Hitting Against the Spin

""He held degrees in both English and Economics, and the ability to to articulate the world of one, with the words of the other."" The writer here is Nathan Leamon and the subject is baseball pioneer Bill James. But Leamon (both a novelist and a data analyst) could just as easily be writing about himself. Leamon has a rare kind of high intelligence: he is open to all kinds of knowledge, not just scientific knowledge, and he understands which method is appropriate in which circumstance. Put differently, he is not only clever and original, but also wise * Ed Smith, National Selector for England cricket & author of What Sport Tells Us About Life * Fascinating and insightful . . . lifts the curtain to reveal the inner workings of international cricket. A must-read for any cricketer, coach or fan * Eoin Morgan * Sport has been revolutionized by data. In their path-breaking book, Nathan Leamon and Ben Jones use data to show that many of our preconceptions are false and reveal astonishing new insights into international cricket. Compulsory reading for fans, commentators, captains and players * Mervyn King * Deeply thoughtful, clever and open-minded . . . One way of viewing this book is as cricket's A Brief History of Time, a layman's guide to deep complexity, an act of communication as much as one of science. On that level it works beautifully well, engaging with concepts in attention-grabbing ways -- Jon Hotten * Wisden Cricket Monthly * Fascinating -- Steve James * The Times *