As the season matures the developing trend is one of bat dominating ball, but South Africans continue to excel in all spheres. Gareth Stevens reports.
There are now four batsmen averaging in the 40s with Ashwell Prince, Jacques Rudolph and Dawid Malan all moving up the leading run scorers lists. Alviro Peterson, who actually boasts the highest average of the four, remained in the same position after scoring a half-century for Somerset this week.
The changing nature of the surfaces around England has meant that spinners have adopted the tag of strike bowlers. Kyle Abbott dropped one place of the leading wicket-takers list after bowling on an Oval wicket resembling a national highway. Going against the stream, Alfonso Thomas jumped three positions on the list thanks to a disciplined performance on an unresponsive Taunton track.
Below are all the statistics of the Saffas playing first-class cricket in England. The number next to the player’s name is the position on the leading run-scorers and wicket-takers list for their respective leagues. This gives an indication of how they have fared compared to everybody else. If there is no number then they are not currently in the top 50.
Batsmen:
Division 1:
5)Ashwell Prince: 11 matches. 761 runs. Highest score: 257 not out. Average: 42.27. Strike rate: 54.08
14)Dawid Malan: 9 matches. 627 runs. Highest score: 154 not out. Average: 44.78. Strike rate: 49.80
15)Alviro Petersen: 10 matches. 604 runs. Highest score: 155. Average: 46.46. Strike rate: 54.95
29)Keaton Jennings: 10 matches. 482 runs. Highest score: 103. Average: 32.13. Strike rate: 39.37
40)Andrew Hall: 9 matches. 382 runs. Highest score: 75. Average: 25.46. Strike rate: 44.36
Richard Levi: 3 matches. 180 runs. Highest score: 64. Average: 36.00. Strike rate: 63.38
Hashim Amla: 4 matches. 118 runs. Highest score: 71. Average: 29.50. Strike rate: 71.95
Division 2:
6) Jacques Rudolph: 9 matches. 652 runs. Highest score: 139. Average: 43.46. Strike rate: 50.34
34) Wayne Madsen: 10 matches. 449 runs. Highest score: 111 not out. Average: 32.07. Strike rate: 39.73
Graeme Smith: 5 matches. 363 runs. Highest score: 103. Average: 32.87. Strike rate: 63.83
Tim Groenewald: 7 matches. 186 runs. Highest score: 56 not out. Average: 26.57. Strike rate: 67.88
Bowlers:
Division 1:
7) Alfonso Thomas: 9 matches. 281.2 overs. 37 wickets. Best bowling: 5-40. Average: 19.64. Strike rate: 45.6
22) Andrew Hall: 9 matches. 259 overs. 23 wickets. Best bowling: 4-103. Average: 39.0. Strike rate: 67.5
Division 2:
3) Kyle Abbott: 8 matches. 226 overs. 36 wickets. Best bowling: 5-44. Average: 18.25. Strike rate: 37.6
32) Tim Groenewald: 7 matches. 174 overs. 22 wickets. Best bowling: 5-27. Average: 23.31. Strike rate: 47.4
Photo: Backpagepix
