Comparison of performance at the 2007 and 2015 Cricket World Cups

Abstract

To assess tactical changes, we compared team performance indicators between the 2015 and 2007 Cricket World Cup Tournaments. Specifically, we determined magnitudes of differences between winning and losing teams and compared round robin and the knockout or Super 8 phases. Magnitude of difference between teams was established with a standardised (Cohen's) effect size with 90% confidence limits. Taking wickets and having a high batting run rate consistently had large to very large effect sizes across both rounds of both tournaments. A higher percentage of runs in singles had a small to moderate negative correlation with winning across both tournaments (ranging from effect size = −0.28 ± 0.07 to −1.18 ± 0.79 90% CL). The main contribution of this paper is that across eight years and across different geographical locations, key performance indicators had similar magnitudes in 50-over World Cup Cricket. Coaches can be confident in the relevant importance of different performance indicators.