Cricket Stories — Data-Driven Journalism

Featured

Tactical Analysis

Why Bazball Changed England’s Run Rate Forever

In 2022, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum transformed England’s Test batting. The run rate rose from 3.1 to 4.4 per over — the steepest acceleration in Test history. We chart every innings to find where aggression ends and recklessness begins.

10 min read

The Ashes at Lord’s: 142 Years of Data

Since 1884, England and Australia have played 38 Tests at Lord’s. We map every result, every century, every five-wicket haul across 142 years to find whether the “home of cricket” actually helps England.

14 min read

Research

How The Hundred’s Impact Shows in County Championship Batting

Since The Hundred launched in 2021, County Championship scheduling compressed into two split blocks. We compare pre-Hundred and post-Hundred batting averages, first-innings totals, and draw rates to see whether fatigue and overlap are measurable in the data.

9 min read

Data Trend

Bowling Economy in Test Cricket: A 30-Year Trend

Bowling economies in Test cricket have risen from 2.6 per over in the 1990s to 3.4 in the 2020s. Is this Bazball? Flat pitches? Shorter boundaries? We decompose the data decade by decade and isolate the variables.

11 min read

Structural

The County Championship: Does It Still Produce Test Cricketers?

In the 1990s, 84% of England debutants had 50+ County Championship caps. By 2025, that figure dropped to 41%. We trace the pathway from county cricket to international selection and ask whether domestic cricket’s role has changed forever.

12 min read

Venue Analysis

Six Venues, Six Personalities: How English Pitches Shape Test Results

Lord’s favours batsmen. Headingley favours seamers. Edgbaston produces results. We build a venue personality profile from 50 years of pitch data — slope, bounce, swing, turn.

8 min read

Tactical Analysis

Spin in England: Why Wrist Spinners Now Average Under 30

Finger spinners dominated English cricket for decades. But since 2018, wrist spinners in County Championship cricket have averaged 28.4 compared to finger spinners’ 34.1. We investigate what changed — surfaces, coaching, or selection?

9 min read

Historical

The Bodyline Series Revisited: What Modern Data Tells Us

The 1932–33 Ashes remain cricket’s most controversial series. We reconstruct Jardine’s leg-theory strategy using modern wagon-wheel analysis and short-ball frequency data to understand just how extreme it really was.

15 min read

Data Trend

Partnership Data: Why Stands of 100+ Have Declined 18% Since 2015

Century partnerships in Test cricket have dropped from an average of 4.2 per series in 2010–15 to 3.4 in 2020–25. Bazball gets the blame, but the data shows a global trend. We investigate.

10 min read

Tactical Analysis · 10 min read

Why Bazball Changed England’s Run Rate Forever

In 2022, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum transformed England’s Test batting. The run rate rose from 3.1 to 4.4 per over — the steepest acceleration in Test history. We chart every innings to find where aggression ends and recklessness begins.