Blogging the Blogger

                                                    Blogging – the “how to” for me.

On 20^th April 2011, I logged into my first Blog Account, which I had created to help a friend out by naming and shaming an ACC head honcho at ACC. At that time I just intended to write specific politically charged blogs. But I found an audience for primarily Sports related blogs (Twitter) In the first 2 years I had about 4000 views from a handful of posts. In those days I did limited researching, usually one linked website at the time..

From 2013 on, my blogging took off and I went from 5-6K to upwards of 20.000 in 2014. I have now had 75,000 views and total Blogs numbering 381. I have also found the time to do solid research for each blog. Yes I get some things wrong but 95% are accurate with between 1 – 5 hours of research the norm.

So if I factor research time per blog, in 7 years I can calculate research time (at 2 hours per Blog) is a healthy 762 hours in total. That equates to 189 hours per year in research.

Everyone has a voice, and it's not hard to start and continue. I highly recommend the elderly do start. Will make your day.and families can buy into their senors life instead of locking them up in Rest Homes to be forgotten about.

Seddon Park Hamilton - 21 tests stats.

Some Seddon Park stats.  21 tests since becoming a test cricket venue with 9 matches won by New Zealand Blackcaps, 6 drawn and 6 lost.

There have been no matches played before 16th December so it's fair to say stats are inconsequential when highlighting previous records.

Below are the 9 matches won by Blackcaps and once again the stats don't seem to indicate any patterns which would be seasonal due to players in and out.


1  NZ vs  SL  Mar
NZ 222
SL 70
NZ 273
SL 205

2  NZ vs WI  Dec
WI 365
NZ 393
WI 97
NZ 70/2

3  NZ vs Pak  Mar
Pak 104
NZ 407
Pak 118

4  NZ vs Bang  Dec
NZ 365/9
Bang 205
Bang 108

5  NZ vs Ind  Dec
Ind 99
NZ 94
Ind 154
NZ 160/6

6 NZ vs Eng  Mar
NZ 470
Eng 348
NZ 177/9
Eng 110

7  NZ Vs Bang   Feb
NZ  553/7
Bang 408
NZ 258/5
Bang 282

8 NZ vs WI  Dec
WI 367
NZ  349
WI 103
NZ124/2

9 NZ vs SL  Dec
SL 292
NZ 237
SL 133
NZ 189/5

FIFA World Cup 2014 Final - Tale of the Tape

So Argentina and Germany face off in their third clash in a final of a World Cup match.  Below is a look at the road to that final and a mathematical evaluation of who is likely to win.

Argentina		For	Against	Team	Ranking
Ranked 5		1	0	Iran	43
		3	2	Nigeria	44
		1	0	Switzerland	6
		1	0	Belgium	11
		0	0	Netherlands	15
Total		6	2		119
Averages		1.2	0.4		23.8
Germany		For	Against	Team	Ranking
Ranked 2		2	2	Ghana	37
		1	0	USA	13
		2	1	Algeria	22
		1	0	France	17
		7	1	Brazil	3
Total		13	4		92
Averages		2.6	0.8		18.4

Argentina have scored around half the goals the Germans have this tournament, but have also conceded half (in fact four clean sheets to the Germans two).  It's obvious from these stats that the Brazil game balloons Germany's stats, an aberration, but they do appear to be the better team on goal.  However from the stats the Argentinian defense is rock solid so it seems both teams are well matched on paper.

I can't (and won't) pick a winner as I see this as too close to call.  Statistically the Germans should win by a score of 1-0, but I'm sure Argentina will have something to say about that.

Stats Porn - NZC Home Summer - Bowlers

Normally the unsung heroes, the bowlers this summer have toiled well and been rewarded.  No one bowler has stood out and as a unit all are doing a fine job.  Below is the bowling stats for the Windies/India tours here in no particular order.

