Average age of team

[Mike]

Can any conclusions be drawn about the average age of a team in terms of their ability to win? Do older sides possess a winning advantage based on age and experience? I think I'll do some research into that. For the moment, I've calculated the average age of the WAT England A and Australia A sides:

WAT England A           WAT Australia A (Beny's team)

W. Jefferson  25        M. Hussey  29
B. Hutton  27           C. Ferguson  19
E. Smith  27            B. Hodge  29      
K. Pieterson  24        D. Hussey  27  
I. Bell  22             S. Watson  23    
P. Collingwood  28      B. Haddin (wkt)  27 
M. Wallace (wkt)  22    C. White  21
A. Mascarenhas  27      B. Williams  29
D. Harrison  23         M. Cleary  24
J. Lewis  29            N. Bracken  27
G. Keedy  29            S. Tait  21

Avg age: 25.7           Avg age: 25.1

[Rachael]

See http://www.world-a-team.com/showthread.php?t=1477 and http://www.theage.com.au/news/Cricke...?oneclick=true

Originally Posted by King

"Players these days aren't reaching their peak until they're 28 or 29 anyway, and then they can go on and play for another six or seven years or longer. It's different to years gone by, when everyone thought their peak was 24 or 25."

As I put it in the other thread: "This is something we've heard increasingly in England of late.... and which has seemingly been vindicated with recent improvements in the performances of the likes of Hoggard and Flintoff.. and the successful late introduction of players like Strauss, Bell, Key and Jones.. and the seemingly ever more impressive level of performance being managed by seasoned veterans like Hussain (retired on a high after great series in the WI), Butcher (who looked the best he has ever looked over the winter in Sri Lanka and in the spring in the WI) and Thorpe (clearly, now, the leading - as well as oldest - batsman in the side)."

I ask in the other thread if we are now, with the improvements in the running of the top teams, approaching an age in which playing youth (as the WI side now must) becomes merely a sign of desperation?

Although I posed it as a quetion I really do think we can now see the pressure being kept OFF the bright prospects so that they can learn their trades away from the short term requirements for results and with an eye on the longer term need to develop their skills and ensure that how they play is compatible with remaining injury free and being able to perform at the highest level for the longest possible time.

All of which is great :-D

[Andy Mellon]

I think that the peak a player reaches does appear to be getting later as you suggest. However, it should be noted that there are always exceptions to the rule. Sachin Tendulkar, for example, made a great start for the India team as a teenager, and Graham Gooch was still one of England's best batsmen into his fourties. Really, you have to judge each player differently. If a prodigious teenager started to flourish when thrown into the international side, then don't drop him if he has an off day, but conversely, don't exclude an uncapped player thriving in county cricket just because they're over 30.

[Maranello]

It also depends on what the player is doing with his life as he gets older - if he spends the years from 20 to 27 playing first team cricket in the Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup, then he will almost undoubtedly be a much better cricketer at 27 because of the experience. He would have developed not just his skill, but also temperament, cricketing nous and mental toughness and would be more aware of his limitations. He would also have a bank of experiences to draw upon, which would help his address those limitations and capitalise on his strenghts as he starts playing Test cricket.

On the other hand, if the poor chap has to contend with what passes for Pakistani domestic cricket for the 7 most crucial years of his development as a cricketer (20-27 years), he will invariably end up being unsuited for Test cricket. This is why Pakistan always caps its players in their teens or early 20s - to allow the good ones to develop skill, temperament and mental toughness at International level - the Pakistan domestic cricket is useless in that aspect. Hence in this case, a Test cap should be handed out at a young age for those who are good enough.