Cricket writing, from our own data
Cricket records, rules explained and notes on the daily puzzles. Written from our own dataset, never rewritten from a news site.
Adam Gilchrist by the numbers, and the position he rewrote
A Test average of 47.60 at number seven, at a strike rate no keeper had approached, which changed what every side expected from the position.
Anil Kumble by the numbers, and the ten-wicket innings
619 Test wickets from a leg-spinner who barely spun the ball, took his wickets with bounce instead, and is one of two men ever to take all ten in an innings.
Bad light in cricket, and how it is actually measured
There is no published light level that stops a cricket match. The meter records what the umpires decided, so play can resume at the same reading later.
Ball tracking, and how confident it actually is
Half of a ball-tracking graphic is filmed and half is a prediction, and umpire's call is the system stating exactly where its confidence runs out.
Brian Lara by the numbers, and the innings nobody has matched
11,953 Test runs, a 400 not out that still stands, and a 153 not out in a chase that is regularly named the best innings ever played.
Slower balls explained: cutters, knuckle balls and the carrom ball
Four ways to take pace off a delivery without changing the arm speed, plus the one on the list that is not a slower ball at all and never was.
Cricket ground dimensions, and why no two are the same
The pitch is fixed to the inch and the boundary is a range of twenty-five yards, which is why the same shot is six at one ground and caught at another.
Death bowling, and why it is the hardest job in cricket
The last four overs cost roughly three runs more per over than the middle, and the bowler is asked to do it with five fielders out and a set batter swinging.
Dew, and why it decides more night matches than rain
Dew makes the ball wet, the spinners harmless and the outfield fast, and it appears on no scorecard. At some grounds it is worth more than the toss.
Don Bradman by the numbers, and the four runs that mattered
An average of 99.94 across 52 Tests, which is roughly twice anybody else. He needed four runs in his last innings to finish on a hundred and made none.
Extras explained: byes, leg byes, wides and no-balls
Four kinds of extra, and the only distinction that matters is whether the bowler is charged for it. Two of them are, two are not, and the reason is fault.
Glenn McGrath by the numbers, and the length he never left
563 Test wickets at 21.64, taken almost entirely by bowling the same ball on the same spot for fifteen years, at a pace nobody would call fast.