How many 'I's' are there in Statistics? Graeme Smith celebrates being on top of the world. Monday was an exciting day for South African cricket: not only did the Proteas beat England to win the series 2-0, but because of the win, the Proteas are now the nr 1 test team in the world. And rightfully so, I might add, given the comprehensive way in which they beat the former test nr 1. Even so, it could have been very different. Had Graeme Swann and Matthew Prior remained at the crease for another five overs, or South Africa scored 30-odd fewer runs, the result may have been very different. Which made me think about Mark Boucher: would we have been in this position had Boucher played? Surely we lost very little in the wicket-keeping department. I remember only one missed opportunity from AB de Villiers in the whole series. And although Jacques Rudolph did not add much with the bat (averaging 35), JP Duminy would probably not have played if Bouch had been available, which would have lowered our final day total by, say, 50 runs, the margin by which we won (JP averaged 67 in the series, although his highest total was 61 on the fourth-day of the final test).
The optimal (Protea) cricket team
The optimal (Protea) cricket team
The optimal (Protea) cricket team
How many 'I's' are there in Statistics? Graeme Smith celebrates being on top of the world. Monday was an exciting day for South African cricket: not only did the Proteas beat England to win the series 2-0, but because of the win, the Proteas are now the nr 1 test team in the world. And rightfully so, I might add, given the comprehensive way in which they beat the former test nr 1. Even so, it could have been very different. Had Graeme Swann and Matthew Prior remained at the crease for another five overs, or South Africa scored 30-odd fewer runs, the result may have been very different. Which made me think about Mark Boucher: would we have been in this position had Boucher played? Surely we lost very little in the wicket-keeping department. I remember only one missed opportunity from AB de Villiers in the whole series. And although Jacques Rudolph did not add much with the bat (averaging 35), JP Duminy would probably not have played if Bouch had been available, which would have lowered our final day total by, say, 50 runs, the margin by which we won (JP averaged 67 in the series, although his highest total was 61 on the fourth-day of the final test).