Bowling average
In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing, it is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers used alongside the economy rate and the strike rate to judge the overall performance of a bowler. When a bowler has taken only a small number of wickets, their bowling average can be artificially high or low, unstable, with further wickets taken or runs conceded resulting in large changes to their bowling average. Due to this, qualification restrictions are applied when determining which players have the best bowling averages. After applying these criteria, George Lohmann holds the record for the lowest average in Test cricket, having claimed 112 wickets at an average of 10.75 runs per wicket. A cricketer's bowling average is calculated by dividing the numbers of runs they have conceded by the number of wickets they have taken; the number of runs conceded by a bowler is determined as the total number of runs that the opposing side have scored while the bowler was bowling, excluding any byes, leg byes, or penalty runs.
The bowler receives credit for any wickets taken during their bowling that are either bowled, hit wicket, leg before wicket or stumped. B o w l i n g a v e r a g e = R u n s c o n c e d e d W i c k e t s t a k e n A number of flaws have been identified for the statistic, most notable among these the fact that a bowler who has taken no wickets can not have a bowling average, as dividing by zero does not give a result; the effect of this is that the bowling average can not distinguish between a bowler who has taken no wickets and conceded one run, a bowler who has taken no wickets and conceded one hundred runs. The bowling average does not tend to give a true reflection of the bowler's ability when the number of wickets they have taken is small in comparison to the number of runs they have conceded. In his paper proposing an alternative method of judging batsmen and bowlers, Paul van Staden gives an example of this: Suppose a bowler has bowled a total of 80 balls, conceded 60 runs and has taken only 2 wickets so that..
30. If the bowler takes a wicket with the next ball bowled 20. Due to this, when establishing records for bowling averages, qualification criteria are set. For Test cricket, the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack sets this as 75 wickets, while ESPNcricinfo requires 2,000 deliveries. Similar restrictions are set for one-day cricket. A number of factors other than purely the ability level of the bowler have an effect on a player's bowling average. Most significant among these are the different eras; the bowling average tables in Test and first-class cricket are headed by players who competed in the nineteenth century, a period when pitches were uncovered and some were so badly looked after that they had rocks on them. The bowlers competing in the Howa Bowl, a competition played in South African during the apartheid-era, restricted to non-white players, during which time, according to Vincent Barnes: "Most of the wickets we played on were underprepared. For me, as a bowler, it was great." Other factors which provided an advantage to bowlers in that era was the lack of significant safety equipment.
Other variations are caused by frequent matches against stronger or weaker opposition, changes in the laws of cricket and the length of matches. Due to the varying qualifying restrictions placed on the records by different statisticians, the record for the lowest career bowling average can be different from publication to publication. In Test cricket, George Lohmann is listed as having the superior average by each of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, ESPNcricinfo and CricketArchive. Though all three use different restrictions, Lohmann's average of 10.75 is considered the best. If no qualification criteria were applied at all, three players—Wilf Barber, A. N. Hornby and Bruce Murray—would tie for the best average, all having claimed just one wicket in Test matches, without conceding any runs, thus averaging zero. ESPNcricinfo list Betty Wilson as having the best Women's Test cricket average with 11.80, while CricketArchive accept Mary Spear's average of 5.78. In One Day Internationals, the varying criteria set by ESPNcricinfo and CricketArchive result in different players being listed as holding the record.
ESPNcricinfo has the stricter restriction, requiring 1,000 deliveries: by this measure, Joel Garner is the record-holder, having claimed his wickets at an average of 18.84. By CricketArchive's more relaxed requirement of 400 deliveries, John Snow leads the way, with an average of 16.57. In women's One Day International cricket, Caroline Barrs tops the CricketArchive list with an average of 9.52, but by ESPNcricinfo's stricter guidelines, the record is instead held by Gill Smith's 12.53. The record is again split for the two websites for Twenty20 International cricket. George O'Brien's average of 8.20 holds the record using those criteri
Stumped
Stumped is a method of dismissal in cricket. The action of stumping can only be performed by a wicket-keeper and, according to the Laws of Cricket, a batsman can be given out stumped if: the wicket-keeper puts down the wicket, while the batsman is: out of his ground. Being "out of his ground" is defined as not having any part of the batsman's body or his bat touching the ground behind the crease – i.e. if his bat is elevated from the floor despite being behind the crease, or if his foot is on the crease line itself but not across it and touching the ground behind it he would be considered out. One of the fielding team must appeal for the wicket by asking the umpire; the appeal is directed to the square-leg umpire, who would be in the best position to adjudicate on the appeal. Stumping is the fifth most common form of dismissal after caught, leg before wicket and run out, though it is seen more in Twenty20 cricket because of its more aggressive batting, it is governed by Law 39 of the Laws of Cricket.
