They found that if you looked at three metrics in the years preceding a World Cup, they were strong predictors of how well a team would do at the World Cup. These three metrics were run rate (runs scored per over) in the 2 years before the World Cup, winning percentage in the 2 years before and total number of matches each of the players had played. This is the problem with Tethered Cats. Sometimes, a perfectly reasonable response to current circumstances becomes a habit, then a tradition, then an article of faith that outlives the circumstances that created it. We rarely question what we know to be self-evidently true, particularly when everyone else is doing the same thing. And so, the bias towards batting first seems to have outlived the circumstances that created it by several decades (175).

Humility, doubt, nuance, opening ourselves to the challenge, admitting the paradox of duality, these are necessary tools (171). We are all loss averse, genetically programmed to be, and straying from the accepted path carries a twofold risk, firstly the increased failure rate of the innovation, and secondly the increased criticism and loss of standing that will accompany any failure (72). – Shooting 3 points, running on 4th down, reverse sweep.” When doing data analysis, you can then look to objectively prove whether a longstanding idea is a tethered cat or a fence.If you’re interested, you can find more of my batting footwork tips in the post linked here! Try To Play ‘With The Spin’ More Often Than Not The more shots you can play against a spinner, the harder it is for them to bowl to you. It also makes it harder for the opposing captain to set a field for you! I also knew that both authors were heavily invested in statistics and analysis. Never forgetting the fearsome struggle I had as a teenager to pass ‘O’ Level physics I have always tended to steer clear of anything scientific, and that was another factor that put me off.

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.Why is this? The answer is simple enough. At heart I am a traditionalist, and like my books to fall into predictable genres, such as biographies, autobiographies, tour books and history books. 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. In the words of Johan Cruff: Choose the best player for every position, and you’ll end up not with a strong XI, but with strong 1s (301).”