhoni, Stokes, Starc, Boult, Tahir, Malinga
The inclusion of no English specialist bats, the dominant record breaking force in this period, is noticeable. Bairstow and Warner for instance average almost identical in this period, Bairstow has a much better SR. Dhoni selection over Buttler is not one I would take, id sacrifice number 7 average for pure firepower considering they dont get many overs. The main two picks that make no sense are Shakib and Stokes.
Shakib has a large proportion of average boosting games against terrible opposition. When limited to the top test sides, he averages 33 at 79SR, which for a modern day bat is a train wreck. His average of 38 per wicket is similarly very underwhelming. And while Stokes average of 40 with the bat is far from shabby and comes at a decent lick, the idea he is an allrounder in this format is a bit stretched, and his batting alone does not set him out from the crowd. In economy rate terms, only a handful of bowlers have a slightly worse rate and none have the luxury of not having to face the best batting side of England (in fact the three players worse all played a lot v England) - in fact, Stokes ranks the worst when taking England out the equation of who you are bowling too. Also all the others average far less and take more wickets per balls.
Someone like Shane Watson averages more with the bat with less not outs from batting low boosting it, has a higher strike rate with the bat, and has better bowling metrics on every single level (And noticeably so) than Stokes. Depends how you set your all rounder criteria. Someone like the much maligned Mitch Marsh for instance only averages a few runs less, but his bowling is far superior in terms of wicket taking and econ. And someone like Jadeja as a bowling all rounder with an econ sub 5 (which is the equivalent of a batting post 100SR, possibly even higher) would probably a far better net value pick.
With the bowlers Malinga and Boult are surprising. Steyn, Rabada and Morkel have outstanding records. Steyn's 120 wickets at one of the lowest averages and an econ of 4.61 seems insane not to have included.
T20 - Rohit, Gayle, Finch, Kohli, ABDV, Maxwell, Dhoni, Pollard, Khan, Bumrah, Malinga
Again the picking of Dhoni seems a bit strange to me. His average on paper means little because he simply hardly faced a ball batting so low in T20s. As an example his highest score is only a couple of runs more than his average, courtesy of the fact of a staggering number of short innings where he ended not out. So SR matters more, who cares what you average from 10 balls an innings, its how many you score. So again, Buttler's huge SR is surely better than this.
The rest you can argue the toss over. There simply inst that many players who play a lot to judge this on, so consistent members of sides make compelling cases, like those above. Gayle maybe is lucky, his records in IPL and Franchise cricket are staggering, but in internationals he hasnt played that much, and never came close to the same heights.
Test - Cook, Warner, Kohli, Williamson, Smith, Sangakarra (WKT), Stokes, Ashwin, Steyn, Broad, Anderson
Vern Philander, Rabada and Pat Cummins might feel particularly hard done by to miss out on the bowlers considering they both average far less than Broad. Herath too makes a case for Ashwin's place, but not that I feel I would pick him. Younis Khan and Chanderpaul have very strong batting records in this period.
Although the most obviously stupid pick is that of Sangakarra as keeper; he did not keep in a single test in the qualifying decade. ABDV averaged 60 in 22 tests as keeper, and averaged 57 (identical) to Sangakarra as a bat alone, playing the statistically worst country to bat in during the period. He was surely the right man to pick here. Cook has by far the worst average, but put into context of other openers, he is worthy of his place.
ODI - Sharma, Warner, Kohli, ABDV, Shakib, Dhoni, Stokes, Starc, Boult, Tahir, Malinga
The inclusion of no English specialist bats, the dominant record breaking force in this period, is noticeable. Bairstow and Warner for instance average almost identical in this period, Bairstow has a much better SR. Dhoni selection over Buttler is not one I would take, id sacrifice number 7 average for pure firepower considering they dont get many overs. The main two picks that make no sense are Shakib and Stokes.
Shakib has a large proportion of average boosting games against terrible opposition. When limited to the top test sides, he averages 33 at 79SR, which for a modern day bat is a train wreck. His average of 38 per wicket is similarly very underwhelming. And while Stokes average of 40 with the bat is far from shabby and comes at a decent lick, the idea he is an allrounder in this format is a bit stretched, and his batting alone does not set him out from the crowd. In economy rate terms, only a handful of bowlers have a slightly worse rate and none have the luxury of not having to face the best batting side of England (in fact the three players worse all played a lot v England) - in fact, Stokes ranks the worst when taking England out the equation of who you are bowling too. Also all the others average far less and take more wickets per balls.
Someone like Shane Watson averages more with the bat with less not outs from batting low boosting it, has a higher strike rate with the bat, and has better bowling metrics on every single level (And noticeably so) than Stokes. Depends how you set your all rounder criteria. Someone like the much maligned Mitch Marsh for instance only averages a few runs less, but his bowling is far superior in terms of wicket taking and econ. And someone like Jadeja as a bowling all rounder with an econ sub 5 (which is the equivalent of a batting post 100SR, possibly even higher) would probably a far better net value pick.
With the bowlers Malinga and Boult are surprising. Steyn, Rabada and Morkel have outstanding records. Steyn's 120 wickets at one of the lowest averages and an econ of 4.61 seems insane not to have included.
T20 - Rohit, Gayle, Finch, Kohli, ABDV, Maxwell, Dhoni, Pollard, Khan, Bumrah, Malinga
Again the picking of Dhoni seems a bit strange to me. His average on paper means little because he simply hardly faced a ball batting so low in T20s. As an example his highest score is only a couple of runs more than his average, courtesy of the fact of a staggering number of short innings where he ended not out. So SR matters more, who cares what you average from 10 balls an innings, its how many you score. So again, Buttler's huge SR is surely better than this.
The rest you can argue the toss over. There simply inst that many players who play a lot to judge this on, so consistent members of sides make compelling cases, like those above. Gayle maybe is lucky, his records in IPL and Franchise cricket are staggering, but in internationals he hasnt played that much, and never came close to the same heights.