Scoring symbols - bowlers analysis

Scoring's an interesting aspect to cricket and it's a shame that increasingly there's a move towards using digital systems for recording scores. I came late to cricket and had no idea of how involved scoring was and was intrigued when I looked over the shoulders of people doing it, filling in all the little boxes with weird symbols.

I've never fancied the idea of umpiring and quickly saw that if chose to score I'd be alleviated of the job of umpiring and so began to watch people doing it and asking them questions. One thing I quickly noted was that there was no one way of doing it. Different people did it in different ways, so when I was learning, I had different people saying do it this way or that way. When it comes down to it you need to learn the basics and then listen to what different people say and adopt your own way. Of course there are courses that you can do and some clubs are prepared to send players on such courses, but if you're playing at the lower levels this isn't necessary.

What is disappointing is that, as much as I try I can't get kids to do it, even my own son is fairly reluctant, but has learned to do the basics.

On-line there are a number of different resources and I'm currently trying to put together a series of videos on Youtube to help people.

The thing is if you don't get it right and you use unorthodox methods, you'll pass on those methods to others, so it's important to standardise the process as much as possible. I've knocked up this post in response to my bowling figures being inflated because of the lack of knowledge with regards how to record byes and wides primarily. I know from experience that if you get it wrong and the results of the match are tight, what you've done is pored over and scrutinised and it can lead to embarrassing and tense situations at the end of the game. This is my take on how it's done and if I'm honest just by writing this blog and having to check what I'm writing is correct I've learned a couple more things about how to do it correctly. I'm not saying this is the definitive way of doing it and there may be things that I'm still doing wrong? If I am let me know.
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Figure 1

Multi-colour or single colour? I started out using a black/blue penwhen scoring, but in the last year or so I've started to use multi-colour pens. When each of the bowlers is assigned a different colour (Figure 1) and you combine this with marking the balls the batters face in the batting "Runs scored" row using the same colours as the bowler (Figure 2).

Figure 2

You might find it makes it far easier to check your figures at the end of the overs and at the end of the innings when you check everything consolidates.

Bowlers analysis box symbols________________________

1st Over F.Blogs 

Figure 3

One of the first things to consider especially if you're scoring youth matches or any game with potentially sketchy bowling is the size of your symbols in the boxes. If you get into a situation where numerous wides are bowled, you're going to run out of space and potentially may need to use the notes section to record data that you can't fit into the bowling analysis boxes.

Figure 3 In this box the bowler has bowled six balls that haven't gone for runs so 6 dots are recorded. No runs in an over is maiden indicated by an 'M'. In the running tally I've marked 0-0... No runs for no wickets or vice versa.

Score sheet layout 

Figure 4

Below (Figure 2) is how it could be recorded in the batters 'Runs scored' section of the score-sheet.

Batting row "Runs scored" Figure 2

One of the advantages of using coloured pens for scoring is that it makes it easier to establish who was facing who and this is often helpful if you lose track of where you are and ensuring your figures add up when you do the end of over checks.

Figure 3

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(B). In this box we have 5 x dot balls and a small w which indicates a wicket has been taken. Therefore no runs have been scored and this is a wicket maiden indicated by the W. 
Note in the tally box beneath the symbols is the running total of the runs and wickets 0-1 indicates that no runs have been made for 1 wicket. A lot of people write this up the other way round e.g. 1 wicket for no runs, but you simply need to be consistent with the way you do it for each match.

In the box between (B) and (C) runs have been made. The first ball is a dot ball, the 2nd is run for a single, the 3rd ball 2 runs are made, the 4th ball - 2 runs followed by 2 dot balls e.g. no runs. Overall in that over, 5 runs are made so the tally in the box below now reads as 5 runs for 1 wicket (5-1).

(C). The + symbol is used to indicate a wide has been bowled. In this instance no runs have been made as a result of the wide. The + is counted as 1 run against the bowler.

Scenario - The bowler bowls a wide, the keeper collects the ball and no runs are made. The Umpire calls "Wide ball" and signals the wide you acknowledge the symbol.

1. In the 'Runs scored' batsman's row, a dot is recorded.
2. In the cumulative total 1 run is recorded for the wide.
3. In the extras box, 1 is added in the wides section.
4. The cross (Wide) is added in the bowlers analysis.
5. In the 'Bowlers analysis to the right, there's an additional section in which to record the wide and it's useful to do so.

In box (C) the wide (1 run) is followed by 2 dot balls and then 2 balls that the batters run 2 for and then 2 more dot balls. The total for this over is 5 runs against the bowler bringing the running total up to 10 for 1. Note; Wides are not legitimate balls, so an additional ball has to be bowled, so in that box you'll see 7 (D) symbols as opposed to the normal 6 symbols. 

(E). Wides with runs; In this over, the first ball is a wide, so again the cross is used, but a single run is made (See below).

