Hitting Against the Spin: How Cricket Really Works

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There are duplicated graphs and indeed incomprehensible ones, and ones that do not imply what the authors clearly think they do.

Oversimplifying a bit - the book is about analytics in the game and how data helps identify certain trends that the naked eye misses. The book covers a wide spectrum, from aspects which would be of interest to people with no knowledge of cricket whatsoever - the section on poker and risk-theory would fascinate anyone - to aspects which were even too nerdy for me as a moderate cricket fan (though had I sat down and studied them in just a little more detail then I would probably have found them just as interesting as the rest of the book). Very likely you will learn something from this regardless of how many years you've played, coached or watched cricket in all its forms. As much as I find the zenith of the game to be Test match cricket, it is undeniable that the white ball game, and in particular T20 has had a major and compelling impact since it's inception.I could have done without the flowery Oppenhemier and Duality chapter and like Trent Boult I will extravagantly leave alone Leamon's cricket novel if I see it. Some of them are counter-intuitive and highlight how the "glorious uncertainties" of the game can now be quantified for the perceptive fans (and team managers). 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. This is fairly easy to read although I do think it is aimed at those with a fairly deep interest in the game. 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.

Obviously there are some parallels to cricket and the statistical revolution really changed the game here so to see similar ideas be applied to my favorite game obviously interests me greatly. Hitting Against the Spin' is an object lesson in how to use data and analytics to elucidate the science and structure of cricket. Easy to read and packed with illustrative diagrams, it manages to be both enjoyable and accessible to the newcomer who wants to understand the game better, and also shocking and absorbing to the expert. In their path-breaking book, Nathan Leamon and Ben Jones use data to show that many of our preconceptions are false and reveal astonishing new insights into international cricket. There were some great profundities, many of which you’d think people should already know, but don’t, and which captains, coaches, selectors and players should be using to their advantage, but aren’t.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. Some of the graphs are pretty pointless whilst some of them are misleading (the graph on page 280 annoyed me).

I’d like to see a second edition which fixed those issues and was slightly friendlier to the layperson. There are some lovely insights from data on how cricket has changed and yet how orthodoxies have remained. Amazingly detailed and analytical review of how cricket has changed over the years, how it is being played and how deep thought is now assisted by deep analysis.Some of the content that follows is pretty technical, and there were a few passages I struggled with, but that says more about me than about the way the book is written.

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. They also explore the new world of franchise cricket as well as the rapid evolution of the T20 format. 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. The traditional opener at Arundel has long been dispensed with, sadly, but Kent will be one of the few counties to entertain the tourists. You might be surprised to also know how big a role data is already playing in decision making in cricket.But the argument in the first chapter on "how to win a world cup" was a pretty ordinary qualitative one--I kept waiting for the data that would redeem it.