Hitting Against the Spin: How Cricket Really Works (2024)

5 out of 5 stars is not enough.

This book is awesome and delves really deeply into the game and I loved it.
I didn’t feel it could be given 5 stars as there’s so many editing mistakes, like graphs randomly being duplicated or not having labels so you couldn’t understand them, hopefully there’ll be a 2nd edition which sorts all these things out, would recommend

A very interesting book! Uneven in places: the acknowledgements say ‘if not for the pandemic it would have been a better book’ and I think that’s true. It’s credited to two authors but at least one chapter has an authorial “I” and you have to deduce that’s Nathan. There are duplicated graphs and indeed incomprehensible ones, and ones that do not imply what the authors clearly think they do. For a book that claims to be heavy on statistical analysis, it doesn’t give anything like enough weight to probability or take enough account of the counterfactual.

And yet it’s still great, just because this is so massively unlike most sports books. What if it wasn’t about teamwork, or inspiring coaching or captainship? What if it was just about understanding what the data tells us and then doing that? What are all the different sorts of ways that data can be used to play, coach and manage the game differently, and what happens when you use it in that way?

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.

Interesting book. I’d be tempted to give it 5 stars but I think this book is good because it is quite unique rather than it being brilliantly executed.
Some really interesting analysis particularly the chapters on line and length, spin bowling, and the toss in test matches
Think the book could’ve used a better editor. Some of the graphs are pretty pointless whilst some of them are misleading (the graph on page 280 annoyed me).

8/10

“Stats are for prats.” Some interesting stuff, a lot of stating the obvious.

"James held degrees in both English and Economics, and the ability to articulate the world of one with the words of the other was key"

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.

I loved this right from the opening chapter! A good analyst isn't just good at data crunching but also at weaving stories with those data points. 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. There are so many things I loved in the book, and I'll just list them out randomly :

- The pattern of World Cup winning teams - top 2 in batting, top 2 in win percentages in the years leading to the final, and experience (a core that has played 80+ matches) - and how England were topping these going into their fairytale run in 2019

- I loved how ideas we can grasp easily when pointed out were masterfully laid out. One of the examples is of how there's a need to develop a language for T20. Test cricket while being a team game is largely long sequences of individual battles, but T20 is closer to other team games like football and basketball, where a team can follow a particular style and strategy without much regard to individual performances. This allows teams to go all aggressive for example. Leamon argues that there is currently no language to distinguish these tactics like a football 4-4-2 system for example

- Loved that the book is updated enough to talk about the 2019 World Cup (that was 2 years ago!), and yet talks of Australia's 32 year unbeaten Test run at Gabba (:D)

- The rise of left handers and why India doesn't produce enough of them was quite insightful, and so was the discussion of swing, line, length, and the vagaries, beauty, and relevance of spin in general and wrist spin in particular in the slam bang age of T20

Recommended for those who wouldn't mind a bit of numbers in reading cricket stories. Leamon had exhibited his skill in storytelling through his novel 'The Test'. 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. 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. I loved it!

Pretty good and easy to read. The only gripe is that some of the topics could have used more detailed analysis. 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.

Similarly there are a couple of places where something mentioned in passing in a chapter goes against the details in some other chapter. Would have been interesting to see those sort of competing theories discussed more.

An extremely nerdy read for cricket obsessives, but shorn of the game's most romantic, idiosyncratic & personal aspects. It's focus is on using economics-style quantitative analysis to explain trends and developments in modern cricket. It provided some genuine insights into T20 cricket tactics in particular. 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. 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. It also had some good points casting doubt on the game's most common pundit cliches (e.g. 'always bat first if you win the toss', or 'fast bowlers need to pitch the ball up'). It's a good introduction to how teams worldwide now use data analysis to get an edge over their opponents.

An excellent book on data analytics and how to approach complex problems. I've been a (very) casual fan of cricket for the past 20 years or so - watching the Ashes when England have a good team and found the insights fascinating.

A great read that summarises well some of the complexities of the game in an easy way to understand.

Alongwith Tim Wigmore’s “Cricket 2.0” and “Talking Cricket” by Cricinfo, the best book on cricket analysis in the past few years !

Fascinating observations.

Superb book for those interested in learning how analytics is helping cricket today

This is fucking great. If you have any interest in the intersection of data and sport this is a must-read.

(My one criticism is that the book is inconsistent in defining terms/acronyms, and some graphs are difficult to interpret because they’re insufficiently described. I’d like to see a second edition which fixed those issues and was slightly friendlier to the layperson.)

