Aye, the year Waite scored his low of 57 in FC bowling he averaged 19.00 with a SR of 30 but he only bowled 130 overs almost exclusively at the tail end. He was great in that role as it's what I usually aim for in my pace all-rounder, someone to be decent with the bat and be able to take wickets when the main bowlers need a rest, but I have to put his numbers in that context and remember he wasn't often going up against opening batsmen or a strong number 4. His average last year of 29 at a 49 SR when used more frequently still wasn't bad by any means but I wouldn't use him as an opening bowler.
I've not had too much success with economy bowlers with poor SR in FC matches against proper batsmen. While they can keep the run rate ticking along a bit slower I find it leads to batsmen getting settled against them and a few too many matches ending up as draws when I should've been in position to win on the final day. That's not always a bad thing as you can still get through to Division 1 with more draws than wins if it means you haven't had any losses, but I'm trying to stick to more aggressive bowlers there for now and see if I can convert more draws into wins. Fisher in the data above is a good example; his FC bowling score is never the best as he's not the most economical but part of that is because he's my #1 opening bowler due to his strike rate and tends to operate on higher aggression. He's been my leading wicket taker in each of the last few years and has more 5i than anyone else.
For 20 overs I do look at economy as the primary stat, as usually someone with a bad 2nd XI 20 over economy will leak the runs. I certainly agree that offline matches can make bowlers look better there, as I've often had all-rounders get good numbers even if on paper they're weaker bowlers. Part of that again is down to the context and I usually use my all-rounders at the end when they're up against lesser batsmen, using my best bowlers early to try to get their top and middle order out. I actually stopped looking to use all-rounders for T20 as a rule of thumb as I realised my wins were usually when my first 4-6 batsmen did all the work and all-rounders weren't needed. Usually if it gets to my bowlers having to bat I'm not doing very well anyway. I will use an all-rounder if I think they're still one of the better bowling options available (often needed during international absences) but I'm now happy to use 5 pure bowlers in T20 in case opposing batsmen dig in and get really settled.
I've not had too much success with economy bowlers with poor SR in FC matches against proper batsmen. While they can keep the run rate ticking along a bit slower I find it leads to batsmen getting settled against them and a few too many matches ending up as draws when I should've been in position to win on the final day. That's not always a bad thing as you can still get through to Division 1 with more draws than wins if it means you haven't had any losses, but I'm trying to stick to more aggressive bowlers there for now and see if I can convert more draws into wins. Fisher in the data above is a good example; his FC bowling score is never the best as he's not the most economical but part of that is because he's my #1 opening bowler due to his strike rate and tends to operate on higher aggression. He's been my leading wicket taker in each of the last few years and has more 5i than anyone else.
For 20 overs I do look at economy as the primary stat, as usually someone with a bad 2nd XI 20 over economy will leak the runs. I certainly agree that offline matches can make bowlers look better there, as I've often had all-rounders get good numbers even if on paper they're weaker bowlers. Part of that again is down to the context and I usually use my all-rounders at the end when they're up against lesser batsmen, using my best bowlers early to try to get their top and middle order out. I actually stopped looking to use all-rounders for T20 as a rule of thumb as I realised my wins were usually when my first 4-6 batsmen did all the work and all-rounders weren't needed. Usually if it gets to my bowlers having to bat I'm not doing very well anyway. I will use an all-rounder if I think they're still one of the better bowling options available (often needed during international absences) but I'm now happy to use 5 pure bowlers in T20 in case opposing batsmen dig in and get really settled.
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