Figure 4

The run is indicated by the use of a dot in one of the quadrants of the cross. If two runs are made off the wide, 2 dots are marked in separate quadrants and so on. If the ball is bowled as a wide and runs across the field of play and crosses the boundary that is marked in the bowlers analysis in the same way. Note as mentioned before if you have bowler with the Yips this starts to get messy and you need to have contingency for a situation where multiple wides are bowled. Remember too that for every wide another ball has to be bowled as a wide doesn't count as a legitimate delivery.


So in the box (E) We have a wide that has one run made, followed by 2 runs, then 4 dot balls, followed by a wide with 2 runs made and then a final dot ball. 8 separate entries 2 wides and 6 legitimate balls.

Figure 5

1. The first wide with the 1 run = 2 runs against the bowler.
2. The 2nd wide with 2 runs = 3 runs against the bowler.
3. Add the 2 regular runs made off the 2nd ball, the runs against the bowler in this over add up to 7 in total meaning the running total is now 17 for 1.
4. Note on the right hand side in the wides column the 2 and 3 wides have been recorded.
5. The runs from the wides must be recorded in the cumulative tally.

The 5 wides would also need to be recorded in the Extras and in the cumulative tally. The runs gained as a result of the poor bowling are NOT credited to the batters and are recorded as dots in the batting row.

(G) Byes; These are not credited to the bowler. 

Despite the fact that Byes (And leg-byes) are not credited to the bowler, they still have to be recorded in the bowlers analysis, but the bowler is not penalised... 

The bowler has bowled a good delivery and it's either glanced off the batters body (Leg-Bye) or everyone has missed it (Batter and wicket keeper) and the ball has evaded all of the fielders enabling the batters to run.

In the bowling analysis for A.Nother in the first box marked (G) we see the symbol for a Bye which is an upward pointing triangle. In the bowlers analysis this is worth nothing and some scorers don't even use a bye symbol and simply mark a dot ball, but this I feel is bad practice as if you're struggling to make sense of your scoring when it comes to adding everything up and checking the data at the end of the innings, the use of the correct symbols helps with the process.

Scenario; The bowler bowls a legitimate ball, it misses everything and it beats the wicket keeper for pace and runs down towards long off. The batters see that no-one is going to field the ball and make 2 runs before the fielders get the ball back to the keeper/bowler.

1. In the batters row (Runs scored) you have the option of marking dots or the Bye symbol, some scorers don't mark anything.
2. The two runs must be added to the cumulative tally.
3. In the extras box the 2 runs have to be added in the Byes tally.
4. Finally the bye symbol is added to the bowlers analysis -  you do not record the runs made as a figure in the bowlers analysis, otherwise they will not tally up correctly at the end of the innings/game.

(H) Leg Byes; These are not credited to the bowler and the rules are as above for Byes except that the symbol is downward pointing triangle. 

(J) Maiden with Byes/Leg-Byes. If in the over the bowler bowls a series of dot balls as in the case of a normal maiden (See above in section 'A') but one or more of the balls goes for runs off of either Byes or Leg-Byes which is no fault of the bowler, the over is still a Maiden and the M should be written in the box in the usual manner to indicate it is a Maiden.

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(K) No-Balls with runs off the bat
Scenario - The bowler runs in and bowls an illegal ball and the Umpire calls "No-ball"! The batsman strikes the ball hitting it for six in the case below in the bowlers analysis for (K). 

Figure 6

In this instance the No-Ball is down to the bowler, so the bowler is penalised heavily, with the No-Ball indicated by the circle and then any runs made off the illegal delivery credited to the bowler. The batsman in this instance has hit the ball for six, so the six runs appear in the circle.

Figure 7

Figure 8

How-ever many runs the batsman scores having hit the ball, these are recorded inside the circle as a number.

Additionally at the end of the bowling analysis row on the right-hand side, see image above circled in black, the 7 runs (1 for the No-Ball and 6 for the runs off the bat) should be recorded. The other two singles that are recorded in that same column in the circle are for the No-Balls associated with the leg-byes and byes in columns L and M.




(L) "No-Ball byes". Scenario - The bowler runs in and bowls an illegal ball and the Umpire calls "No-ball"! The ball then either evades the batsman and the wicket keeper and runs away enabling the batters to run byes; or the ball strikes the batsman's body and runs away enabling the batters to run Leg-Byes. In this instance we'll say they run 2 runs. So they get 1 run for the team for the No-Ball and then 2 runs for the team for the Byes or Leg-Byes run.

1. In the batting row "Runs scored" you have the option of entering nothing or a dot or a Bye symbol, the batsman gains no credit for the runs accrued.
2. In the Cumulative Tally you add 3 runs - 1 for the No-Ball and 2 for the Byes/Leg-Byes run.
3. In the extras box - 1 is added to the No Ball row and 2 is added to the Byes/Leg-Byes.
4. In the bowlers analysis (See below) a circle is used to indicate the No-Ball and in the circle you have the option of using a upward pointing triangle for Byes or as in (M) a downward pointing triangle for Leg-Byes. 
5. . You do not have to record how many runs were accrued as a result of the batters running - these have already been recorded in the extras section and the bowler is not penalised for the runs from Byes/Leg-Byes. The bowler is penalised for the No-Ball and when adding up the bowling figures the circle counts for 1 run. 
6. On the right hand side of the bowling figures at the end of the row you need to record the No-ball element, but not the runs.