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.

I'm a mild cricket fan, which is probably the minimum entry level for access to the book, but anyone who reaches that level will love the book, and for real cricket fans it qualifies as a must-read.

What sets the book apart is the quality of the communication. It was co-written by a statistician on the England cricket team named Nathan Leamon, who'd previously written what I think is the best fictional work I've read about sport, 'The Test: A Novel', a book so good that even my cricket-loathing wife enjoyed it. Leamon really knows how to grab a reader's attention.

The book explores some genuine curiosities, such as why over half of opening batsmen at Test level are now left-handers, why that's not the case in India and Bangladesh, and why this preponderance has surged in recent years. The answers to these questions lie in issues as diverse as pitch speeds, the LBW rule, neutral umpires, Hawkeye and DRS.

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).

The second section of the book explores the limited-overs game. It raises one particular issue I'd never previously considered but which is obvious once pointed out. Test cricket is effectively a series of individual battles, the accumulated results of which decide the outcome of the game. Limited overs cricket, on the other hand, is a much more team-oriented activity in which the outcome of a match is as likely, if not more likely, to be determined by the team's tactics as by the performance of any individual. As such, coaching in Test cricket is more akin to coaching in individual sports such as golf or tennis, whilst coaching in limited-overs cricket is closer to the determination of team tactics one associates with team sports like football and rugby.

Strangely, the book contained only one reference, and a tangential one at that, to Duckworth-Lewis, a subject which I'm sure would have warranted an entire chapter of its own. Perhaps I'm wrong about that and that Duckworth-Lewis warrants an entire book. Either way, I look forward to Nathan Leamon's next book.

Cricket is my favorite sport. In keeping with my age, upbringing and general nerdiness, I generally mean First class cricket and, in particular, Test cricket. Much of this book is, indeed, devoted to the greatest expression of the game (in my view) and there is much to learn here even for a student of the game, or at least someone who takes more than a passing interest. How left handed openers have benefitted from DRS for example wasn't something that ever would have occurred to me.

However. 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. 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. Especially fascinating was how spinners in general, and leg spinners in particular, have thrived in T20 which wasn't at all what was predicted. Why that should be is all explained here in minute detail.

I loved "Moneyball" and now I live in the US, Baseball is my favorite Stateside sport. 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. This is fairly easy to read although I do think it is aimed at those with a fairly deep interest in the game. There is nothing wrong with going to a T20 bash a few times a season, having a great time and then forgetting all about it and never watching Test cricket, but if that is you, this may not be of interest. 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.

I do feel I know more about the game - I didn't even realize there was a dearth of left-handed batters in India for example and looking into those things is, to this cricket nerd at least, a fascinating diversion into, with apologies to football, this most beautiful game.

Would have been brilliant if it wasn’t for the serious discussions about hit-and-giggle cricket. 3/5

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. As someone who is a great fan of cricket and has a large knowledge of cricket it was rare to find a book that challenged my perceptions of how the game operated.

However, I was initially disappointed as the first chapter covered one-day cricket. I was hoping for a serious discussion and here I had analysis on a dumbed-down version of the game!

I was thinking of giving up then and there but persevered and how glad I was that I did! The next few chapters were fantastic, analysing in great detail some massive trends in the game. Most importantly the discussion was all about the real thing, Test 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. Things like how batting first shouldn’t be a fait accompli and until 2014 was actually a losing tactic (on average), how neutral umpires caused batting averages of the best batsmen to increase and helped left handers, why left handers have it easier against pace, right handers against spin. Quite amazing conclusions, all backed up by thorough analysis.

By now I was hooked and was looking forward to the final few chapters of the book when I was presented with an analysis and discussion of the dumbest, most unsophisticated form of cricket, T20. If the discussion of ODIs was dull, the discussion of T20s was annoying and downright insulting! It was like analysing the songs of Justin Bieber alongside the works of Beethoven and Bob Dylan or Uwe Boll alongside Stanley Kubrick!

If Chapters 1 and 10-14 were left out this book would be excellent, a 5/5.

I did wonder if this would work, as coverage of cricket is already quite stats heavy, but I needn't have worried. This looked at wider trends on basic aspects of cricket, like the mode of dismissal over time in Test cricket, to deeper stats like average by small pitch area.

