Interactive: Sorry West Indies, you're up against the best Black Caps side. Here's why

New Zealand bowler Trent Boult gets the wicket of Australian Mitchell Starc at Eden Park last month. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Who are the greats of one-day cricket? You get to decide when you use the Herald’s stunning interactive graphic that maps the achievements of every cricketer to have played at least 20 ODIs. Use the graphic to refine your search by country, name or even birthplace.

New Zealand's current batting line-up is shaping as New Zealand's best, and they have the stats to prove it.

But where would it sit among current line-ups?

Isolate the Black Caps batting on the Herald's interactive below and find the dots that represent their preferred top seven for this World Cup. They are all towards the upper right of the graph, just where you want them to be.

How does the interactive work? scroll to end of article for instructions

The two spots sitting highest and proudest belong to numbers six and seven, Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi. Both have strike rates above 120 runs per balls, while maintaining averages well into the 30s. By both historic and New Zealand standards, this is a remarkable achievement.

Move to the far right of the graph and you'll find Glenn Turner, with his proud average of 47. The next two in line, however, are New Zealand's brilliant three-four punch, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor. Both have maintained 40+ averages while striking at more than 80 - again, a remarkable achievement.

The remaining three batsmen, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum and Grant Elliott figure highly. Guptill has the sixth highest average (37.53) of any New Zealander to play more than 20 ODIs and is still striking at 80+. McCullum has the seventh highest strike rate (93.87) and a 30+ average, which is strong given he has played 68 ODIs batting No 7 or lower. Elliott has a solid 75+ strike rate and 30+ average.

Intriguingly, there is one dot that stands out as somebody who would be distinctly useful in this line-up, and that's he who should not be named but has the initials JR. His 95+ strike rate and 30+ average put him among New Zealand's best.

Overlay the rest of the world onto New Zealand's chart and Ronchi and Anderson still stand out, with only Australia's Glenn Maxwell comparable in terms of maintaining a high average while scoring at a strike rate of more than 120. West Indian Andre Russell has a higher strike rate, but averages less than 30.

Towards the far right, other modern-great greats emerge from the pack.

Interestingly, Australia has a lot of very good players, but no statistical "outliers" among the current crop.

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni both average more than 50 while striking at 89, which is a good reason why India are expected to be at the sharp end of this tournament.

Even more potent are the South African pair of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers, who strike at more than 90, while carrying averages of 56 and 53 respectively (David Miller is also easy to find).

They're coming to Eden park next week, hopefully to meet New Zealand. The battle lines are drawn.

How does it work?

The interactive measures the strike rates and averages of every batsman, and the economy rates and averages of every bowler, and is a detailed illustration of how cricket has changed, particularly since the advent of T20 cricket.

The interactive is fiendishly simple and loaded with information. On the batting graphic, we have the player's average on the horizontal axis, and strike rate on the vertical. On the bowling chart, the average is horizontal, the amount of balls bowled on the vertical, while there is a separate section for economy rates.

The dots are colour-coded by country, or you can click on the menu bar on the right to isolate a single country. In the search bar, you can isolate players by birthplace.

We have put two qualifiers in place. For batting, you must have played at least 20 ODIs; for bowling you must have delivered at least 1200 balls (200 overs).

If you isolate, for example, New Zealand's batting statistics from the overall group, you should immediately notice two "outliers" on the vertical axis. Hover over the dots and you will see they belong to current Black Caps Luke Ronchi and Corey Anderson. Both are striking at more than 120 runs per 100 balls and have maintained averages in excess of 35.

That places them in esteemed company on a global scale, with only West Indian Andre Russell able to match their strike rates, while still falling well short of their averages.

So are they among the greatest ever? Well no, obviously. With just 70 ODIs between them, the sample size is too small to place them on the shelf with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Hashim Amla, but if by some miracle they are still playing some years from now and their stats have not waned, then yes, they will be in the conversation.

But, roughly speaking, if you divide the graphic into four equal quadrants, the winner has to come from the top right category. This where you find your Tendulkars, Virat Kohlis, Pontings and Brian Laras. It is also where you find AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla, perhaps the best top-order duo at this World Cup.

For more coverage of the Cricket World Cup from nzherald.co.nz and NZME check out #CricketFever.