A statistical look at the 2019 Emerging game

Statistician Adam Morehouse runs us through the high achievers in the men's Emerging Game in 2019.

Emerging players and nations took up a bigger part of the 2019 cricket calendar year with 389 male matches played by Associate nations and below.

With a focus on the upcoming T20 World Cup and with Qualifiers taking up a large part of the calendar, 292 Twenty20 matches were played, while just 97 50-over matches took place. 68 national teams played during 2019, with the United Arab Emirates playing the most matches 36 followed by Oman and Papua New Guinea next with 33 matches. Belize, Panama and Serbia played the least amount of matches with just 2 each.

Belize and Panama won both their matches, therefore having a 100% record in 2019 albeit with just two matches played. With those teams playing more than 10 matches, Spain had the best record losing just one of their eleven matches. Hungary won 75% of their 12 matches while Namibia won 74% of their 27 matches.

Cambodia played matches this calendar year but aren’t included as they played against B teams of Associate nations. For 15 matches scorecards are not currently available, though match results are included – individual performances have not been included where they aren’t known. Afghanistan and Ireland haven’t been included as they are full members.

Table of 2019 Nations Results

Team Plyd Won NR Tie Lost Win%
Argentina 7 6 1 85.71
Austria 5 4 1 80.00
Bahamas 5 5
Belgium 3 3
Belize 2 2 100.00
Bermuda 22 9 2 11 40.91
Bhutan 4 4
Botswana 8 8
Brazil 6 2 4 33.33
Bulgaria 3 2 1 66.67
Canada 23 15 1 7 65.22
Cayman Islands 6 6
Chile 6 2 4 33.33
Colombia 6 2 4 33.33
Costa Rica 5 2 3 40.00
Czech Republic 17 11 6 64.71
Denmark 14 6 2 6 42.86
El Salvador 5 1 4 20.00
Estonia 4 4
Finland 5 1 4 20.00
Germany 10 7 3 70.00
Ghana 4 4
Gibraltar 4 4
Greece 3 2 1 66.67
Guatemala 5 3 2 60.00
Guernsey 10 2 1 1 6 20.00
Hong Kong 25 7 1 17 28.00
Hungary 12 9 3 75.00
Iceland 4 4
Italy 13 7 2 4 53.85
Jersey 23 12 1 10 52.17
Kenya 14 6 1 7 42.86
Kuwait 6 2 1 3 33.33
Latvia 4 1 1 2 25.00
Luxembourg 4 1 3 25.00
Malawi 7 5 1 1 71.43
Malaysia 20 7 1 12 35.00
Maldives 9 2 1 6 22.22
Malta 8 3 5 37.50
Mexico 10 5 5 50.00
Mozambique 7 1 1 5 14.29
Namibia 27 20 7 74.07
Nepal 27 15 12 55.56
Netherlands 30 17 1 12 56.67
New Caledonia 7 7
Nigeria 9 2 7 22.22
Norway 5 5
Oman 33 19 14 57.58
Panama 2 2 100.00
Papua New Guinea 33 19 1 13 57.58
Peru 6 4 2 66.67
Philippines 4 1 1 2 25.00
Portugal 4 2 2 50.00
Qatar 15 9 1 5 60.00
Romania 4 3 1 75.00
Samoa 7 4 3 57.14
Scotland 26 14 12 53.85
Serbia 2 2
Singapore 16 10 6 62.50
Spain 11 10 1 90.91
Switzerland 4 1 3
Thailand 4 1 3 25.00
Turkey 4 4
Uganda 9 7 2 77.78
UAE 36 16 1 19 44.44
USA 25 13 1 11 52.00
Uruguay 6 2 4 33.33
Vanuatu 21 8 13 38.10

Thirty players scored over 500 runs this calendar year with Max O’Dowd from the Netherlands the leading run scorer with 958 runs at 34.21, and a strike rate of 109.36. Scotland had the most run scorers over 500 runs with five, followed by the USA with four. Ravinderpaul Singh had the highest strike rate of those players with 500 runs or more with 150.85 followed by George Munsey on 141.38.

Max O’Dowd was a rock at the top for the Netherlands in 2019. ICC Media Zone.

Fourteen of the thirty players with 500 runs or more had a strike rate of 100 or more, which is a reflection on the amount of T20 cricket played. Two players had an average of 50 or more, Navneet Dhaliwal with 55.33 and Tim David from Singapore with 52.14.

PlayerTeamMINOHS50100AvgeRuns
MP O’DowdNetherlands2929187*1034.21958
TP UraPapua New Guinea31315107*6134.5897
Jatinder SinghOman31313131*6131.75889
KJ CoetzerScotland2424196836.61842
NS DhaliwalCanada201941404255.33830
CS MacLeodScotland262421006137.5825
Mohammad UsmanUAE3433489*528.31821
HG MunseyScotland26251127*5134.17820
A ValaPapua New Guinea312931043131.23812
SJ BaardNamibia242421226136.27798
KD ShahHong Kong25253116*6134.91768
RD BerringtonScotland2524481438760
TH DavidSingapore1616297652.14730
BN CooperNetherlands2626491*432.73720
NR KumarCanada232021296139.78716

Thirty-four centuries were made in 2019. These came from players from twenty different nations with Canadian batters leading the way with five. In terms of individuals, Jean-Pierre Kotze leads the way with the most centuries on three, followed by Navneet Dhaliwal and Paras Khadka on two each. One player Rushab Patel of Kenya was left stranded on an unbeaten 99.

