Analysis of Team Performance During the 2011 English County Cricket Clydesdale Bank 40 Competition

Introduction During recent years, the game of cricket has been revolutionised by the introduction of the shorter version of the game. Research into the shorter formats of the game by Petersen et al (2008a), who researched 50 over cricket matches, and Petersen et al (2008b) and Douglas and Tam (2009), studying the Twenty20 adaptation of the game, idenified different predictors of success. In 50 over cricket winning teams scored more runs through boundaries, maintained a higher run rate and had more 50+ partnerships whereas in Twenty20 cricket, wickets had the largest positive outcome in terms of winning result. This information can influence both team and individual strategies during games. No research has been conducted into the 40 over games which forms the domestic competition in the UK. This study aims to address this and identify the game variables which have the largest impact upon match outcome in 40 over cricket. A knowledge of the impact that differing match variables can have upon the outcome of the game can help to influence team and individual strategies during games. Method For the purpose of the project, scores from 101 of 129 games during the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition were analysed and the analysis includedbowling and general match variables. The magnitudes of differences of game variables were compared between winning and losing teams and were calculated using Cohen’s Effect Size (ES). Results The top three indicators for success within the tournament were losing less wickets (ES= -1.54), hitting a greater number of 4’s (ES= 0.81) and scoring at a higher overall run rate (ES= 0.76). Conclusion Team selection in 40 over cricket should consider these performance indicators and look to exploit differing game variables to enhance a team’s chances of success. Game strategy should be revised in light of this research the data from all of the 21 participating teams. The game variables were broken down into three main headings of batting