Hitting Against the Spin: How Cricket Really Works

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This was really great really interesting and having just seen moneyball the comparisons were really interesting. It raises one particular issue I'd never previously considered but which is obvious once pointed out. Although I never want to get hooked on the shorter versions of the game, they are often tremendously exciting and it is to the authors' credit that they address this form of cricket at some length. For those brought up with the mantra that when a captain wins the toss he should either decide to bat immediately, or alternatively think about inserting and having done so then choose to bat, that is another part of the game that is deconstructed and then put back together again after the changing trends over time have been examined.

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. There are some lovely insights from data on how cricket has changed and yet how orthodoxies have remained. I can only assume this was an attempt at taking readers through ideas step-by-step, but it leads to pages and pages of unnecessary visuals that break up the flow of the writing.There are charts and graphs and, as others have mentioned, some of these don't really enlighten me very much but one needs them in a book of this type.

My interest in T20 has heightened after reading the chapters about data analysis in t20 tournaments which seem to create the best circumstances for data driven insight in cricket. An example looks at the importance, or not, of bowlers maintaining a good length as opposed to a full length. I was immediately struck by the fact that, to their credit, Leamon and Jones clearly appreciate that there will be many like me, and their introduction is very well crafted. In test cricket the two most revolutionary changes appear to have been the introduction of neutral umpires and the Hawkeye ball tracking technology to review LBW decisions.But as you read the book it becomes increasingly clear that Leamon is not a great analyst--he has much more in common with the innumerate fools. 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.