It is seen with a medium or slow bowler, as with fast bowlers a wicket-keeper takes the ball too far back from the wicket to attempt a stumping. It includes co-operation between a bowler and wicket-keeper: the bowler draws the batsman out of his ground, the wicket-keeper catches and breaks the wicket before the batsman realises he has missed the ball and makes his ground, i.e. places the bat or part of his body on the ground back behind the popping crease. If the bails are removed before the wicket-keeper has the ball, the batsman can still be stumped if the wicket-keeper removes one of the stumps from the ground, while holding the ball in his hand; the bowler is credited for the batsman's wicket, the wicket-keeper is credited for the dismissal. A batsman may be out stumped off a wide delivery but cannot be stumped off a no-ball as bowler is credited for the wicket. Notes: The popping crease is defined as the back edge of the crease marking (i.e. the edge closer to the wicket. Therefore, a batsman whose bat or foot is on the crease marking, but does not touch the ground behind the crease marking, can be stumped.
This is quite common. The wicket must be properly put down in accordance with Law 28 of the Laws of cricket: using either the ball itself or a hand or arm, in possession of the ball. Note that since the ball itself can put down the wicket, a stumping is still valid if the ball rebounds from the'keeper and breaks the wicket though never controlled by him; the wicket-keeper must allow the ball to pass the stumps before taking it, unless it has touched either the batsman or his bat first. If the wicket-keeper fails to do this, the delivery is a "no-ball", the batsman cannot be stumped
Harare
Harare is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 960.6 km2 and an estimated population of 1,606,000 in 2009, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area in 2006. Situated in north-eastern Zimbabwe in the country's Mashonaland region, Harare is a metropolitan province, which incorporates the municipalities of Chitungwiza and Epworth; the city sits on a plateau at an elevation of 1,483 metres above sea level and its climate falls into the subtropical highland category. The city was founded in 1890 by the Pioneer Column, a small military force of the British South Africa Company, named Fort Salisbury after the British prime minister Lord Salisbury. Company administrators demarcated the city and ran it until Southern Rhodesia achieved responsible government in 1923. Salisbury was thereafter the seat of the Southern Rhodesian government and, between 1953 and 1963, the capital of the Central African Federation, it retained the name Salisbury until 1982, when it was renamed Harare on the second anniversary of Zimbabwean independence.
Harare is Zimbabwe's leading political, financial and communications centre, as well as a trade centre for tobacco, maize and citrus fruits. Manufacturing, including textiles and chemicals, are economically significant, as is local gold mining; the University of Zimbabwe, the country's oldest university, is located in Harare, as are several other colleges and universities. The city is home to Harare Sports Club, the country's main Test cricket ground, as well as Dynamos F. C. the country's most successful association football team. Harare's infrastructure and government services have worsened in recent years, the city has been ranked as one of the least livable cities out of 140 assessed; the Pioneer Column, a military volunteer force of settlers organised by Cecil Rhodes, founded the city on 12 September 1890 as a fort. They named the city Fort Salisbury after The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury British prime minister, it subsequently became known as Salisbury; the Salisbury Polo Club was formed in 1896.
It was declared to be a municipality in 1897 and it became a city in 1935. The area at the time of founding of the city was poorly drained and earliest development was on sloping ground along the left bank of a stream, now the course of a trunk road; the first area to be drained was near the head of the stream and was named Causeway as a result. This area is now the site of many of the most important government buildings, including the Senate House and the Office of the Prime Minister, now renamed for the use of the President after the position was abolished in January 1988. Salisbury was the capital of the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia from 1923, of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland from 1953 to 1963. Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front government declared Rhodesia independent from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965, proclaimed the Republic of Rhodesia in 1970. Subsequently, the nation became the short-lived state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, it was not until 18 April 1980 that the country was internationally recognised as independent as the Republic of Zimbabwe.
The name of the city was changed to Harare on 18 April 1982, the second anniversary of Zimbabwean independence, taking its name from the village near Harare Kopje of the Shona chief Neharawa, whose nickname was "he who does not sleep". Prior to independence, "Harare" was the name of the black residential area now known as Mbare. In the early 21st century Harare has been adversely affected by the political and economic crisis, plaguing Zimbabwe, after the contested 2002 presidential election and 2005 parliamentary elections; the elected council was replaced by a government-appointed commission for alleged inefficiency, but essential services such as rubbish collection and street repairs have worsened, are now non-existent. In May 2006 the Zimbabwean newspaper the Financial Gazette, described the city in an editorial as a "sunshine city-turned-sewage farm". In 2009, Harare was voted to be the toughest city to live in according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's livability poll; the situation was unchanged in 2011, according to the same poll, based on stability, healthcare and environment, infrastructure.
In May 2005 the Zimbabwean government demolished shanties and backyard cottages in Harare and the other cities in the country in Operation Murambatsvina. It was alleged that the true purpose of the campaign was to punish the urban poor for supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and to reduce the likelihood of mass action against the government by driving people out of the cities; the government claimed it was necessitated by a rise of disease. This was followed by Operation Garikayi/Hlalani Kuhle a year which consisted of building concrete housing of poor quality. In late March 2010, Harare's Joina City Tower was opened after 14 years of on-off construction, marketed as Harare's new Pride. Uptake of space in the tower was low, with office occupancy at only 3% in October 2011. By May 2013, office occupancy had risen to around half; the Economist Intelligence Unit rated Harare as the world's least liveable city out of 140 surveyed in February 2011, rising to 137th out of 140 in August 2012.
During late 2012, plans to build a new capital district in Mt. Hampden, about twenty kilometres north-west of Harare's central business district, were announced and illustrations shown in Harare's daily newspapers; the location of this new district woul
Rhodesia
Rhodesia was a country in southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the de facto successor state to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia, self-governing since achieving responsible government in 1923. A landlocked nation, Rhodesia was bordered by South Africa to the south, Bechuanaland to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest, Mozambique to the east. In the late 19th century, the territory north of the Transvaal was chartered to the British South Africa Company, led by Cecil Rhodes. Rhodes and his Pioneer Column marched north in 1890, acquiring a huge bloc of territory that the Company would rule until the early 1920s. In 1923, the Company's charter was revoked, Southern Rhodesia attained self-government and established a legislature. Between 1953 and 1963, Southern Rhodesia was joined with Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland; the decolonisation of Africa in the early 1960s alarmed a significant proportion of Rhodesia's white population.
In an effort to delay the transition to black majority rule, Rhodesia's predominantly white government issued its own Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965. The UDI administration sought recognition as an autonomous realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, but reconstituted itself as a republic in 1970; the Rhodesian Bush War, which pitted the government against two African nationalist organisations, ZANU and ZAPU, intensified in the 1970s, prompting Rhodesian premier Ian Smith to concede to multiracial democracy in 1978. However, a provisional government subsequently headed by Smith and his moderate colleague Abel Muzorewa failed in appeasing international critics or halting the bloodshed. By December 1979, Muzorewa had replaced Smith as Prime Minister and secured an agreement with the militant nationalists, allowing Rhodesia to revert to colonial status pending elections under a universal franchise, it achieved internationally recognised independence in April 1980 as the Republic of Zimbabwe.
Rhodesia's largest cities were its capital and Bulawayo. The white population, which grew to nearly 300,000, dominated the country's politics and economy, though they never made up more than eight percent of the total population. Rhodesia developed an economy dependent on agriculture and mining, its largest exports were chrome and steel. International sanctions put; the Parliament of Rhodesia, which included the lower House of Assembly and a senate, was predominantly white, with minority of seats reserved for blacks. After 1970, the country used a semi-presidential system, with a president, prime minister, cabinet; the official name of the country, according to the constitution adopted concurrently with the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, was Rhodesia. This was not the case under British law, which considered the territory's legal name to be Southern Rhodesia, the name given to the country in 1898 during the British South Africa Company's administration of the Rhodesias, retained by the self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia after the end of Company rule in 1923.
This naming dispute dated back to October 1964, when Northern Rhodesia became independent from the UK and concurrently changed its name to Zambia. The Southern Rhodesian colonial government in Salisbury felt that in the absence of a "Northern" Rhodesia, the continued use of "Southern" was superfluous, it passed legislation to become Rhodesia, but the British government refused to approve this on the grounds that the country's name was defined by British legislation and so could not be altered by the colonial government. Salisbury went on using the shortened name in an official manner while the British government continued referring to the country as Southern Rhodesia; this situation continued throughout the UDI period. The shortened name was used by many people including the British government in the House of Commons; the British government maintained this stance regarding the June–December 1979 successor state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, when Zimbabwe Rhodesia returned to colonial status from December 1979 to April 1980, it was as Southern Rhodesia.
Southern Rhodesia subsequently achieved internationally recognised independence in April 1980, when it became the Republic of Zimbabwe. Until after World War II, the landlocked British possession of Southern Rhodesia was not developed as an indigenous African territory, but rather as a unique state that reflected its multiracial character; this situation made it different from other lands that existed under colonial rule, as many Europeans had arrived to make permanent homes, populating the towns as traders or settling to farm the most productive soils. In 1922, faced with the decision to join the Union of South Africa as a fifth province or accept nearly full internal autonomy, the electorate cast its vote against South African integration. In view of the outcome of the referendum, the territory was annexed by the United Kingdom on 12 September 1923. Shortly after annexation, on 1 October 1923, the first constitution for the new Colony of Southern Rhodesia came into force. Under this constitution, Southern Rhodesia was given the right to elect its own thirty-member legislature and cabinet—although the British Crown retained a formal veto over measures affecting natives and dominated foreign policy.
Over the course of the next three decades, Southern Rhodesia experienced a degree of economic expansion and industrialisation almost
Batting average (cricket)
In cricket, a player's batting average is the total number of runs they have scored divided by the number of times they have been out. Since the number of runs a player scores and how they get out are measures of their own playing ability, independent of their teammates, batting average is a good metric for an individual player's skill as a batter; the number is simple to interpret intuitively. If all the batter's innings were completed, this is the average number of runs they score per innings. If they did not complete all their innings, this number is an estimate of the unknown average number of runs they score per innings; each player has several batting averages, with a different figure calculated for each type of match they play, a player's batting averages may be calculated for individual seasons or series, or at particular grounds, or against particular opponents, or across their whole career. Batting average has been used to gauge cricket players' relative skills since the 18th century.
Most players have career batting averages in the range of 20 to 40. This is the desirable range for wicket-keepers, though some fall short and make up for it with keeping skill; until a substantial increase in scores in the 21st century due to improved bats and smaller grounds among other factors, players who sustained an average above 50 through a career were considered exceptional, before the development of the heavy roller in the 1870s an average of 25 was considered good. All-rounders who are more prominent bowlers than batsmen average something between 20 and 30. 15 and under is typical for specialist bowlers. A small number of players have averaged less than 5 for a complete career, though a player with such an average is a liability unless an exceptional bowler as Alf Valentine, B. S. Chandrasekhar or Glenn McGrath were. Career records for batting average are subject to a minimum qualification of 20 innings played or completed, in order to exclude batsmen who have not played enough games for their skill to be reliably assessed.
Under this qualification, the highest Test batting average belongs to Australia's Sir Donald Bradman, with 99.94. Given that a career batting average over 50 is exceptional, that only five other players have averages over 60, this is an outstanding statistic; the fact that Bradman's average is so far above that of any other cricketer has led several statisticians to argue that, statistically at least, he was the greatest athlete in any sport. Disregarding this 20 innings qualification, the highest career test batting average is 112, by Andy Ganteaume, a Trinidadian Keeper-batsman, dismissed for 112 in his only test innings. Batting averages in One Day International cricket tend to be lower than in Test cricket, because of the need to score runs more and take riskier strokes and the lesser emphasis on building a large innings, it should be remembered in relation to the ODI histogram above, that there were no ODI competitions when Bradman played. If a batter has been dismissed in every single innings this statistic gives the average number of runs they score per innings.
However, for a batter with innings which finished not out, the true average number of runs they score per innings is unknown as it is not known how many runs they would have scored if they could have completed all their not out innings. This statistic is an estimate of the average number of runs. If their scores have a geometric distribution this statistic is the maximum likelihood estimate of their true unknown average. Batting averages can be affected by the number of not outs. For example, Phil Tufnell, noted for his poor batting, has an respectable ODI average of 15, despite a highest score of only 5 not out, as he scored an overall total of 15 runs from 10 innings, but was out only once. A batter who has not been dismissed in any of the innings over which their average is being calculated does not have a batting average, as dividing by zero does not give a result. Highest career batting averages in Test matches. Table shows players with at least 20 innings completed. * denotes not out. Last updated: 14 October 2018.
