Marcus Stoinis may be the proud owner of the lucrative Golden Hat for the highest run-scorer during this season’s Big Bash League however, closer inspection reveals two cricketers who have the complete package.

In response to the Golden Bat award for this season’s leading run-scorer in the Big Bash League, we have developed our own award for the batsman whom we believe has had the most impact during this summer’s tournament and has, therefore, been the Most Complete Cricketer this season.

Our core metrics not only take into account a batsman’s run output, like the Golden Bat, but their scoring rate, boundary hitting and versatility also become determining factors in whether they have been a complete cricketer or not this season.

We ran the numbers through our computers and they spat out some interesting results.

Marcus Stoinis, fresh off his staggering 147 from 79 balls against the Sydney Sixers, may have scored more runs than anyone else this season, but it’s his Melbourne Stars team-mate Glenn Maxwell who rates highest on our list alongside Adelaide Strikers’ Jake Weatherald.

Maxwell currently sits in third on the top run-scorers list (316) while Weatherald (293) has fallen down to seventh after leading the run-scoring early in the season. That said however, both players still remain in the uppermost quartile of run-scorers in 2019-20.

Maxwell, of course, rates highly in terms of scoring rate. The 31-year-old’s strike rate of 170.81 is the fifth-highest amongst those that have faced more than 25 balls and the second-highest by a batsman, behind only Tom Banton with Chris Lynn, Liam Livingstone and Mitchell Marsh also rating highly.

Weatherald sits just behind Marsh in terms of scoring rate however, his strike rate of 155.85 remains in the uppermost quartile of players that have faced more than 25 balls. In fact, his highest score this season of 83 came off just 47 balls at a strike rate of 176.59.

In a category you would expect Maxwell to dominate – boundary hitting – Weatherald (46) has hit more boundaries than Maxwell (39). Exactly 24.47% of deliveries Weatherald has faced this season have disappeared either to or over the rope with one scored every 4.09 balls faced. This places him third behind Brisbane Heat’s Tom Banton and Max Bryant.

Weatherald’s boundary hitting ability is on par with Maxwell, who has hit boundaries off 21.08% of deliveries he has faced with one scored every 4.74 balls faced. Furthermore, Weatherald has contributed a higher percentage of runs (24.91%) to his team’s totals than Maxwell. This demonstrates Weatherald’s, perhaps untold, value to the Strikers.

It could be argued that Maxwell’s contribution of 22.97% is less because he is in the same team as Marcus Stoinis (34.74%). Maxwell comes out to bat after Stoinis and, therefore, has less to do because Stoinis has done most of the work. However, Weatherald’s team-mate Jonathan Wells (24.83%) also rates highly which again displays that Weatherald is a valuable asset for the Strikers.

The Golden Bat award is an admirable if not gimmicky accolade intended to acknowledge the best performing batsman over the course of the Big Bash League season. However, we believe that in Twenty20 a batsman cannot be judged solely on the basis of run-scoring.

That’s why our version of the Golden Bat award takes scoring rate, boundary hitting and versatility into account as well in order to acknowledge and reflect the batsman who has been the most consistent across the tournament. And at just past halfway, those players are Glenn Maxwell and Jake Weatherald.

Leading Run-Scorers or Golden Bat Award

1.Marcus P STOINIS (Stars) – 478 (A)

2.Shaun E MARSH (Renegades) – 319 (B)

3.Glenn J MAXWELL (Stars) – 316 (A)

4.Beau J WEBSTER (Renegades) – 310 (A)

5.Mitchell R MARSH (Scorchers) – 307 (A)

Viper Cricket Most Complete Batsman

(Categories: Runs/Strike Rate/Boundary/Contribution)

=1.Glenn J MAXWELL (Stars) – A (A/B/A/A)

=1.Jake WEATHERALD (Strikers) – A (A/B/A/A)

=3.Mitchell R MARSH (Scorchers) – A (A/B/B/A)

=3.Tom BANTON (Heat) – A (B/A/A/B)

=5.Beau J WEBSTER (Renegades) – A (A/C/B/A)

=5.Chris A LYNN (Heat) – A (B/B/A/B)

=5.Liam S LIVINGSTONE (Scorchers) – A (B/B/A/B)

=5.Josh P INGLIS (Scorchers) – A (B/B/A/B)