A Statistical Analysis of Batting in Cricket

Abstract

SUMMARY The batting average is ubiquitous in cricket. In this paper we show that the traditional batting average depends on an unrealistic parametric assumption. We propose a nonparametric approach based on runs scored for assessing batting performance. The methods have been applied to a large sample of players at various levels of cricket, examples of which are featured in this paper. The statistical methodology employed is akin to that used in reliability and survival analysis.