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Nitesh Verma
win more matches. The team hired a Lean Six SigmaBlack Belt to analyze the factors affecting Mikes batting and develop an improvement plan. A project team was formed with the chief batting coach as the project leader.
ProblemStatement
The average number of runs scored by Mike per inning was 32.5 for the last 50 matches (January 2011 to December 2011) compared to his benchmarked 40 runs per inning. This lowered number of runs negatively affected Club Acmes match results; the team won only 36 percent of the matches they played in the same timeframe. (See Figure 1.)
ProcessCapability
Forty runs in a completed inning was the benchmark and set as the lower specification limit (LSL) for assessing process capability. Any complete innings in which Mike scored fewer than 40 runs was considered a defect. Mike played 50 matches in 2011 and as he usually batted at the top of the batting order, he was dismissed in all 50 matches. He scored more than 40 runs in only 14 out of 50 innings.
36
Mean
32.52
Median
15
Standard deviation
39.47
720,000
Sigma (Zst)
0.92
The project team determined the improvement target by using the 1-sample percent-defective test (Figure 2).
The 1-sample percent-defective test compared Mikes current defective rate to a target of 50 percent. With a 0.05 level of significance and a calculated p-value of 0.001, the test verified statistically that Mikes current percent defective was greater than 50 percent. At a 90 percent confidence level, the true percent defective was between 59.74 percent and 82.21 percent. (The confidence interval (CI) quantifies the uncertainty associated with estimating the percent defective from the sample data.) The team concluded that if Mike scored 40 runs or more in 50 percent the matches played, it would be a statistically significant improvement.
Mike scored fewer than 20 runs Mike scored more than 20 runs
Being caught behind was the most frequent cause for dismissal when Mike scored fewer than 20 runs: 50 percent compared to 10 percent when he scored more than 20 runs. Why was Mike getting caught by the keeper and the slip fieldersso often at the start of his innings? Club Acmes statistician provided the shot data for Mike as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Type of Stroke Relating to Type of Shot Played (Left = Type of Stroke, Right = Attacking Shot Played)
Of Mikes caught behind dismissals at the start of his innings, 67 percent occurred while he was playing attacking strokes. In particular, the attacking shots (a subset of attack strokes) that contributed most often to the caught behind dismissals were three types of high-risk shots: hooks, pulls and upper cuts. A Closer Look at the Shots The team analyzed the success of these shots played by Mike at the start of his innings and later in the games. By looking at Mikes historical strike rate, it was clear that he used to play 25 balls to score 20 runs. The team tested the success of his hook, pull and upper cut shots during the first 25 balls played by Mike in comparison to shots played after 25 balls. The strike rate for balls 26 and higher was almost double compared to the first 25 balls. Compared to 10 dismissals out of 28 attempts in the first 25 balls, Mike was dismissed just 4 times in 117 attempts after playing 25 balls. Table 2: Shot Analysis for Mike Statistics Total shots played 0-25 Balls 28 26+ Balls 117
Number of dismissals
10
% defective
35.71%
3.42%
90% CI
(21 53)%
(1 8)%
0.000 29.25
The conclusion from this analysis was that Mike had to avoid playing those higher-risk shots in the initial stages of his innings. Other Inputs for Batting In a brainstorming session, the project team identified the various factors related to runs being scored and created the cause-and-effect diagram shown in Figure 6. Items highlighted in red are the ones deemed to be most critical and that were investigated further.
The project team did not find any difference in Mikes performance when batting first or when chasing a target. His performance on flat pitches, however, was better compared to green pitches. What was affecting Mikes batting while playing on green pitches? The batting coach suggested the team look at the type of bat Mike used and his batting position. While the type of bat used (light or heavy) did not have any measurable impact, Mike performed better on green pitches when he was not required to open the batting (bat first) and face the new ball bowlers. On green pitches, his batting average in fourth position was 52.6 compared to 12.1 when Mike opened the batting, a statistically significant difference (Figure 7).
The project team collected data for Mikes batting and shot selection against different types of bowlers. Shots played by Mike that did result, or could have resulted, in a dismissal were identified as false or risky and termed defective. The proportion of defective shots was contrasted against the total number of balls played against each type of bowler. As shown in Table 3 and Figure 8, there were differences among the percent defectives for different bowling types at a 0.05 level of significance (p-value: 0.000). From the analysis, it was concluded that Mike played more false or risky shots while playing left-arm seam bowlers (21.48 percent) in comparison to other bowlers such as right-arm seam bowlers andspinners. Table 3: Bowling Style Effects on Mike Bowling Style Right-arm seam Balls Played 793 Defective Shots 65 % Defective 8.20 95% CI (6.38, 10.33)
298 257
64 31
21.48 12.06
Off spin
436
33
7.57
(5.27, 10.47)
Left-arm spin
199
26
13.07
(8.72, 18.56)
The chief batting coach analyzed video footage of Mike batting against left-arm seam bowlers. Mike played a left-arm seam with a closed stance, similar to what he used for right-arm seam bowlers. The orthodox stance blocked him before he played a shot, and he ended up playing around his front pad (protective clothing). He also kept
his backswing too straight, playing across the line (moving laterally to the incoming ball) and ended up chest-on to the ball. Mike was advised to play left-arm seam with an open stance and wider back-lift. With an open stance, he could better align himself up to the incoming ball. For a wider back-lift, he had to pick his bat over the off stump or the first slip area (angle of the bat while playing the ball changes depending upon the starting position of the bat) rather than over the middle stump.
Table 4: Action Plan Root Cause Batting Style Description Hooks, pulls and upper cuts were contributing to the maximum number of dismissals at the start of Mikes innings. Pitch Conditions Mikes batting average on green pitches is significantly lower compared to his performance on flat pitches. The problem is facing the new ball at the start of his innings on He does well batting lower down in the order on green pitches. Mike should be placed in fourth position Team captain, batting coach in matches played on green pitches.Continuously changing the batting order based on pitch conditions would negatively impact other players. positions on flat pitches, Mike would bat at fourth position in all matches irrespective of pitch conditions. Bowling Style Mike tends to play more false or risky Mike needs to play left-arm seam shots while facing left-arm seam bowlers. back-lift. There would be mandatory left-arm net bowlers at team practice sessions. Mike, batting coach, team Improvement Responsibility
Mike needs to avoid playing these high- Mike, batting coach, team risk shots in the initial stages of his innings (the first 20 to 25 balls). captain
green pitches that suit seam bowling. As Mikes batting is consistent at all