In cricket, a lot of things are talked about as gospel when they are in fact false.

What may surprise is that some of the things coaches tell us, areas of the game that would appear to make sense, don't stack up when put under the microscope.

For example, the idea of scoreboard pressure, maidens and preventing the boundary ball creating wickets is simply not true.

PHOTOSPORT.NZ Trent Boult has a terrific economy rate, but does it mean anything when it comes to wicket taking?

Well, for New Zealand bowlers at least.

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​Over the past two weeks, I compiled a data set looking at 749 wickets taken by New Zealand bowlers in test cricket between January 7, 2011, up until and including the most recent test match against South Africa.

REUTERS Tim Southee can't believe that maidens don't really lead to more wickets.

For each wicket, the previous bowler, previous over, previous five overs and the most recent boundary were catalogued.

The result is a comprehensive analysis of New Zealand's bowling performance over the past five years, putting end to a few cricketing myths.

Starting with scoreboard pressure, it is a commonly held thought that if you starve the opposition of runs, they will feel the heat.

That would lead to mistakes as the batsmen look to pick up the pace, and get the scoreboard ticking over. Wickets would fall.

Wrong.

Over the past five years, New Zealand have conceded 3.22 runs per over in test cricket. If pressure made any difference, we'd expect the run rate in the five overs leading up to a wicket to be lower, but that isn't the case.

In the five overs before a wicket was taken, the run rate New Zealand conceded was 3.32 RPO. When looking at the over before a wicket was taken, that run rate rises to 3.40 RPO.

There is no evidence that keeping the runs down leads to wickets. In fact, you could say that slightly looser bowling may lead to more wickets.

The same can be said for boundaries conceded.

In cricket, we often say that restricting the boundary ball will pressure the batsmen. Anyone who has stood in the middle knows the stress release of piercing the covers, or slamming the ball back over the bowlers head.

Well, unfortunately for that theory, the numbers don't stack up.

On average, New Zealand conceded a boundary every 14.52 balls in the past five seasons of test cricket. For the 749 wickets in our data set, the average number of balls to the last boundary is 14.08. It's actually lower.

What about maidens?

The idea is, if you bowl maidens, and even string a couple of maidens together, you'll press the batsmen into a heightened state of tension. With their nerves bundled, they'll make mistakes trying to score that elusive run.

Over the past five years, 20.38 per cent of overs bowled by New Zealand were maidens. Before a wicket was taken, however, the number of maidens bowled was 20.29 per cent, a slightly lower number.

All three signs of pressure are incredibly close to the average for the time period. Where the numbers were expected to indicate a tighter period of bowling, every single number actually edged the other direction.

There is one exception, but we'd need more data for a conclusive answer.

Growing up, cricket coaches tell young batsmen to focus harder after hitting a boundary. Once you've hit one, the thought is you can easily hit another. Often that gets you out.

That theory is a possibility.

If a boundary was hit once in every 14.52 balls, there is a 6.89 per cent chance that any ball will be belted to the boundary.

The percentage of wickets which came the ball after a boundary was scored is 8.28 per cent, a higher mark than chance would suggest.

Of the 749 wickets taken, we would expect 52 to have come one ball after a boundary was bowled. The number was 62, 10 more than anticipated.

The percentage then drops after two balls, to below 6.89 per cent, and drops even further after three balls were bowled.

Five balls after a boundary was hit is the only other time wickets fall more often than would be expected, with 54 opposition wickets falling, or 7.21 per cent of the 749 tallied.

That could mean something, but the other cricketing myths appear busted.