Hitting Against the Spin: How Cricket Really Works

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Every now and again a new book slips under my radar and, very occasionally, that is because I have allowed it do so. 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. Love how this covers both Test and T20 cricket though, even if I'd have wanted even more of the latter as, currently, it takes up just 25-30% of the book.

And interestingly England, the land of fair play, actually did have less biased umpires before neutral umpires were mandated in international cricket. Leamon and Jones start off this marriage of data and story with a demonstration of their field's contribution in England's fairytale transition from the outdated also rans to heralds of a new era in limited overs cricket - a journey that culminated in them being crowned champions at that final at Lord's in July 2019. For example, the chapter on left handed batsmen is brilliant but near the end, the analysis about spinners is rushed and the exclusion of leg spinners is handwavy which is funny because later leg spin gets its own chapter. I really wanted to like this book--to read about how one could use basic numeracy skills to get a deeper understanding of cricket, and explode some myths (or at least question some received wisdom) about the game.The answers to these questions lie in issues as diverse as pitch speeds, the LBW rule, neutral umpires, Hawkeye and DRS. Hitting Against the Spin' is an object lesson in how to use data and analytics to elucidate the science and structure of cricket. 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). Also, since the story of sports and evolution is relatable across different kinds of sports (and non-sports fields too), non-cricket fans could end up enjoying this book.

The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.One test of how well written any book on this sort of subject is how it goes about attempting to explain the mysteries of swing bowling and, more particularly, reverse swing.

I was intrigued by this book as it covered aspects of cricket that I hadn’t considered before and revealed stats that you wouldn’t expect.It’s credited to two authors but at least one chapter has an authorial “I” and you have to deduce that’s Nathan. But with this lack of attention to detail in the book, it is very hard to enjoy, and I find myself putting it down again after a few pages and a few charts. In this book, that skill was embellished with his primary job and that led to some insightful forays into the changing landscape of cricket, through the lens of data. It will deepen your understanding and answer or illuminate some of the most arcane questions in cricket. 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.

I only occasionally found myself confused, and overall it’s a really good read for anyone who’s interested in his cricket is developing. 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. However post-Covid, there has been changes how the cricket is played, Joe Root is reverse scooping in a Test Cricket and BazBall has arrived.

I did wonder if this would work, as coverage of cricket is already quite stats heavy, but I needn't have worried. He might as well have been talking about himself - a Maths graduate and professor who ended up as the analytical brains behind the 2019 title winning England team. Very likely you will learn something from this regardless of how many years you've played, coached or watched cricket in all its forms. Leading cricket thinkers Nathan Leamon and Ben Jones lift the lid on international cricket and explain its hidden workings and dynamics - the forces that shape cricket and, in turn, the cricketers who play it.