Advanced T20 Metrics

International teams and T20 franchises are looking for new metrics beyond simple averages and strike rates. To read about my opinions on the wide range of metrics that analysts are starting to produce, see here. This page summarises my own key metrics that I use throughout my work

My number one metric is Runs Added - the impact of a player on a team’s final run total. But I would never exclusively rely on Runs Added alone. I also use True Economy, True Strike Rate, True Wickets per 24, and a host of other metrics dependent on the situation

Even the most basic strikes rates and averages have their place, especially within specific contexts. For example, it is often useful to talk about strike rates in certain phases of the game. Teams should look for bowlers with excellent Powerplay strike rates and excellent Death economies. And communicating in those terms helps to convince decision-makers that the analysis makes sense

However, I am sceptical that differentiating between the phases is entirely sensible. With such low samples, we are in danger of isolating noise in the data and missing the bigger picture. I believe that there are just five metrics that I need to understand the overall value of batsmen and bowlers to teams and franchises. They might miss some small nuance but they get me 90% of the way there

The five key metrics for bowlers and batsmen that I need to judge player value: sample size, True Economy, True Strike Rate, Runs Added

The work on this website focuses mainly on these five metrics. Simple measures like strike rates and averages will get used too but this is the standard for how I communicate my work. This is the language that I use


To read more about what is included in my Runs Added model, see here. For individual matches it is based on ball number, wickets lost, and required run rate. When creating player ratings, I also adjust for venue, competition, sample size and recency
To read about what I include in my “True” models see here