In July 2013, I wrote an article entitled WI must learn the mathematics of cricket, in which I stated: "Like it or not, net run rate (NRR) can play a significant role when tournaments involve more than two teams. Teams must be aware of this and do whatever is necessary to achieve the best NRR possible from the beginning. Sadly, time and time again, the West Indies have been found wanting in this department of the modern game, throwing away simple opportunities to improve their NRR." I went on to give several examples of missed opportunities.
Almost three years later, it seems that the WI team management is still to learn the mathematics of cricket. I'll give two examples from the current World T20.
Needing 183 to win against England, WI reached 169 for four at the end of the sixteenth over. Big hitters Chris Gayle and Andre Russell are at the wicket with big hitters Daren Sammy and Carlos Brathwaite still to come. Yet, with everyone talking about the importance of NRR, WI took 13 balls to make the next 14 runs, showing no urgency whatsoever in getting those last few runs. Our NRR at the end of the match was 0.973. If we had made the last 14 runs in seven balls (not unreasonable) the NRR would have skyrocketed to 1.560. Even taking one ball less would have given a NRR of 1.067. Such is the importance of every ball!
In the match against Sri Lanka, WI took 18.2 overs to chase down 122. When victory came, Andre Fletcher and Andre Russell were batting with the big guns Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Daren Sammy and Carlos Brathwaite still to come. What a waste of resources! To emphasise the point, after this second match, our NRR actually dropped from 0.973 to 0.893. If we had used all that batting power to score the runs in just one over less, the NRR would have improved to 1.132. And if we took one over less in the first match, it would now be 1.386.
The other example illustrates how the clueless the WI team management is when it comes to numbers. With the cricketing world watching, Chris Gayle had to suffer the embarrassment of being told he could not go out to bat since the time he was required to stay off the field had not yet elapsed.
He had left the field during Sri Lanka's innings so he would not be eligible to bat until a certain time had elapsed or five wickets had fallen. Clearly, the team management had not bothered (did they even think about it?) to do the calculation and inform Gayle when he could bat.
Even if they were incapable of doing the calculation themselves, all they had to do was ask the match officials. The incident was glossed over by the victory but, once again, it made me wonder if there's a competent mathematician/statistician among the team's officials.
Noel Kalicharan