Development of a Comprehensive Multi-Factor Method for Comparing Batting Performances in One-Day International Cricket

Abstract

In cricket, one-day-international (ODI) batsmen have traditionally been compared on the dimensions of batting average (BA) and strike rate (SR). The conventional method of computing BA assumes that runs scored by a batsman follow an exponential or geometric distribution. This results in unreasonably equating batting inconsistency with batting mean. Our study shows that a Weibull distribution model gives a very sensible assessment of a batsman’s inconsistency, independent of his BA. It also provides a superior fit to batting scores of ODI batsmen. We also introduce a measure for ‘quality-runs’ scored by a batsman which takes into account the difficulty level of opposition. Additionally, longevity index and opposition diversity index are defined to make comparisons more holistic. A substantial amount of data engineering effort is made in segregating available data into home, away and neutral matches. The measures proposed in this paper are more comprehensive and granular than those found in the literature. Various combinations of these six criteria are used to rank a select group of great ODI batsmen by assigning objective weights derived from principal component analysis. Finally, multivariate statistical outlier detection procedure produces different lists of outstanding players corresponding to different combinations of criteria. Our proposed methodology may be gainfully used by a team management to select best batsmen in a given situation.