How Good Is Timothy Bresnan?

[D/L]

Bresnan becomes a scapegoat when not doing well because he is not a fashionable player who can win a game of cricket on his own.

Two things that tend to get overlooked; Bresnan's application is better than most England players and he provides fantastic support for his team-mates with both bat and ball, something that never is shown in the statistics column.

Yes, nicely put, AP. There is so much to do with team sport that never appears in the statistics.

[D/L]

...However, the selectors do not seem to have much faith him in test format and hence they have dropped him at least twice post injury...

Bresnan was dropped a couple of times in Oz, once in favour of Panesar and the other in favour of Rankin, I think. Generally, selectors make good decisions, but these selections showed that they can have aberrations from time to time, and that view is not simply the result of hindsight. The likelihood is they have plenty of faith in Bresnan at test level, though some may wish it weren't so.

Any road up, other current regulars have been dropped from time to time.

[Alviro Patterson]

Alastair Cook and David Saker seem to highly rate Tim Bresnan, who are more qualified to make judgement on a player.

England's rise in international cricket had Tim Bresnan in the heart of the team, if England are to return as a top side then Bresnan should remain as an integral part.

[Durhamfootman]

Whenever England play on flat lifeless pitches, Bresnan would be my first name on the bowling team sheet.

It isn't that he's a better bowler than others, but he will always bend his back, whilst some of the glory boys go through the motions

He's such a whole hearted, committed player that I'd even let him play for Durham. Compliments do not come any higher than that.

[Arthur Crabtree]

No problems with him at cc level Durham.

I wouldn't say he was at the heart of England's rise Al. But useful as a support player. Anderson, Cook, Swann etc were at the heart of the team 09-11. Bres hasn't done as well 12-14, but then few have. Only Swann, Anderson and Broad kept up their level of performance.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Whenever England play on flat lifeless pitches, Bresnan would be my first name on the bowling team sheet.

In my view he's struggled mostly on flat pitches. South Africa at the Oval, in Nagpur and Ahmedabad, Old Trafford last summer. He tends to contribute more when he gets a helpful pitch. Finn is someone who does more on flat tracks.

[Slipstream]

I don't know why Broad is known as England's best ODI bowler. Even if you go back 5 years he isn't the best.

Last two years
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=bowling

From the period when two new balls were introduced 1 Oct 2011
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=bowling


If we look at the ICC rankings Finn is at number 4 and Anderson at number 5. Broad is at 33.

As for bowling at the death and in the powerplays lots of bowlers do and many of them have an economy of under 5.00.

[meninblue]

I would rather look at whole ODI career than a specific period because then all players good form as well as bad form are covered, performances before injury and post injuries are covered, performances against more batting lineups of more teams and in various conditions are covered.

Strike rate England bowlers.jpg

The list is sorted as per the Strike Rate. Sorting it with runs per over will give different rankings. I would rather see at a combination of SR and eco rate. On that basis i would have Jimmy, Finn and Broad as three first choice ODI pacers.When one of Finn,Jimmy,Broad are injured, the next in line player would be Bresnan.Let us see which 3 pacers the selectors opt for when all of Jimmy, Broad,Finn,Bresnan are fit a same point of time.

Ben would be in the team as all rounder as imo it is okay to have a allrounder who gives 5.72 rpo but has good SR of 32.6 (compared to other bowlers) and then has a batting average of 31.

[D/L]

I would rather look at whole ODI career than a specific period because then all players good form as well as bad form are covered, performances before injury and post injuries are covered, performances against more batting lineups of more teams and in various conditions are covered...

And even that cannot be satisfactory as statistics, even whole career ones, do not tell the full story. For eaxample, neither Broad nor Finn played the home series against Sri Lanka, in which all our bowlers, including a young, inexperienced Bresnan, got carted. I don't think Anderson played in that 5-0 whitewash either.

Statistics can continue to be trotted out but, when they are so flawed, they are also unlikely to be taken seriously, as is the case here. Only if we were comparing players playing a high proportion of their career in the same matches could they have some relevance. Of course, that would be a very rare event indeed.

[D/L]

Whenever England play on flat lifeless pitches, Bresnan would be my first name on the bowling team sheet.

It isn't that he's a better bowler than others, but he will always bend his back, whilst some of the glory boys go through the motions

He's such a whole hearted, committed player that I'd even let him play for Durham. Compliments do not come any higher than that.

Yes, the effort put in on flat tracks is one of Bresnan's strongest attributes, I think, DF.

With a fair share of good fortune, his figures may have helped convince those to whom figures are everything of his undoubted worth to the team.

[Alviro Patterson]

I would rather look at whole ODI career than a specific period because then all players good form as well as bad form are covered, performances before injury and post injuries are covered, performances against more batting lineups of more teams and in various conditions are covered...

And even that cannot be satisfactory as statistics, even whole career ones, do not tell the full story. For eaxample, neither Broad nor Finn played the home series against Sri Lanka, in which all our bowlers, including a young, inexperienced Bresnan, got carted. I don't think Anderson played in that 5-0 whitewash either.

Statistics can continue to be trotted out but, when they are so flawed, they are also unlikely to be taken seriously, as is the case here. Only if we were comparing players playing a high proportion of their career in the same matches could they have some relevance. Of course, that would be a very rare event indeed.

Spot on D/L, since Bresnan made his ODI debut in 2006 the format has gone through quite a few rule changes.

[Alviro Patterson]

I don't know why Broad is known as England's best ODI bowler. Even if you go back 5 years he isn't the best.

Last two years
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=bowling

From the period when two new balls were introduced 1 Oct 2011
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=bowling


If we look at the ICC rankings Finn is at number 4 and Anderson at number 5. Broad is at 33.

As for bowling at the death and in the powerplays lots of bowlers do and many of them have an economy of under 5.00.

Very interesting reading Slipstream, especially seeing Bresnan so high in the stats column.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Spot on D/L, since Bresnan made his ODI debut in 2006 the format has gone through quite a few rule changes.

It's got harder for bowlers. Wouldn't that help people who have been around for longer?

In ODIs, it's a bit of a bald men and comb scenario. No one's got anything to brag about.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Going from 2010 in ODIs against top eight sides. These are the econs. These leave out Bresnan's early travails.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=bowling

It's just not that great for anyone. At least Tim has bragging rights over Jade. Of the pace bowlers, only JD has a worse strike rate and econ.

[D/L]

Going from 2010 in ODIs against top eight sides. These are the econs. These leave out Bresnan's early travails....

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=bowling.

They also take no account of who bowled in power plays and at the death. This is simply another flawed set of statistics used to try to make a point.