'They're getting better and better...'

'The players are getting better and better' says Mickey Arthur on a regular (too regular) basis in interviews.

So while acknowledging that statistics perhaps don't give the full picture, they are the currency by which a cricketer is judged and I thought I would look at the figures for 2025 and 2026

They make interesting reading ...

Player               2025 average       2026 average

Came                     38.3.                      25.1

Reece                    64.3.                      36.2

Montgomery        75                           27.1

Jewell.                  48.0.                      22.3

Guest.                   36.1.                      22.1

Dal.                       28.1.                      18.7

Andersson.          49.6.                      41.3

Madsen.              57.91                      38.05

Aitchison.            21.5.                       25.7

Chappell.             22.9.                       29.8

So of the regular players, only two BOWLERS, Ben Aitchison and Zak Chappell, improved their batting average, year on year. 

Montgomery had one innings for Notts last year 

Bowling? 

Player.                   2025.                    2026

Aitchison     19 at 33.                   58 at 20

Andersson.   9 at 54.                   23 at 30

Chappell.     34 at 37.                  14 at 40

Dal                19 at 30.                  11 at 27

Reece.          50 at 19.                   8 at 23

Potts                                              13 at 37

Haydon.                                         22 at 22

So two bowlers improved dramatically, while the last three had seasons badly disrupted by injury. Haydon emerged as a bright talent, while Potts, who didn't play red ball last year, had an encouraging summer and earned a new 2-year deal. 

I think Chris Wright can be pleased with his input in a first season as bowling coach. Meanwhile Ben Smith appears to have a lot of work on his plate to repair broken confidence and techniques.

In short, regardless of what they do in the gym or the nets, how many they hit and where they hit them, the statistics don't lie. 

They aren't getting better.

But we knew that, didn't we?