By Andy Frombolton
Trends in team scoring
Welsh Fire twice set a new record for the highest first innings score in the women’s Hundred. There were 5 scores above 150 (compared to 7 in 2022 and just 2 in 2021) and 2 under 100 (compared to 3 in both 2022 and 2021)
However, the average (mean) 1st innings score was 129 (one and ‘a bit’ runs higher than 2022), which was disappointing for advocates of longer boundaries (which were seen at most grounds this year, although not always at Cardiff). The argument ran than bigger boundaries would address the binary “1 or 4” scenario which small dimensions impose on many batters without adversely impacting boundary hitting.
In this year’s tournament 55.6% of all runs came from boundaries (46.1% 4s and 9.5% 6s) compared to 57.7% last year (47.6% 4s, 10.1% 6s); so, whilst the second part of the theory was proved correct, the hoped-for increase in 1s and 2s didn’t materialise. Having watched every game there wasn’t any single explanation – a general lack of game awareness (many potential 1s and 2s weren’t taken), poor batting (inability to work the ball into gaps) and/or fitness levels all contributed.
Men’s and women’s scores compared
There are many differences between the men’s and women’s game and it doesn’t follow that scores (or their composition) should be the same. Nevertheless, comparisons can be useful if they either draw out systemic differences or alternatively if they highlight areas where the women’s game can seek to improve.
Stop hitting the ball in the air!
Total sixes hit were 111 (102 in 2022; 91 in 2021) and the biggest hitters in the women’s game, such as Smith (top with 8), Devine and Dottin can clear any boundary. But only 9 batters hit more than five 6s; up from 6 last year (102 6s) and 4 (91) in 2021.
For comparison, the men hit 355 6s and 28 male batters hit 5 or more 6s, the top 2 both hitting 17.
165 women batters were out ‘caught’ by fielders other than the keeper i.e., there were 1.5 dismissals ‘caught’ by a fielder other than the keeper for each 6. (This isn’t to say that every batter who’s out ‘caught’ is trying to hit a 6 but it is a useful proxy.) 214 men batters were out ‘caught’ by fielders other than the keeper i.e., 0.6 dismissals caught in the field for each 6 hit.
Simplistically, the men hit 3.5x more 6s than the women and the women lose 2.5x more wickets for each 6 hit which leads to a fairly obvious conclusion …
… those women batters who are able to clear the boundary should carry on but, on a pure risk:reward basis, the vast majority would be better advised to eschew aerial shots.
Boundary hitting – the impact on team scores
For this next piece of analysis, we need to make 2 assumptions (i) bowling standards were the same in both tournaments (i.e., male and female bowlers bowled the same percentage of ’bad’ or ‘boundary’ balls), and (ii) any ball that could theoretically be hit for a 6 could instead be hit for a 4.
As already mentioned, there were 111 6s in the women’s tournament and 355 in the men’s. However fewer balls in total were bowled in the women’s tournament so, on a pro rata basis, the men would have hit 329 6s in the same number of balls i.e., 218 more than the women (= -1308 runs impact).
The women however hit more 4s than the men – 811 vs 734. Making the same adjustment for the lower number of balls bowled, the men would have hit just 680 4s (i.e. 131 fewer); meaning that 60% of the 218 ‘bad’ balls which weren’t hit for 6 were still sent to the boundary (= +524 impact)
Finally, you also need to consider what happens to balls which aren’t hit to the boundary. These went for 0.75 runs per ball in the men’s games and 0.68 in the women’s; meaning that the remaining 87 ‘bad’ balls which weren’t hit for a boundary would go for 59 runs.
The net runs difference would thus be …
(-1308 runs in 6s) + (524 runs in 4s) + (59 runs off balls not hit to the boundary) = 725 runs.
… which equates to approx. 12 runs per innings.
Top run scorers and batting strike rates
What could teams do to increase scores?
| Men | Women | |||
| Batters with the most runs | Runs / % of all runs | SR | Runs / % of all runs | SR |
| 1-8 | 1972 / 23.5% | 155 | 2074 / 29.4% | 143 |
| 9-16 | 1469 / 17.5% | 155 | 1307 / 18.6% | 119 |
| 17-24 | 1119 / 13.3% | 139 | 1027 / 14.6% | 120 |
| 25-32 | 1024 / 12.2% | 144 | 810 / 11.5% | 120 |
| 33-40 | 841 / 10.0% | 137 | 607 / 7.3% | 117 |
| 41-48 | 654 / 7.8% | 126 | 472 / 6.7% | 121 |
| 49-56 | 484 / 5.8% | 126 | 319 / 4.5% | 111 |
Interestingly, the top 24 batters in each tournament collectively score very nearly the same number of runs.
But this dramatically illustrates the disproportionate reliance of the average women’s team on their top one or two batters. In men’s cricket, a team can lose a couple of top order wickets and this hardly impacts their SR wheras in the women’s game, after the top 1 or 2 batters it becomes almost largely irrelevant which batter is in since typical SRs hover around 120 regardless.
The route to higher scores …
More 1s and 2s. Game awareness needs to improve. It might be argued that having more fielders in the ring makes it harder to score singles, but the counter-argument is that there should be more 2s if balls are hit through the gaps thus requiring an inner fielder to turn and chase or interception by an outer fielder (each of whom has to cover a greater percentage of the outfield than in the men’s game).
On average women’s teams lost only 5.7 wickets in the first innings (a number which has actually gone down each year of the Hundred) and reached their halfway score at 52 balls (i.e., there was rarely a surge at the end of an innings). The main explanation is that most teams are far too reliant on their top few batters who thus daren’t risk exploiting the powerplay because the consequences for their team’s score are too big if they get out early.
I floated one idea last year how teams could accommodate the realities of top batter dependency and go harder during the powerplay if they utilised ‘attritable openers’ – a role with no equivalent in the men’s game – whose only job is to score [typically a small number of] runs very quickly without consideration for their wickets. This could be bowlers ‘with a good eye’ or the lower-middle order batters who currently get no/little chance to bat. With more chance of facing ‘pace on the ball’ and one less outfielder to beat this could present huge opportunities for anyone willing to take on such a role.
Note that 9 times this year teams came within 10 runs of a successful run chase (5 times chasing 137 or less). If chasing teams could marginally increase the run rate off non-boundary balls and deployed a couple of attritable pinch hitters with SRs of 150+, the combined effect of these 2 minor changes should change the result in most of these games. Conversely, a team batting first and using the same tactics could post totals beyond most oppositions far more regularly.
And what should bowling teams do?
As already noted if you take out most team’s top 2 batters, the subsequent batters are unlikely to hurt you with their SR and hence the principal task is no longer taking wickets but restricting the runs.
So which bowlers had the best SR?
| S Munro |
| AC Kerr |
| LF Higham |
| S Glenn |
| GL Adams |
| FMK Morris |
| MLL Taylor |
| S Ecclestone |
| GA Elwiss |
| M Kapp |
| KA Levick |
| S Ismail |
| EL Arlott |
| R MacDonald-Gay |
| KL Gordon |
| LCN Smith |
(NB Munro and Taylor both played 2 games.)
And then consider then the 16 bowlers with the lowest ER.
| M Kapp |
| S Glenn |
| FMK Morris |
| KL Gordon |
| HL Baker |
| S Ecclestone |
| LCN Smith |
| CE Dean |
| KA Levick |
| GL Adams |
| S Ismail |
| K Moore |
| EA Burns |
| SAE Smale |
| A Wellington |
| LF Higham |
Notice anything? Whether you want to take wickets or stifle runs, ‘slow is the way to go’ (a tactic which served Sri Lanka well in the T20s). If the women’s game is to evolve its own distinct tactics then unless you have a tall speedster or one skilled in variations / swing then abandoning the convention of having two or three seamers in your squad is a logical step. Why not have one fast bowler and 5-6 slow bowlers?
Birmingham Phoenix or Manchester Originals – please feel free to adopt any/all of these strategies next year.
CRICKETher 