Figure 9

Figure 10

To be continued...

...

If you're not sure still, I found the best way to learn was to sit in front of a computer and watch a complete game on Youtube and score the game. That way if you miss something you can re-wind it. I've discovered a better way that is less likely to be confusing is to watch these XBOX/Playstation games here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-mgbdTeQP4&t=1284s




https://basildoncricket.hitscricket.com/pages/page_25500/A-guide-to-scoring.aspx
http://www.snitterfieldcricketclub.co.uk/page.php?page=scoring
https://cornwallcricket.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/MCC-law-changes-2017-code-guidance-for-scorers.pdf

June 2020

I should write about the last two months in general terms as well as cricket. April and My have been ridiculous in terms of  how sunny and warm they've been. In terms of sunshine hours for Spring all previous records have been well and truly smashed, well not smashed - decimated beyond comprehension.

Unfortunately, it's coincided with the Covid 19 pandemic which has been weird. Most of us have been off work in some form or another for over 2 months now as 10's of thousands of people die from the pandemic. But the Tory governments tactic has been to tell us for the most part to isolate for the last 2 months meaning we've not been able to mix with anyone other than our immediate family in order to reduce the impact of the virus and reduce the spread rate. As a result a lot of time has been spent in the back garden in the unbelievable sunshine and warmth, but not elsewhere. 

Historically as a diary writer when I was younger I'd have written more about this in a lot more depth, but with the internet it'll be extensively recorded in real depth. Going back to the weather though, there's obviously a degree of concern on the part of the Met office and they cite the fact that we had an extremely mild, wet and rainy winter and that's now been followed by a this ridiculously dry, hot and sunny spring which is more akin to an exceptionally good June and July.

It's scheduled to cool down in the next 48-72 hours with some sporadic rain, but the Met is warning that it'll be insufficient in terms of beneficial affects on farming. I guess, that once this current weather pattern moves on we'll need for the weather to establish itself in the usual way with periods of rain and cloudy weather other-wise we'll be watching the news and the prospect of droughts, crop failure and an increase in food prices? 

The other outcome of the Pandemic is that like almost every other sport cricket has been cancelled. The ECB has apparently pumped loads of money into the sport even at club level in order that clubs survive. This year was going to be a big year off the back of all the successes the National side had last year and a new format 'The Hundred' was due to be launched this summer to try and capitalise on the boost in popularity and the fact that cricket was again in the public eye for the right reasons. Sadly that's not happened, so there's a fear that, that momentum might be lost and opportunity to get kids and girls especially involved has been missed. That aside there's a sense that with the season being non-existent this summer that might see people leave the game and 100's if not thousands of small struggling clubs go under never to be resurrected.

Anyway all that aside - the first bowl of June 2020. 2/6/20

This doesn't look too bad given that the last few sessions were a bit ropey. The pitch map below is the last few of May over-laid with each other...

You  can see in the top pitch map I seem to have reduced the amount of full tosses on the leg-side and there's a few less balls on the leg-side generally. The good news is the balls are generally fairly accurate today with a lot more threatening the stumps and on the off-side. 

The lack of real accuracy might be down to the run-up and approach to the crease. It's rough - really rough and if it does rain I might do some work on the run-up area and try and make it a little more even. 

Knee - The reason I hadn't bowled for a few days was they knee felt slightly sore, so I rested it and it was a lot better. Of more concern at the minute is my lower back - back spasms and a real sense of stiffness. I've been doing core strength work to try and improve the situation along with stretching and Yoga and there may have been a bit of an improvement, but it's negligible.

28th June

Throughout June my physical fitness declined with increasing sitting down whilst working. Normally I'd be walking around at work - walking up and down several flights of stairs and also walking on the way home - getting off at one of the stations early to walk to the next to re-join the train home (It's a coastal walk of about 20 mins). It reached a point where my younger son Joe joined me for a bit of practice and I basically couldn't bowl because my back was so stiff.

I did some research and it appeared that this was a result of so much sitting down and having weak glutes. I then watched some Youtube vids and got some ideas about what I could do to reactivate my glutes and three days later I'm back in action bowling 60 + balls twice a day with no negative outcomes.

Today there was some really good news, my club have announced that they're expecting to get the green light to resume cricket around mid-July. The League has been cancelled and so all of the games will be friendlies with an Inter-club match being the first one as they sort out fixtures for the rest of the season. This coming Wednesday there's a practice session at the club, so at last some cricket and an opportunity to see how these Flippers go without an on-going knee issues.