New Zealand Pacemen Stats Windies/India
Name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Runs/over	Runs/wicket	Balls/wicket.
Boult	18	5	40	3	2.22	13.33	36
	35	11	81	2	2.31	40.50	105
	15	5	40	6	2.67	6.67	15
	12.5	2	40	4	3.20	10.00	18.75
	26	2	84	1	3.23	84.00	156
	10	4	23	4	2.30	5.75	15
	17	2	31	3	1.82	10.33	34
	23	52	86	3	3.74	28.67	46
	26	7	99	3	3.81	33.00	52
	16	5	47	1	2.94	47.00	96
Aggregate	198.5	95	571	30	28.24	279.25	573.75
Average	19.85	9.5	57.1	3	2.82	27.93	57.38
Name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Runs/over	Runs/wicket	Balls/wicket.
Southee	16.1	1	52	4	3.23	13.00	24.15
	29.1	4	101	2	3.47	50.50	87.3
	15.5	2	58	2	3.74	29.00	46.5
	11	2	24	3	2.18	8.00	22
	28	3	79	4	2.82	19.75	42
	8.5	5	12	3	1.41	4.00	17
	19	6	58	5	3.05	11.60	22.8
	23	4	81	3	3.52	27.00	46
	20	0	43	3	2.15	14.33	40
	16	3	50	2	3.13	25.00	48
Aggregate	186.2	30	558	31	28.71	202.18	395.75
Average	18.62	3	55.8	3.1	2.87	20.22	39.58
Name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Runs/over	Runs/wicket	Balls/wicket.
Wagner	13	2	47	0	3.62	47.00	78
	30	3	112	3	3.73	37.33	60
	7	1	37	0	5.29	37.00	42
	17	2	67	1	3.94	67.00	102
	21	4	67	1	3.19	67.00	126
	7	1	34	2	4.86	17.00	21
	11	0	64	4	5.82	16.00	16.5
	25	8	62	4	2.48	15.50	37.5
	22.4	6	106	3	4.73	35.33	44.8
	11	3	38	0	3.45	0.00	0
Aggregate	164.4	30	634	18	41.11	339.17	527.8
Average	16.44	3	63.4	1.8	4.11	33.92	52.78
Name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Runs/over	Runs/wicket	Balls/wicket.
Anderson	14	2	29	1	2.07	29.00	84
	7	1	20	2	2.86	10.00	21
	11	1	29	1	2.64	29.00	66
	19	3	47	3	2.47	15.67	38
	6	0	22	1	3.67	22.00	36
	5	0	29	0	5.80	29.00	30
	7	1	22	0	3.14	22.00	42
	16	2	66	0	4.13	66.00	96
Aggregate	85	10	264	8	26.77	222.67	413
Average	10.63	1.25	33.00	1.00	3.35	27.83	51.63
Name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Runs/over	Runs/wicket	Balls/wicket.
Neesham	18	2	62	1	3.44	62.00	108
	5	0	25	0	5.00	25.00	30
Aggregate	23	2	87	1	8.44	87.00	138
Average	11.50	1.00	43.50	0.50	4.22	43.50	69.00

The Fulton Debate

I have been reticent in calling for either openers replacement and on record have suggested both current openers go to the West Indies in the least, if not beyond.  I hear on talkback radio people baying for Fultons blood but to be honest what has he done wrong as an opener?  If one were to look at the innings both he and Rutherford have fashioned there are some stark similarities.  However if one were to focus on the last ten innings then yes Fulton is a fair game candidate for derision, but not axing.

I hear too on Talkback the calls for Latham to be included.  Yes he has promise, but fair to say too early and being dumped into the team versus a West Indies team that will have most of it's best players (and bowlers) back is like sending Ken Rutherford back into the fray with probably the same results.  Stick with the current partnership for this series, if changes need to be made, then make them after two tests or for Pakistan.

The stats.

