Every card
The numbers.
Every idea, clinic chunk and captain's call, with the number underneath if there is one. Twenty four have a source. Fifty three do not, and those stay empty. Nearly every figure is from professional men's Tests or T20, not junior cricket.
Mind (twenty seven) · Batting (zero) · Bowling (zero) · Fielding (zero) · For my son (six) · The clinic (seven) · Team & captain (sixty six)
How to think
Twenty seven cards, in the order they sit on the page.
Down the left of each card: the thing itself, what goes wrong, what to do, how to win with it
Preparing
Practise the match, not the drill
Anxiety is the price of an unprepared mind.
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe, Clemens Tesch-Römer, Psychological Review, 1993. Paraphrase.Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Make practice harder than the game
Mark Cosgrove's dad used to throw at him hard as a boy. Face something quicker and nastier than you will meet on Saturday, and Saturday feels slow.
Same literature (desirable difficulty). Cosgrove anecdote is coaching.
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe, Clemens Tesch-Römer, Psychological Review, 1993. Paraphrase.Face something nastier than Saturday. