The Friday column

Where toss is key, and Tendulkar's drought

Feb 3, 2006: The venues where losing the toss is a blessing, Tendulkar's slump in form and Dippenaar's rising stock

The Friday column

Prolific partnerships, and one-sided triangulars

Jan 27, 2006: Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf are fast moving up the ladder among Pakistan's top batting pairs, while this season's VB Series is a rare three-way contest

The Friday column

A lowdown on lbws

Jan 13, 2006: Has the frequency of lbw decisions increased over the years? The Numbers Game find out

The Friday column

The enigma called Jacques Kallis

Jan 6, 2006: He has played almost 100 Tests, averages nearly 57, has scored runs against allcomers in all conditions, and was recently named the ICC's Player of the Year, but Jacques Kallis has hardly got the kind of acclaim you'd expect a batsman to receive after all

The Friday column

Gilchrist's slump, and a year for the middle order

Dec 30, 2005: Adam Gilchrist's average slips to below 50, and a look back at what the numbers show in 2005

The Friday column

Wag the tail, Indian spin and sticky Rudolph

Dec 23, 2005: Which team has relied most heavily on their tailenders to prop them, and Jacques Rudolph's epic against Australia

The Friday column

Overdose for the officials

Dec 9, 2005: If you thought the players were the only ones suffering from a packed itinerary, take a look at the plight of the elite umpires

The Friday column

Tendulkar v other top batsmen in run-chases

Dec 2, 2005: How does Sachin Tendulkar compare when India chase challenging totals in ODIs? The Numbers Game investigates

The Friday column

A giant called Inzamam, and the new Shoaib

Nov 25, 2005: Inzamam-ul-Haq passes Javed Miandad as the highest century-maker for Pakistan, while Shoaib Akhtar is showing just how handy he can be with the willow

The Friday column

First-Test blues, and chasing small targets

Nov 18, 2005: A rare win in the first Test of a series for Pakistan, and how teams fare when chasing a small fourth-innings target

The Friday column

The extras factor, and Harbhajan's return

Nov 11, 2005: India's bowling performance at Rajkot was one of their most disciplined in the last five years, while Harbhajan Singh gets his home groove back

The Friday column

Sri Lanka's overseas travails

Nov 4, 2005: Sri Lanka have an awesome record in home ODIs, but when they've travelled it has been a different story

The Friday column

A new spin to ODIs, and Vettori's return

Oct 28, 2005: The Numbers Game looks at how spinners have performed in one-day internationals over the decades

Top-order pickings

Peerless Pigeon

Oct 21, 2005: The Numbers Game looks at Glenn McGrath's penchant for ruffling top-order feathers

Super Test - A stat preview

The McGrath menace looms

Oct 12, 2005: The Numbers Game looks at how the players from the Australian and World XI teams stack up against each other

The Friday column

The unsung heroes behind the stumps

Sep 30, 2005: Statistically, it's tough to convert a wicketkeeper's performances into numbers which can be compared and rated. S Rajesh tries his hand at rating glovemen

The Friday column

Left-arm swing and minnow-bashing

Sep 23, 2005: Sri Lanka's high percentage of matches against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, and left-arm seamers against them

The Ashes review in numbers - Part II

Of dropped catches and batting in pairs

Sep 16, 2005: How dropped catches hurt Australia much more, and England's key partnerships

The Friday column

Dravid's lapses, and the dilemma of debutants

Sep 9, 2005: Rahul Dravid's tendency to get bowled in the last one year, and debutants blooded in by various teams

The Friday column

The Man Fridays

Sep 7, 2005: Throughout the history of the game, the captains with the most wins have been those with able lieutenants who could execute the drawing-board strategies