PlayerTeam/OpponentGround
148JP KotzeNamibia v Hong KongAffies Park, Windhoek
140NS DhaliwalCanada v MalaysiaKinrara Academy Oval
136Ghulam ShabbirUnited Arab Emirates v USAThe Sevens Stadium, Dubai
136JP KotzeNamibia v United States of AmericaCentral Broward Regional
131*Jatinder SinghOman v Sri Lanka Under 23sSheikh Kamal ICS No.2 Ground
129NR KumarCanada v QatarKinrara Academy Oval
127*HG MunseyScotland v NetherlandsMalahide, Dublin
122SJ BaardNamibia v Hong KongAffies Park, Windhoek
121*NS DhaliwalCanada v United States of AmericaWanderers Cricket Ground
116*KD ShahHong Kong v BermudaAl Amerat Cricket Ground
115P KhadkaNepal v United Arab EmiratesICC Cricket Academy Ground
114*A RathHong Kong v CanadaAffies Park, Windhoek
112SA WijeratneCanada v QatarKinrara Academy Oval
111*Bilal ZalmaiAustria v Czech RepublicCricket Romania Ground
109Zeeshan MaqsoodOman v CanadaUnited Ground, Windhoek
107*TP UraPapua New Guinea v PhilippinesAmini Park, Port Moresby
107G MallaNepal v BhutanTribhuvan University Cricket Ground
106*P KhadkaNepal v SingaporeIndian Association Ground, Singapore
105*S PeriyalwarRomania v TurkeyCricket Romania Ground

There were sixty century partnerships during 2019, including three partnerships over 200. Jean-Pierre Kotze and Stephan Baard had the highest partnership with 243 for Namibia against Botswana. The other double hundred partnerships were Nitish Kumar and Srimantha Wijeratne with 230 for Canada against Qatar and 200 for Kyle Coetzer and George Munsey for Scotland against the Netherlands.

JP Kotze enjoyed a big 2019. ICC Media Zone

Fourteen partnerships of a hundred or more were for the 1st wicket, 15 for the 2nd wicket, 14 for the 3rd wicket, 8 for the 4th wicket, 5 for the 5th wicket, 2 for the 6th and 1 for the 8th wicket. Namibia had the most century partnerships with 7, followed by Canada, Scotland, UAE and USA with 5 each.

ScoreWktPlayers
2432JP Kotze & SJ BaardNamibia v Hong KongAffies Park, Windhoek
2303NR Kumar & SA WijeratneCanada v QatarKinrara Academy Oval
2001KJ Coetzer & HG MunseyScotland v NetherlandsMalahide, Dublin
195*4RN Patel & RR PatelKenya v JerseyAl Amerat Cricket Ground
1842SR Taylor & XM MarshallUSA v Hong KongUnited Ground, Windhoek
1683US Kamaluddin & RB PatelUganda v BermudaAl Amerat Cricket Ground
1603Mohammad Usman & Ghulam ShabbirUAE v United States of AmericaThe Sevens Stadium
1551PD Hennessy & Awais AhmedSpain v MaltaLa Manga Club Bottom Grd
1513HAM Shah & FA KlokkerDenmark v QatarRoyal Selangor Club
1493MG Erasmus & JM BredenkampNamibia v United States of AmericaWanderers Cricket Ground
1491Kamran Khan & Saqlain ArshadQatar v CanadaKinrara Academy Oval

Thirty-two players took 25 wickets or more during 2019. Nosaina Pokana from Papua New Guinea was the leading wicket-taker with 47 wickets, followed by Jan Frylinck on 42. Papua New Guinea had the most bowlers with 25 wickets or more with five, Canada and Oman were next with four each.

Emerging Nosaina Pokana
Nosaina Pokana emerged as a spearhead for PNG. ICC Media Zone.

Frylinck had the leading bowling average with 12.19. Sandeep Lamichhane and Pokana also had bowling averages of less than 15 as well with 14.26 and 14.70 respectively. Lamichhane had the best strike rate with 14.09 balls per wicket, followed by Nalin Nipiko of Vanuatu with 14.85. Assad Vala from Papua New Guinea had the best economy rate with 4.04 followed by Frylinck and Steven Taylor of the USA with 4.24.

