Hitting Against the Spin: How Cricket Really Works

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The last chapter in particular was exceptionally interesting, with the author actually having been involved with the team, but ended abruptly. Some key takeaways were matchups, line and lengths for specific, bowlers and batsman it really showcases well how the stats help cricketers now optimise for success. These changes have in turn led to a growing success for left-handed batters, increased overall batting averages and induced finger spinners to bowl around the wicket far more often. Lots of interesting data-based insights (eg which grounds favour bowling first, the efficacy of different batting strokes and bowling variations against each other, the changes T20 has brought to the game, and yes, the advantage of hitting against the spin) which makes for a fun read.

Also absorbing is an examination as to why there are a disproportionate number of left handed batsmen at Test level in some countries. The only cricket book they had that I didn’t already own was this one, so that meant it was the one I picked up. It will deepen your understanding and answer or illuminate some of the most arcane questions in cricket. Hitting Against the Spin’ is an object lesson in how to use data and analytics to elucidate the science and structure of cricket.

This is a fascinating and wonderful book about the use of statistics in cricket, which reveals some surprising truths which have only been revealed over the last few years since the widespread use of Hawkeye. The overwhelming impression you get at the end of this is that this remains a science in its infancy, and there’s scope for lots more of this sort of thing. One other super interesting insight was the IPL auction and the simulations people would go through to make that work. Thoroughly enjoyed this book as a cricket fan and it revealed so much about the game that I hadn't even noticed or even considered. One way of viewing this book is as cricket's A Brief History of Time , a layman's guide to deep complexity, an act of communication as much as one of science.

Unlike a lot of data writing in football, which can be patronising and dismissive of other elements of the game, this book made clear from the outset that data isn't necessarily the gospel, albeit its importance in cricket is growing.It's focus is on using economics-style quantitative analysis to explain trends and developments in modern cricket. And describing the dip from Tom Curran’s back-of-the-hand slower ball is fascinating, but the unit of measurement of acceleration is ms2, not ms-2. Leamon may be entirely correct, and he may even be legitimately entitled to claim a little of the credit for England's victory in 2019. Seeing the title of this one, coupled with the appearance on the front cover of scribbled mathematical formulae, I immediately realised its content would probably be outside of my comfort zone. This is really well-written; despite moving from simple to complex quickly, the explanations are good enough that you rarely have to re-read anything.