It was split into longer form cricket and T20, although the authors made a convincing case that they are very different in terms of approach and risk-taking. Unglamorous as it sounds, big changes in trends could be traced to rule changes and unintended consequences - better umpiring meant that better batsmen got better averages and left-handed batsmen were given out lbw less, and are consequently over-represented in the top order. And interestingly England, the land of fair play, actually did have less biased umpires before neutral umpires were mandated in international cricket.

Every book of this sort needs its quotable quirks, and this one had tethered cats and Chesterton's fences. Unlike The Numbers Game these weren't overplayed though, and most of the book was just an exploration of interesting trends. Chapters were often linked to specific seasons or teams, which meant they had relatable case studies and weren't just abstract, and there was also less extrapolation of what could happen in future. 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.

Despite being a fairly stats-based book it was very easy to read and I found it fascinating, and it acknowledged the limits of analysis too. I wouldn't recommend it if you didn't follow cricket or thought Geoffrey Boycott was a brilliant analyst but it started off well and kept my interest to the finish. There were a couple of things to correct like the labelling of some charts and a more intuitive naming of T20 styles but along with the Duality chapter these were very minor gripes.

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 findings are in line with conventional cricketing wisdom but add a lot of value with granular breakup of data. 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).

Along with Wigmore-Wilde's Cricket 2.0 (that focuses exclusively on T20), this is a must read to properly understand modern cricket.

Some good insight from authors who are actually well informed. Quite technical with a lot of graphs and stats, so the book to get if you're after that sort of thing.

Some segments, mostly the segments regarding test cricket seemed unnecessarily padded out. Whereas some of the sections, mostly regarding T20 could have had a bit more depth imo. The last chapter in particular was exceptionally interesting, with the author actually having been involved with the team, but ended abruptly. (Due to COVID)

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. When statistics tells you a story, there is a different euphoria to have read it. This is one of those books that combines literature with economics.
For me, it changes the way I see cricket!

Book is published during Covid stage, hats off to that. 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. Assuming, BazBall will stay, I hope the authors come up with the second edition telling us exactly how this changed Cricket. :)
I will read that one too..

I would recommend it to cricket nerds and readers who want to understand the mechanics of the game a little better. AFAIK there aren't many stats/data-driven cricket books in the market (other than Cricket 2.0). So amidst all the anecdote-driven cricket books, this is a breath of fresh air.

In most parts, the book explains the roots of conventional wisdom. In a few instances such as 'hitting against the spin', it revisits the traditional narratives. The best parts for me in the book were regarding the dissection of test bowling.

i would say its basically a read about the whole england preparation of worldcup, then it flies to the generatiosn from where cricket has begun in those good old days, why test cricket has its own importance, what cricket has been through and how every element of cricket fits in the way it is.
Then it dives through the roles of batsman and bowlers played till the present day of cricket. Deep analtics on various aspects of cricket.
Finally, it whirls to the T20 dilemma and how it is tranforming cricket into a Moneyball era.

It was good to have a gist on the analytical aspects of the cricket.

Footbalistics / moneyball for cricket. 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. Was quite surprised at how much data is on file to be analysed, even from as far back as the 1800s, and I'm sure this area will only continue to grow

Very enjoyable and readable book for the cricket fan. Very likely you will learn something from this regardless of how many years you've played, coached or watched cricket in all its forms.

Only criticism was boring and tiresome final chapters on the IPL and PSL as these chapters will date very quickly, provide little insight to take away with for future thinking and sort of filler stories.

Overall 4/5.

Awesome book. Essentially soccernomics but cricket.

As a sport fan, it was incredibly insightful to see how data and technologies have and are being used in cricket to discover past trends about the game. 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. Would recommend this book to any cricket fan or any fan of data-analysis in sport.

Filled with data from cover to cover, which I am generally not a fan of, but with cricket, it's fine. 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. Filled with anecdotes from some figures who have been at the forefront of the data-related changes in cricket in the past decade and that's when the reading gets lively.

This was really great really interesting and having just seen moneyball the comparisons were really interesting.

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.

One other super interesting insight was the IPL auction and the simulations people would go through to make that work. A fascinating insight!

A fascinating book about the use of data in cricket. I find sports data intriguing, but I’m often limited in understanding by not being great with numbers and thanks to learning disabilities I find it very hard to read and understand tables. There’s lots of both of these in this book, but they’re usually well interpreted and cleats imp. I only occasionally found myself confused, and overall it’s a really good read for anyone who’s interested in his cricket is developing.