MOversMdnRunsWktsAvgeBest5wIRpOSt/Rt
N PokanaPNG30152.2106914714.75-1414.5419.45
JN FrylinckNamibia25120.5125124212.195-1314.2417.26
Bilal KhanOman29171.1198304120.244-194.8525.05
Khawar AliOman29142.337144017.855-4815.0121.38
Rohan MustafaUAE27150.267804019.54-185.1922.55
KC KaranNepal27119.567103719.194-175.9219.43
MRJ WattScot23147.587293719.74-424.9323.97
BM ScholtzNamibia25134.365723615.894-124.2522.42
Saad Bin ZafarCanada22136.2116403617.784-304.6922.72
S LamichhaneNepal1982.124993514.264-206.0714.09
Zahoor KhanUAE24120.367323322.184-296.0721.91
SM SharifScot23136.168953327.123-216.5724.76
Mohammad NadeemOman3010325873218.344-235.719.31
N VanuaPNG29129.2117033221.975-1715.4424.25
JJ SmitNamibia22105.165223116.845-6314.9620.35

The best bowling of the 2019 calendar year was Jelany Chilia of Vanuatu who took 6-5 against New Caledonia at the South Pacific Games. The only other player to take 6 wickets in an innings was Aryaman Sunil of Singapore who took 6-46 against Denmark. Thirty-two players in total took 5 wickets or more in an innings. Vanuatu bowlers took the most 5-fa’s with five followed by Namibia with four. No one bowler took more than one instance of five wickets in an innings.

6-5JW ChiliaVanuatu v New CaledoniaFaleata Oval No.1, Apia
6-46U Aryaman SunilSingapore v DenmarkRoyal Selangor Club
5-4P ArrighiArgentina v BrazilCortijo Polo Club Pitch A
5-6A NandaLuxembourg v TurkeyCricket Romania Ground
5-9C ViljoenNamibia v BotswanaKyambogo Cricket Oval
5-9SM MurariCosta Rica v GuatemalaSanta Tecla
5-10SH ObedVanuatu v New CaledoniaFaleata Oval No.2, Apia
5-12G LeslieColombia v BrazilCortijo Polo Club Pitch A
5-13JN FrylinckNamibia v OmanWanderers Cricket Ground
5-14N PokanaPapua New Guinea v OmanUnited Ground, Windhoek

Gerhard Erasmus from Namibia had the most catches as a fielder with 28 followed by Calum McLeod of Scotland and Lega Siaka of Papua New Guinea on 21. The most catches in an innings by a fielder during 2019 was four with six players all doing the feat. These were Erasmus from Namibia, Tim David from Singapore, MacLeod from Scotland (twice), Jonty Jenner from Jersey, and Siaka from PNG.

PlayerNationMtCatches
MG ErasmusNamibia2728
CS MacLeodScot2621
L SiakaPNG3121
BDH StevensJersey2220
JW JennerJersey2318
MP O’DowdNeth2917
TH DavidSing1616
JJ SmitNamibia2216
Khawar AliOman2916
NR KumarCanada2315
A ValaPNG3115
Jatinder SinghOman3115
JN FrylinckNamibia2514
BN CooperNeth2614

Scott Edwards from the Netherlands was the leading emerging wicket-keeper in 2019 with 29 dismissals, closely followed by Suraj Kumar from Oman on 27. The most dismissals in an innings was by Binod Bhandari from Nepal who effected six dismissals (all caught) against Hong Kong in the ACC Emerging Nations tournament.

NationMtCtStDis
SA EdwardsNeth2825429
Suraj KumarOman2723427
ZE GreenNamibia2319726
Ghulam ShabbirUAE242626
MH CrossScot2319524
B BhandariNepal2518422
Hamza TariqCanada1715520
Manpreet SinghItaly1314519
JSE DunfordJersey2112719
JS MalhotraUSA1814418
Manpreet SinghSing168715
K DorigoPNG1614115
J ViraVanuatu1410414

The highest 50 over innings total in the emerging game was by Canada who made 7-408 against Malaysia followed by Namibia who made 3-396 against Hong Kong. There were only six totals made over 300 during the year. Four of the top ten totals were made at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground while three were made (all by Canada) at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur.

7-408Canada v MalaysiaKinrara Academy Oval
3-396Namibia v Hong KongAffies Park, Windhoek
4-379Canada v QatarKinrara Academy Oval
7-325Scotland v AfghanistanRaeburn Place, Edinburgh
5-303Scotland v OmanAl Amerat Cricket Ground
8-302Canada v DenmarkKinrara Academy Oval
7-294Hong Kong v BermudaAl Amerat Cricket Ground
8-291Bermuda v Hong KongAl Amerat Cricket Ground
7-291Netherlands v ZimbabweSportpark Het Schootsveld
8-288Oman v ScotlandAl Amerat Cricket Ground

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1 COMMENT

  1. Great piece.

    Regarding the match numbers, Belize and Panama each played 3 T20Is in 2019 (in the CAC alongside Mexico and Costa Rica, they played each other once, including Belize beating Panama on 26 April) so it seems that some matches may not have been counted.

    For others I assume we are counting matches without t20i/odi status as well? CZE didn’t play that many T20Is while teams like Latvia, Iceland, Colombia and Uruguay are not associate members (as yet).

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