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. 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?

Assuming, BazBall will stay, I hope the authors come up with the second edition telling us exactly how this changed Cricket. Seeing the title of this one, coupled with the appearance on the front cover of scribbled mathematical formulae, I immediately realised its content would probably be outside of my comfort zone. Similarly there are a couple of places where something mentioned in passing in a chapter goes against the details in some other chapter.

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. Hitting Against the Spin is the story of that data, and what it can tell us about how cricket really works. Some of the graphs are pretty pointless whilst some of them are misleading (the graph on page 280 annoyed me).

This acclaimed title is one such and only now has curiosity got the better of me and persuaded me to pick up a copy. 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. 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. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. 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.Revolutionary in its insights, Hitting Against the Spin takes you on a fascinating whistle-stop tour of modern cricket and sports analytics, bringing cricket firmly into the twenty-first century by revealing its long-kept secrets. 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. Very likely you will learn something from this regardless of how many years you've played, coached or watched cricket in all its forms.