Highest career batting averages in First-class cricket as follows: Source: Cricinfo Statsguru. Table shows players with at least 50 innings batted, note this table has no requirement for minimum number of runs scored. * denotes not out. Last updated: 10 November 2018. Alternative measures of batting effectiveness have been developed, including: Strike rate measures a different concept to batting average – how the batter scores – so it does not supplant the role of batting average, it is used in limited overs matches, where the speed at which a batter scores is more important than it is in first-class cricket. A system of player rankings was developed to produce a better indication of players' current standings than is provided by comparing their averages. Cricket statistics Batting average Bowling average
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a century is a score of 100 or more runs in a single innings by a batsman. The term is included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for batsmen and a player's number of centuries is recorded in his career statistics. Scoring a century is loosely equivalent in merit to a bowler taking five wickets in an innings, is referred to as a ton or hundred. Scores of more than 200 runs are still statistically counted as a century, although these scores are referred as double and quadruple centuries, so on. Accordingly, reaching 50 runs in an innings is known as a half-century. Chris Gayle holds the record of fastest hundred in the history of cricket when he smashed 100 in just 30 balls and scored 175* runs off 66 balls overall in 20 overs in IPL against Pune Warriors India in 2013. Centuries were uncommon until the late 19th century because of the difficulties in batting on pitches that had only rudimentary preparation and were exposed to the elements.
There is doubt about the earliest known century, but the most definite claim belongs to John Minshull who scored 107 for the Duke of Dorset's XI v Wrotham at Sevenoaks Vine on 31 August 1769. This was a minor match; the first definite century in a top-class match was scored by John Small when he made 136 for Hampshire v Surrey at Broadhalfpenny Down in July 1775. The earliest known century partnership was recorded in 1767 between two Hambledon batsmen who added 192 for the first wicket against Caterham, it is believed they were Edward "Curry" Aburrow. When Hambledon played Kent at Broadhalfpenny in August 1768, the Reading Mercury reported: "what is remarkable, one Mr Small, of Petersfield, fetched above seven score notches off his own bat", it is not known if Small did this in one innings or if it was his match total. Hambledon batsmen Tom Sueter and George Leer are the first two players known to have shared a century partnership when they made 128 for the first wicket against Surrey at Broadhalfpenny Down in September 1769.
W. G. Grace was the first batsman to score 100 career centuries in first-class cricket, reaching the milestone in 1895, his career total of 124 centuries was subsequently passed by Jack Hobbs, whose total of 199 first-class centuries is the current record. The first century in Test cricket was scored by Charles Bannerman who scored 165 in the first Test between Australia and England; the first century partnership in Test cricket was between W. G. Grace and A. P. Lucas, batting for England, in the first innings of the only Test match between England and Australia on the Australians 1880 tour of England, played at the Kennington Oval; the current holder of the record for most centuries in Test cricket is Sachin Tendulkar of India, who has scored 51 centuries. The first One Day International century was scored by Denis Amiss who amassed 103 runs against Australia at Old Trafford in 1972.. Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for most ODI centuries, having scored 49 ODI Centuries; the first Twenty20 International century was scored by Chris Gayle who amassed 117 runs against South Africa at Johannesburg in the first match of ICC World Twenty20 tournament in 2007.
Rohit Sharma holds the record for most T20I centuries, having scored 4 T20I Centuries. The fastest recorded century in Test cricket terms of balls faced is held by Brendon McCullum who scored 100 runs from 54 balls against Australia at Christchurch, New Zealand in 2016, beating the previous record of 56 held jointly by Viv Richards and Misbah-ul-Haq; the record for the fastest recorded century in terms of balls faced in first-class cricket is held by David Hookes who scored 102 runs from 34 balls for South Australia vs Victoria in a Sheffield Shield match in 1982. Chris Gayle holds the record for the fastest century in Twenty20, during an Indian Premier League in April 2013, reaching the milestone off only 30 balls. In One day International cricket the fastest century is held by South African batsman AB De Villiers. De Villiers' century came up in just 31 balls against the West Indies in the 2nd ODI at Johannesburg on 18 January 2015. De Villiers' hundred included 10 sixes. Corey Anderson is second with 36 balls century against West Indies in Queenstown on 1 January 2014 and Shahid Afridi is third with 37 balls century against Sri Lanka in Nairobi on 4 October 1996.
2 back to back One Day international centuries were scored for the West Indies in the Caribbean in 2 home series against Bangladesh and England When Guyana's Shimron Hetmyer scored 125 off 93 balls against Bangladesh in the 2nd one day international of the 3-match one day international series which Bangladesh won 2-1 and 104 not out off 83 balls against England in the 2nd one day international of the 5- match one day international series which ended in A 2-2 draw David Miller of South Africa hit the fastest century in Twenty20 international cricket against Bangladesh on 29 October 2017. Miller brought up his century in just 35 balls. Rohit Sharma of India equalled the record of the fastest century in T20 international cricket against Sri Lanka on 22 December 2017. Rohit Sharma got his century in 35 balls equalling the record. List of cricketers by number of international centuries scored Nervous nineties