Incumbent NZ Openers since Feb 2013 v England
	Fulton					Rutherford
	55					178
	1					23
	45					15
	136					37
	110					0
	2					4
	1					9
	28					27
	5					42
	73					34
	59					32
	14					13
	61					62
	3					20
	6					11
	11					10
	10					48
	13					6
	5					0
	13					12
	1					35
Aggregate	652	137	Last 10 innings		Aggregate	618	217	Last 10 innings
Average	31.0	13.7	Average last 10		Average	30.9	24.1	Average last 10

NZ Cricket and the Opener Quandary.

And what a quandary to have.  A team that has matured into a winning unit is good for the future going forward and would be even better should the one or both of the openers stuck around.  Fulton and Rutherford  are the incumbents and they have been largely ineffectual since the England Home series last year.  Looking at their opening partnership one gets the feeling they have been missing in the team profile, especially as their opening average is weighted by that 158 at Dunedin. There is plenty of calls for the likes of Guptil to be reinstated but looking back 3 years of New Zealand Test cricket suggests he's not actually the answer.

But looking back the previous 3 years throws up some interesting retrospective analysis.  We need someone.  Rutherford needs to be persevered with, so who best to partner him?  Well there are two tours this year prior to the CWC 2015, one away to the Windies and another away to UAE versus Pakistan.  Dare NZC stick with Fulton/Rutherford for the Windies matches, and then drop Fulton if he doesn't fire and put Latham in versus Pakistan?  Yup baptism of fire but it has to be done sometime and when you have Achilles Heels stopping you getting an extra 40+ runs regularly at the top you need to make changes.

Anyway, the summary of runs scored as an opening partnership since 2011.  Flynn and Rutherford?

New Zealand Opening Partnerships since 2011.
Flynn/ Guptill 2011
97
47
86
1
231	Aggregate
57.75	Average
Guptill/Watling 2011
10
55
65	Aggregate
32.5	Average
Nicol/Guptill 2011
7
16
11
1
35	Aggregate
8.75	Average
McCullum/Guptill 2012
7
0
2
40
29
18
4
32
25
26
0
30
213	Aggregate
17.75	Average
Ruhterford/Fulton 2013/14
19
23
1
1
95
3
14
18
33
57
48
31
5
1
55
21
158
6
25
79
4
697	Aggregate
33.2	Average

Stats Porn - Taylor, McCullum and Williamson

And with a Kohli century the summer of Indian cricket finishes.  A great tight series against the West Indies and then the great results and efforts versus the world number 2, India.  But I'm not going to tarry over all the records broken in that second innings, instead I am going to focus on the three top order batsmen that have performed all season.

I have tabulated the individual scores for all forms of the game this summer, done averages, posted their career averages in each discipline, and tabulated a series average over the three forms.  Makes for some very interesting reading.

Brendon McCullum.

	Test Runs	Not Out	ODI Runs	Not Out	T20 Runs	Not Out
BB McCullum	113		51		60	*
	9		33		17
	37		14
	12		6
	224		30
	1		0
	8		0
	302		49	*
			23
Aggregate	706		206		77
Number of innings	8		8		1
Average	88.25		25.75		77
Career Average	38.09		30.24		36.27
Combined average across all three forms.			63.67

Ross Taylor

	Test Runs	Not Out	ODI Runs	Not Out	T20 Runs	Not Out
LRPL Taylor	217	*	3		5
	16	*	9		39
	129		49
	131		9
	2	*	55
	3		57
	41		17
			112	*
			102
Aggregate	539		413		44
Number of innings	4		8		2
Average	134.75		51.625		22
Career Average	46.94		40.07		23.9
Combined average across all three forms.			69.46

Kane Willimason

	Test Runs	Not Out	ODI Runs	Not Out	T20 Runs	Not Out
K Williamson	45		8
	58		47
	56		16
	113		71
	3		77
	47		65
	7		60
			88
Aggregate	329		432		0
Number of innings	6		8		0
Average	54.83		54
Career Average	36.37		39.51		23.9
Combined average across all three forms.			54.42