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Flower’s stat attack
By Rich Abbott last year, at the start of November, 6 Comments »
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.
6 Comments »Trescothick’s bangers mashed
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of October, 3 Comments »
If Marcus Trescothick was attempting to prove cricketers’ natural hand-eye co-ordination could allow them to switch to other sports – namely baseball – then it didn’t really work. In a match held at Taunton for his benefit year, Trescothick’s side of Somerset-cider-swiggers and some England players lost 21-1 to the Great Britain side. A trouncing. A whalloping. A whipping. But some interesting snippets came of the event, as told by the American-sounding (but who I think is British)
3 Comments »In cricket, fielders have decisions to make when throwing the ball but unsure how to reconcile their instinct with a foreign sport, Trescothick’s men rushed throws to incorrect locations. “When we play cricket we know the percentages when we throw it in from the field,” Giles said after pitching two innings and conceding 11 hits and 14 runs, although many of those runs were caused by defensive miscues. “It’s different with baseball.”
Stephan Rapaglia, the Britain coach, said after the contest: “The deficit is in the knowledge of the game. Many of these guys are capable based on arm strength, fielding ability and hand-eye co-ordination and could be pretty good at baseball after ten or 15 games.”
“Crazy Asian baseball”
By Will 4 years ago, at the end of December, No Comments; be the first!
I’m sure some Americans call cricket “crazy Asian baseball”. And that’s exactly what I thought when I read the headline of this Youtube video – until I watched it, however. I don’t know what in the name of WC Grace they’re doing, but it aint baseball and it sure as hell aint cricket.
Click here if you can’t see it above
No Comments »Street cricket in India
By Will 4 years ago, mid-February, No Comments; be the first!
This marvellous shot – and it is marvellous – is woefully let down by its photographer who rather shamefully refers to the boy hitting “a homerun.” Urgh. It’s like your parents and grandparents trying to learn teenage lingo, failing miserably, but insisting that they are cool…
No Comments »Baseball’s benefits: what can Cricket learn?
By Will 5 years ago, at the end of August, 5 Comments »
I was pointed to this excellent article, written by Martin Stabe, which has really got me thinking. He raises some interesting points about baseball and cricket; their similarities are obvious, but his emphasis on the importance fielding is worth discussion.
Martin mentions this article at The Independent (London), which says England have spilled 13 catches this summer to Australia’s six. Now, I find that surprising – not that I’m doubting the author’s integrity – because just as much time has been made in the media of Australia’s fumbles as England’s. Perhaps the British media, nay public, are fundamentally in shock at the Australian’s slipping standards, and equally blasé at England’s buttery fingers. Anyway, moving on…
Martin thinks cricket’s fielders look lazy and incompetent, compared to their baseball counterparts, and not solely due to the lack of gloves. I’m sure England have used baseball-style coaching methods in the past, but in these days of frenetic, manic cricket, surely a professional fielding coach should be called for?
My only complaint with Martin’s otherwise excellent piece, is this:
An error in the field might cost the fielding team just one run in both games, but while this is usually no more than a minor irritant in a cricket, it’s a catastrophe that could cost a team the game in baseball.
That, essentially, is the beauty of cricket, summed up in one fell swoop. While it might seem as though runs are meant to be made, and “mere singles” are perfectly permissable, saving runs has always been vital in cricket and is becoming more so in the modern era. We saw at Edgbaston, and indeed Old Trafford, in this summer’s Ashes that runs are painfully precious. The odd single here and there can just as easily, and tragically, cost a cricket side a game. Which only goes to emphasis the importance fielding now has upon cricket, and perhaps why more attention and time should be spent on practising its art.
So what is the general opinion? Should teams bring specialist fielding coaches on tours, along with batting and bowling specialists? I think this summer has shown just how vital they could be, although I’m reminded of some words I heard (Geoff Boycott’s I think – oh, no, it was one of the Chappells) the other day: “You learn to catch between 7 and 15.” I know I’ve been talking about fielding rather than catching, but the two are obviously closely linked. It makes sense, too – you do learn how to catch in that age-range. Right, enough waffle…
5 Comments »Breath a sigh of relief
By Will 5 years ago, mid-March, No Comments; be the first!
Everyone can now collectively breath a sigh of relief and don your “I’m superior than thou” cricket cap. Also reminds me of that posh lad from Kent, Ed Smith, who wrote a book on their similarities not long ago:
