On an individual level, many congratulations to R. Meraj, our fantasy points leader, for retaining his lead in emphatic style, scoring 199 at the weekend as his side, Laois 1, scored 394/7.
The top 10 fantasy point* scorers for the season are currently:
R. Meraj Laois 1513 pts
R. Nair Dundrum 1247
V. Jacob Sandyford 1221
MT Raza R&SPU 1205
S Gallagher Halverstown 1144
John Andrews North County 1141
J Toor Adamstown 1140
A Ravi R&SPU 1109
A Mathew Dundrum 1063
A Qasim Balbriggan 1058
* points are allocated on a previously advised system. You may request personal/club statistics from craig@cricket.ie.
This week in our quirky look at statistics and the facts they can throw up, the focus is on home advantage and batting first and setting a target or batting second and chasing. Is it a fact or myth that playing at home gives you an advantage? Is it easier to chase than set a target? Is there the oft-quoted “scoreboard pressure”? Do these factors change across the different divisions?
358 league games have been played so far and there has been one tied game (Div 10) and one forfeit (Div 8). In all games the side batting first win 47% (170 games), whilst batting second teams have chased successfully 53% of the time (186 games).
Statistically it appears that there is nothing to influence your future choice at the toss.
However, it is interesting[1] to view the games split between Divisions 1 to 4 where neutral umpires are the norm and Divisions 5 to 14 where the sight of our white coated brethren is less likely.
The side batting first in the top leagues (1 to 4) wins 61% of games played (95), but in the lower divisions (5 to 14) batting first only sees a 43% rate of success. Is this due to neutral umpiring, talent levels or some other factor? What do you think?
Division 2 has the biggest differential with the team batting first winning 75% of the time, whilst Division 8 sees the rate at its lowest at 33%.
The biggest winning margin by runs is Rush’s (394/7 v. 126ao) 268 run win in League 2 defeating Old Belvedere. Rush also saw the other side falling by 262 runs to Pembroke’s 412/6. Both games, perhaps unsurprisingly, were played in Kenure. Six teams have won games by the maximum 10 wickets, Merrion 1, Leinster 1, R&SPU4, Greystones Cricket, Dundrum 2 and Dundalk 1.
With regard to playing at home, we all find it easier to find the ground, know where to change, like our teas, enjoy the showers, maybe even look forward to the post-match pint more at home, but does it influence the result?
In 358 games, 358 teams have played at a home ground. Not the most stunning nor unexpected statistic I agree, but for the purposes of this exercise, second grounds also count as home, such as Kenilworth Square for Leinster, St. Anne’s for Clontarf, Bird Avenue for Merrion and any number of grounds for Wicklow County.
Home this season has included 41 different grounds of which I have this or in other past season played 31 of them. Have you played on more current grounds? Has anyone got the full set? Which is your favourite ground? Which grounds can be known as ‘fortresses’? Wesley College certainly seems a fortress with Dundrum having played 11 games through three teams and they have yet to be beaten at home. Greystones Cricket too has a formidable 100% home record, albeit from only two games.
The overall figure of home teams winning 57% of games played mirrors the situation in our artificial split point. Thus 57% of home teams winning is reflected in both Divisions 1 to 4 and Divisions 5 to 14.
Only three divisions see more away wins than home wins, Divisions 1, 3 and 9, whereas Division 2 again sees the biggest home advantage with a 75% home win record.
So there does appear to be a distinct “home advantage” for this season anyway in Leinster cricket.
Combining batting first or second and playing home or away shows the following.
| Side batting first wins | Side chasing wins | Total |
Side playing at home wins | 100 | 104 | 204 |
Side playing away wins | 70 | 82 | 152 |
Total | 170 | 186 |
|
It would appear therefore it is more beneficial to be playing at home than worrying about batting first or second.
Next week, with the continued co-operation of Paul Reynolds and the OCC, it is hoped that we will see a return to individual statistics, with top run scorers, wicket takers, and fantasy point leaders. Any feedback you may have, or anything you’d like to see analysed well past a reasonable level, is gratefully received. Sometimes it is nice to know someone somewhere is actually reading this.