Rich Abbott is new here, and a young aspiring writer. Don’t flame him too readily yet
Andy Flower (quoted in yesterday’s Telegraph): “I think there is scope for looking at the statistics side of the game and using it more intelligently. If you look at some of the stats the Americans compile and study – and they have been professional for a lot longer than we have – that is something we have to exploit if we are going to be better than other countries.”
Interesting noises from England’s head coach, and ones which got me thinking about one of the best sports books I’ve ever read, Michael Lewis’s Moneyball. It’s about baseball, but don’t let that put you off – I thoroughly recommend it.
I knew next to nothing about the sport when I read it – couldn’t tell my Babe Ruth from my Barry Bonds and thought A-Rod was a tennis player – but it didn’t matter, because it’s a great story.
In true American fashion, the book boasts a movie-trailer tagline: ‘The art of winning an unfair game’. It’s unfair in that the team in question, the Oakland A’s, could not match the giants of the sport for money or resources, and therefore, results. That began to change when Billy Beane took charge.
He may sound like a member of the Bash Street Kids, but Beane turned out to be one of the most open-minded and influential general managers in the sport’s history.
He was prepared to go against perceived wisdom and the advice of almost all of those around him, and began to employ an objective method of statistical analysis called Sabermetrics. Though originally viewed with suspicion by the establishment, Beane’s success with this new use of numbers has now ensured it a worthy place in the stats-obsessed Baseball Operations departments of the top teams.
For all the databases and number crunching, essentially, Moneyball is a story about a coach who was prepared to think outside the crease, question elements of traditional analysis and remain a step or two ahead of his competitors. Admirable qualities, and – it seems – ones shared by the head coach of the England cricket team.
Welcome Rich. Look forward to reading more of you.
Big difference between Moneyball and Flower is that Billy Beane used statistics primarily to identify value for money, so that he could buy cheap, under-rated players who would turn out to be stars. Money isn’t a problem for Flower, but he does still need to spot those who people might be surprised are selected but who somehow have the right stuff. In a way, this is a very Duncan Fletcher thing. Who would have thought that Strauss, Tres and Anderson would have turned out so well!
I totally agree. Beane was working with a funds defecit, while you could say that Flower is working with a talent defecit (compared with the big guns). The situations are different – Flower can pick whoever he wants, providing they’re English (or in some cases even if they’re not!) The main thing is that he’s willing to gain the extra one or two per cent advantage over his competitors by going down untried/undiscovered avenues. I think there’s particular merit in enhancing statistical analysis in T20s, seeing as the format is still in it’s infancy.
Of course you have freedom of speech. I just felt you were being ungracious to a newcomer, that’s all. Good manners cost nothing. Let Rich settle in for a bit and then you can start ripping the piss and calling him boring.
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