An appraisal of Woolmers first 6 months in charge

By Woolmers Appraisal
January 13 2005

Merc looks at two things, the performance of the team and the performance of the players. Only players who have played a minimum of 10 ODI's under Woolmer will be considered.

Woolmer has been coaching Pakistan in actual games for almost 6 months now. In that time Pakistan have played 17 ODI's and 5 tests.

It would be premature to try and judge his influence on the Test team just yet but we can definitely take a mid-way judgement of the progress of Pakistan's ODI squad under its first truly professional coach.

I will be looking at two things, the performance of the team and the performance of the players. Only players who have played a minimum of 10 ODI's under Woolmer will be considered.

Team Pakistan under Woolmer

Under Bob, Pakistan have won 71% (P 17. W 12. L 5) of their ODI matches.

However they have lost all the tournaments that they have taken part in including the Asia Cup, Videocon, ICC and Paktel. Whilst this isnt a great record its not as bad as Miandads last few ODI tournaments in charge either

Bob has already had 6 months with the team and from now on the results will begin to reflect on him as a coach. His first true test will be the VB series followed by the ODI series vs India. He really needs to win either one or both of these tournaments in order to buy himself a little more time with which to further develop the team.

Given the circumstances under which Bob took over, i think winning 71% of matches played is definitely commendable but his next task is to mould a fighting unit capable of winning those pressure games.

Pakistani Players under Woolmer - in this section i will look at the performances of Pakistani players before and after Woolmer taking over as coach. I will contrast the number of matches they have played under Woolmer with the same number of matches played under Miandad.

One thing to remember is that the matches under Bob will be formative matches where players are getting used to a new coach and the matches under Miandad will be performances from settled players who have been under the same coach for the best part of a year already. I have further divided the players into 3 more categories...

Indifferent to Woolmer - this includes players whose performances have been about the same under both Woolmer and Miandad. There are only two players who fit this bill and they are Shoaib and Inzamam.

Akhtar

15 Ms. 21 wkts @ 28.52 avg. 37.4 SR. 4.6 Eco - under Miandad
15 Ms. 19 wkts @ 27.68 avg. 35.9 SR. 4.6 Eco - under Woolmer

Inzamam

16 Ms. 564 runs @ 43.38 avg. 2x 100. 1x 50 - under Miandad
16 Ms. 471 runs @ 42.81 avg. 0x 100. 5x 50 - under Woolmer

...both these players arent too far off the end of their careers and both are established cricketers. For someone like Inzi who is an exceptional batsman there is very little that he can be taught at this stage of his career, the only benefit Bob can give him is to increase his fitness so that he can play for longer. With Akhtar, Bobs advice seems to go in one ear and out the other!

Players who have gotten worse under Woolmer - these are players who were playing better before Woolmer took over as coach.

Hameed - since Woolmer took over as coach Hameed's average has dropped by 23.61 runs to almost half what it was under Miandad. A player who was once touted as Pakistans best future batsman is now struggling to find a place in the first XI. Hameeds tendency to go fishing has been his main downfall and so far it seems that Bob has had no success in curing Hameed of this dangerous habit!

15 Ms. 716 runs @ 51.14 avg. 1x 100. 5x 50 - under Miandad
15 Ms. 413 runs @ 27.53 avg. 1x 100. 0x 50 - under Woolmer

Sami - Sami really has deteriorated beyond all recognition under Woolmers reign. From the infamous 17 ball over to an average which has risen by 12.48 runs per wicket, this just hasnt been Sami's 6 months. The more games Sami plays the worse he seems to get. Before he was a good ODI bowler and a rubbish test bowler but now he's rubbish at ODI's too. It seems Woolmer cant fix Sami's problems anymore than Miandad could, perhaps its time to let Sami go!!

