Do late born players really excel in elite cricket? Part 3. Does Country matter?

Is there a later born bias in Test cricket all around the world? Quick answer, No.

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

This article is part of a series ( Part 1 (Test) & Part 2 (All Formats)) looking at if later born players excel in international cricket.

For batters, only Australia, New Zealand & England have a later born (Birth Quarters Q3 & Q4) bias. Pakistan & Bangladesh have an early born (Q1 & Q2) bias. Sri Lanka has a small later born bias while India, South Africa & West Indies have a small early born bias.

For bowlers Sri Lanka, New Zealand, England & Pakistan have a later born bias whereas West Indies, India, Bangladesh & Australia have an early bias. South Africa is neutral. 

This is based on the percentage of players in the Top 50 Test batters and bowlers by total runs and wickets respectively.

Conclusions

The Underdog Effect, whereby later born players benefit more from a higher inherent challenge during the development phase, does not perhaps apply to all countries. We would need to know the level of Relative Age Effect for all 9 countries development pathways to understand this fully.