Xavier Bartlett: The Stats
Wednesday 28th February 2024
With Aussie pacer Xavier Bartlett joining us for the start of the County Championship & Vitality Blast, our Senior Data Analyst Dan Weston looks at what the right-armer will bring us at the start of the season.
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All of us at Kent have been really impressed with Xavier’s progress over the last couple of years in domestic cricket in Australia, and are delighted that he will be joining us in the upcoming season.
Although he’s just turned 25 years of age, Xavier has already showcased his skills in all formats of the game, and has made a stunning breakthrough at international level as well earlier in February, with eight wickets in two matches against the West Indies in ODIs at a cost of just 4.75 runs apiece, and two wickets on his T20 debut against the same opposition too.
In the longer form of the game, Bartlett has been superb in Sheffield Shield cricket, having taken 27 wickets in eight matches in the last two seasons at a cost of 21.74 apiece for Queensland, as well as being economical in the process – he’s going at exactly three runs per over.
Bartlett’s new ball prowess in red ball cricket has also been evident when looking at his phase split numbers, taking a wicket around every six overs in the first 30 overs of opposition innings, and also being excellent at preventing boundaries in the process. He will be a challenge with the new ball in hand against any opposition, averaging below 10 with the ball in the first 10 overs of opposition innings in the last two seasons of Shield cricket.
Furthermore, Xavier will be able to add some lower-order depth, and this has been illustrated by his T20 numbers in particular, where he averages in excess of 20 and has shown to be capable of regularly accessing the boundary as well.
In that shortest format of cricket, Bartlett was the leading wicket-taker in the entire Big Bash this winter, taking 20 wickets at a cost of 14.70 runs per wicket, and denying the opposition run-scoring opportunities as well, with an economy rate well below eight runs per over. Considering he bowled 76% of his overs across the higher-scoring Powerplay and death overs, this economy rate is some achievement.
Bartlett’s economy in the Powerplay during that tournament was truly outstanding, going at just 6.45 runs per over across 20 overs in the tournament, while in the last five overs, 12 wickets in 75 balls illustrated the wicket-taking threat which he provides during the death overs as well.
Xavier’s all-format ability and the ability to bowl effectively in various phases in matches makes him an extremely exciting overseas signing for Kent, and we hope he will take plenty of wickets for us during his time at the club in 2024.
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