16 Ms. 31 wkts @ 24.77 avg. 28.0 SR. 5.3 Eco - under Miandad
16 Ms. 16 wkts @ 37.25 avg. 47.7 SR. 4.7 Eco - under Woolmer

Razzaq - Razzaq is a bit of a strange case as his bowling has improved dramatically whilst his batting doesnt seem to be as threatening as it once was. The reason i have put him under players doing worse under Woolmer is because he is regarded as a specialist ODI batsman and that is the area which he isnt doing as well in under Woolmer. Woolmer still hasnt been to be able to help Razzaq overcome his weakness against spinners yet but there is still time. The VB series will be a big test of the Razzaq-Woolmer combination!!

16 Ms. 481 runs @ 53.44 avg. 0x 100. 3x 50 - under Miandad (batting)
16 Ms. 322 runs @ 35.77 avg. 1x 100. 0x 50 - under Woolmer (batting)

16 Ms. 11 wkts @ 61.00 avg. 68.7 SR. 5.3 Eco - under Miandad (bowling)
16 Ms. 13 wkts @ 38.00 avg. 50.7 SR. 4.5 Eco - under Woolmer (bowling)

Players who have gotten better under Woolmer - these are players whose performances have noticeably improved since Woolmer has taken over Team Pakistan.

Youhana - these days Youhana seems a much more determined batsman and the tag of minnow-basher is slowly being distanced from his name. Miracles dont happen overnight but Youhana under Woolmer has upped his average by 13.91 runs to just under 44! Lets hope Youhana uses the VB series to prove he is without a doubt one of the worlds best ODI batsmen!

17 Ms. 419 runs @ 29.92 avg. 0x 100. 4x 50 - under Miandad
17 Ms. 526 runs @ 43.83 avg. 1x 100. 2x 50 - under Woolmer

Malik - Malik has been a revelation under Woolmer and is a perfect example of what Woolmer the coach can do for a player who will listen and work hard. When Woolmer took over Team Pakistan Malik was on the way out, he was a useless player who had a batting average of 16 runs and was giving away close to 50 runs per wicket.

Woolmer took the raw materials and crafted a world class all-rounder who had an awesome ODI batting average of 47.81 and a miserly bowling average of 22.20. Malik has been the backbone of the Pakistan ODI team since Woolmer took over.

However his action been reported, it was found to be far in excess of the legal limits and he is now working on a new one. Even if Malik isnt allowed to bowl his batting is more than good enough to guarantee him a spot in the first XI. Well done Woolmer!

17 Ms. 222 runs @ 15.85 avg. 0x 100. 1x 50 - under Miandad (batting)
17 Ms. 765 runs @ 47.81 avg. 2x 100. 5x 50 - under Woolmer (batting)

17 Ms. 15 wkts @ 47.40 avg. 60.7 SR. 4.7 Eco - under Miandad (bowling)
17 Ms. 24 wkts @ 22.20 avg. 34.2 SR. 3.9 Eco - under Woolmer (bowling)

'The Afridi' - Freedy only played 3 matches under Minadad during his most recent reign so instead i took the last 12 matches Freedy has played in total from before Woolmer took over. The Afridi is Woolmers second biggest success story after Malik and under Woolmer The Afridi was the 2nd best (after Kaspo) ODI bowler of 2004 in the world!

Since Woolmer took over Freedy's bowling average has gone down by 19.66 runs and is now less than half of what it was before. Woolmer had the good sense to use The Afridi as a specialist spinner who bats a bit and is now reaping the rewards!

12 Ms. 13 wkts @ 37.61 avg. 44.5 SR. 5.1 Eco - before Woolmer
12 Ms. 20 wkts @ 17.95 avg. 25.0 SR. 4.3 Eco - under Woolmer

Conclusion

As far as im concerned Woolmers first 6 months in charge of the ODI team have been a success. He has won 71% of the matches played and significantly improved 2 players (Malik and The Afridi) whom the rest of us had given up for dead.

As for the 3 players who are doing worse under Woolmer. Hameed i believe is getting back to his best, as is Razzaq and the VB series should be proof of that. Sami is an enigma that i doubt any coach could solve but i have faith in Bob to do his best with him.

Personally i am looking forward to the next 6 months under Woolmer which should hopefully see many more improvements in the players, the team and most importantly the results!