Australia’s Chris Lynn, the reigning BBL Player of the Tournament, is at it again this time in the CPL where he heads the run scorers list after eight innings. Despite this success, he is yet to make any significant impact in the IPL or at International level.
In this article we take a look at some reasons why Lynn might have been overlooked by selectors in the past, and why his performance to date in this year’s CPL might finally quash those concerns. In doing so, Lynn also sheds some light on how to overcome a batting weakness in the face of some serious questions being asked of him by opposing team strategists.
Impressive Record
The name Chris Lynn needs little introduction to followers of the BBL and the CPL. Lynn was Player of the Tournament in the most recent version of the BBL, scoring 378 runs in 8 innings at a Gayle-esque strike rate of 173.4 (equivalent to a whopping 10.4 runs per over).
Lynn has so far carried this rich form into the current CPL where as of now he stands atop of the run scorers list with 332 runs in 8 innings at the lower but still impressive strike rate of 141.9 (8.5 runs per over).
Keen cricket followers will observe that nestled in between the BBL and the CPL were a couple of other tournaments of note, namely the IPL and the World T20. Interestingly Lynn was not part of the Australian squad for the WT20 and although he was part of the KKR franchise in the 2016 IPL, he only played two innings for 25 runs at a below average strike rate 6.8 runs per over. These are hardly spectacular returns, but for a man so used to being the backbone of his teams’ batting, he was hardly given a chance to showcase his wares.
There are a few potential reasons for Lynn’s lack of involvement in both the IPL and the WT20.
Too Many Hot Local Bats at KKR
Starting with the IPL, given the make-up of KKR’s squad in 2016 Lynn was only ever going to get a chance to make a major contribution if one or more of the local batsmen either did not fire or got injured. Unfortunately for Lynn, neither of these happened. KKRs big five of Pathan, Gambhir, Pandey, Uthappa and Yadav scored almost 80% of the team’s total runs at a combined average of 35.1 and strike rate of 7.9 runs per over. No other team in the IPL came close to realizing those sorts of returns from their local batsmen. As a result KKR’s foreign quota was always destined to be filled by bowlers.
Lynn Susceptible to Left Arm Bowling and Spin?
The answer as to why Australia’s best domestic T20 batsmen was not in the squad for the WT20 might be a little different.
Firstly we should recognise that like Lynn’s IPL dilemma, Australia boasted a top five batting line up of Finch, Warner, Khawaja, Smith and Maxwell. It was always going to be difficult to squeeze Lynn into that line up based on the dual criteria of form and international reputation.
However it is also of note to examine Lynn’s record against left arm and spin bowling. The chart below shows Lynn’s BBL record against all bowling types, expressed in terms of his Contribution Score (CS) per ball faced. A positive CS indicates he plays that type of bowling better than the average T20 player taking into account the state of the match in terms of runs score, wickets lost, batting first or second etc when he makes his contribution. A negative CS indicates he plays that type of bowling worse than the average player given the match situation, while a neutral CS of zero means he plays that type of bowling in line with average (Baseline).
While Lynn’s overall CS of +0.3 runs per ball faced is impressive, interestingly he only records positive CS against three of the nine different bowling types. These three types are:
- Right Arm Fast Medium Bowling (RAB FM), CS of +0.8 runs per ball
- Right Arm Medium Bowling (RAB M), CS of +0.7 runs per ball
- Right Arm Fast (RAB F), CS of +0.5 runs per ball
These results are a flashing red light to both the opposition bowling team and to management considering selecting him in their batting line up. They tell us that on average, Lynn performs strongly against RAB of any pace, however he has a potential weakness that could be exploited against any type of LAB and against any type of spin. T
It is possible that this “weakness” against spin was a contributing factor as to why Lynn was not selected to play in the WT20 given that it was being hosted in the spin friendly conditions of Asia. This might also be a reason why Lynn has only been called upon to play five innings across the three different IPL campaigns he has been involved in.
Lynn’s Weaknesses not Targeted pre CPL 2016
Given Lynn’s strengths, it is interesting to see how he has been targeted by opposition bowling teams. The chart below shows this in the context of his BBL career.
- 39% of balls Lynn has faced have been from RAB FM, his main strength!
- 52% of balls Lynn has faced have been from one of Lynn’s three preferred bowling styles, RAB M, RAB FM or RAB F
The above results were across Lynn’s four year BBL career. It is even more amazing to note that in the most recent BBL 2015, a whopping 46% of balls faced by Lynn were from RAB FM bowlers and 57% from one of RAB M, RAB FM or RAB F. You might say no wonder he was Player of the Tournament! It would appear that opposition teams tried the strategy of feeding Lynn’s strength rather than starve him of his “meat”. It failed spectacularly.
CPL 2016 Management on the Ball with Analytics
So coming to the current CPL. I will freely admit that watching Lynn’s run tally grow in this tournament, I assumed that he was being fed the same diet of RAB FM, RAB F and RAB M that he so loves to feast on.
I could not have been more incorrect.
The chart below compares:
- The distribution of balls bowled by bowler type in the 2016 CPL against all batsmen except Chris Lynn with
- The distribution of balls bowled by bowler type to only Chris Lynn.
As can be clearly seen, opposition teams have done their homework and Lynn has been targeted by his greatest nemesis, LAB FS! Lynn has faced 37% of his deliveries in the current CPL from this style of bowling while LAB FS has only accounted for 15% of all deliveries bowled. Just as importantly, opposition bowlers have tried to starve Lynn of his “meat”, RAB FM. Lynn has only faced 12% of his deliveries from RAB FM, while RAB FM accounts for 32% of all deliveries bowled.
So why is it then that Lynn is still dominating the run scorers list, despite being so effectively targeted in the CPL?
Mind over Matter for Chris Lynn
The chart below shows how Lynn has actually performed in the 2016 CPL campaign against each bowling type, again expressed in terms of Contribution Score per ball faced.
The first thing to note is that nothing much has changed about Lynn’s strengths and weaknesses. He still plays LAB FS bowling worse than average (CS per ball -0.2) and his strengths remain against RAB F, RAB FM, and RAB M. A leopard does not change his spots.
At face value then, it would seem that targeting Lynn with LAB FS has been successful. After all, three of the four times Lynn has been dismissed to a bowler this CPL have been to LAB FS!
The reason why he has still been successful becomes a little clearer when looking at the chart below. It compares Lynn’s CS per ball by bowling type in the BBL to that of the current CPL.
Despite the LAB FS targeting, Lynn has managed to main his high overall CS per ball of +0.3 by:
- Being patient against LAB FS
- Being even more dominant against RAB M and RAB F. When he gets the chance to play his preferred type of bowling, he has gone even harder after it than he has before!
This is a classic example of a key batsman understanding and playing within his limitations, displaying patience, putting a high price on his wicket and releasing his aggression at the right time. Lynn understands that he will rarely face LAB FS from both ends. His job therefore is to rotate the strike, pick up the singles, let his partner do the attacking, and cash in when his preferred bowler type is bowling.
Of the 70 balls Lynn has faced from LAB FS this CPL, only twice has he faced three consecutive dot balls across those 70 deliveries, and never four in a row.
Chris Lynn is demonstrating that he is on top of both the physical and mental sides of his game. Higher honours loom, including the IPL!