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.
Why a cricket bat has a sweet spot, and where it is
A bat is a spring made of willow, and one place on the blade returns most of the energy. Modern bats did not get heavier — the good part got bigger.
Why run rates rose in every cricket format at once
Test cricket scores twenty per cent faster than it did in the 1990s and nobody changed a rule. Six causes arrived together and the bats are only one of them.
Duckworth-Lewis-Stern, explained without the table
Why a side chasing in 34 overs is not chasing two thirds of the target, and why revised targets that look harsh are usually correct.
A batting average is not runs divided by innings
The most misread number in cricket. Why not-outs are subtracted before the division, and what that does to a finisher's career figure.
Strike rate means nothing without the format beside it
A strike rate of 75 is exceptional in one format and unplayable in another. What the number measures, what it ignores, and the only way to read it.
Why there is no money in WicketYaari, and never will be
No entry fees, no prizes, no wallet, no accounts required. The law that made it necessary, and the reasons we would have chosen it anyway.
Sourav Ganguly by the numbers, and the one that gets left out
113 Tests, 7,212 runs and an average of 42.17, next to a captaincy record that those batting figures completely fail to explain. Both are true.
Eden Gardens 2001 — what the scorecard actually says
India followed on 274 runs behind and won the Test by 171. The scorecard explains how they did it, and it is stranger than the highlights suggest.
The history of cricket in ten moments that actually changed it
Not a list of famous matches. Ten points where the sport itself became something different, from the first Test to the T20 money that rewrote the calendar.
How lbw actually works in cricket, decision by decision
Leg before wicket is four questions asked in a fixed order, and most arguments about it are really arguments about which question the umpire stopped at.
Every way a batter can be out, including the ones nobody sees
Ten methods exist in the Laws. Four account for almost everything, three are rare, and three have been given so seldom they are trivia.
The Decision Review System explained, step by step
What happens between a player tapping out a T and a decision appearing on the screen, including why umpire's call exists and who really owns a review.