68 Guns: No not The Alarm but male England Test Players with 50+ Caps

Highlights:

Q1 Batters under-represented at only 16% (n=51) 

Q4 Bowlers over-represented at 41% (n=22), equally split between Fast and Spin

Later borns are over-represented at 57% (n=68).

The more caps the higher the later borns representation (65% for caps 166-95, n=17)

* These 68 players represent the top 9.7% of male England Test players by caps (at 14.11.21).

** All rounders included in both batting and bowling cohorts.

Background: Relative Age Effect, Underdog Effect, Birth Quarters.

Q4 Bowlers have an extra weighting by match% (47%).

Q2 & Q3 Bowlers are under-represented (Q2 13.64%, Q3 18.18%).

Conclusions

Within the top 10% of male English Test cricketers (by caps) there appears to be a linear relationship by Birth Quarter with representation increasing Q1-> Q4.

This is emphasised within the top 5% of players by caps and within the batter and bowler cohorts. Q2, Q3 & Q4 batters perform well. Q4 and to a lesser extent Q1 bowlers perform well.

* This article uses caps as an indicator of ‘high performance’. While this may be appropriate in Test cricket it does have some issues for bowlers. It may not be as appropriate for shorter formats.

How do Q1 batters do in Australian Test cricket?

68 Guns by The Alarm (1983)