In India, as is well-known, the most popular out-door sport is cricket. There are various statistics associated with cricket, as with any other sport. Especially, in cricket, we find the following parameters discussed about in every match:
- General statistics (matches, catches, stumpings)
- Batting statistics (innings, Not Outs, runs, highest score, batting average, centuries, half-centuries, balls faced, strike rate, run rate, Net run rate).
- Bowling Statistics: Overs. Bowls, Maiden Overs, Runs, Bowling Analysis, Wickets, No balls, Wides, Bowling Averages, Strike Rate, Economy Rate, Best Bowling In Innings, Best Bowling in Match, Five Wickets in an Inning, Ten Wickets in a match,
- Dynamic and graphical statistics: The advent of saturation television coverage of professional cricket has provided an impetus to develop new and interesting forms of presenting statistical data to viewers. Television networks have thus invented several new ways of presenting statistics.
- The T-20’s and ODI’s might have different statistics because their purposes are different. The county matches have a yet different purpose.
There are numerous books that deal with the applications of mathematics in sports. Three very good ones are:
- de Mestre, N (1990): The Mathematics of Projectiles in Sport. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
- Hart, D. and T. Croft (1988). Modelling with Projectiles, Chicester, UK: Ellis Horwood.
- Townend, M. S (1984), Mathematics in Sport, Chicester, UK: Ellis Horwood.
More later,
Nalin Pithwa
Mathematics Hothouse 