Hitting Against the Spin

In an era of big-data, how are leaders in sport, business, politics and education supposed to use the power of this new tool productively? 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 the tradition of MONEYBALL, SOCCERNOMICS and INVERTING THE PYRAMID, it entertains whilst challenging preconceptions about cricket and lifting the lid on a wealth of ideas and details you never knew existed. HITTING AGAINST THE SPIN brings our understanding of how cricket works into the twenty-first century, showing which traditional ideas still hold in the cauldron of the IPL, and which need updating.

O How valuable is winning the toss? (And how should captains use it to their advantage?)

O Why does a cricket ball swing?

O Why are there so many left-handed batsmen in England and Australia, but not in India?

O What is a good length and why? How does it change by player and pitch?

O Why do all Test bowlers bowl at roughly 55 or 85 mph? And none bowl at 60-75mph?

From one of the world's foremost cricket thinkers - the man who first introduced modern data analysis to cricket, and has spent nearly a decade working in international cricket alongside some of the best players and coaches in the world - Nathan Leamon has written the book that no one else could write.