Feature

What we learnt from looking at the decade's cricket workload

Firstly, how much cricket can Virat Kohli play?

In 2014, Kumar Sangakkara faced 4155 balls in international cricket

In 2014, Kumar Sangakkara faced 4155 balls in international cricket © AFP

The latest edition of the Cricket Monthly's who-played-how-much exercise is here, and this time it looks at the entire 2010s. Go on over to read the entire thing. In the meantime, here are five things we learnt from it.

England. England. England. They played more days of international cricket last decade than anyone, far more Test cricket than others, their champion fast-bowling pair sent down more international deliveries than any competitor, and of the five most prolific Test players, four were English. The cricketer who played the most international days of days in a calendar year, too, is English. That name is a surprise - but we reveal it in the first sentence of the main piece.

Virat Kohli played a lot in the 2010s. He also batted a lot. He racked up 668 international days over the decade, a full 60 days clear of ... guess who? Clue: he's Sri Lankan. The 26,000+ international deliveries Kohli faced are a good 17% ahead of... guess who? Clue: South African.

Sangakkara's 1 and 2, Swann's 2 and 3. Nobody faced more international deliveries in a calendar year last decade than Kumar Sangakkara in 2011, except... Kumar Sangakkara in 2014. Meanwhile, for balls bowled, one slot higher than Swann in 2010 was… Swann in 2012. A good time to lean back and reminisce about these two excellent - and patently hard-working - cricketers.

Asia hearts ODI cricket. Three of the four teams who played the most ODIs last decade are Asian - led by Sri Lanka. Among players, five of the six cricketers who played the most List A games in a year are Asian. Guess the sixth. Clue: he's Zimbabwean.

The skewed calendar. Of the top 16 team entries for most international cricket in a calendar year last decade, as many as 14 belong to the Big Three: England with six, India with five and Australia with three. On the flip side, players from the smaller teams dominate the shortest-form charts on the back of franchise cricket: the top five entries for most T20s in a year feature three West Indians, an Afghan and a Bangladeshi. Yes, DJ Bravo is the champion.

Read the main Who Played How Much in the 2010s feature here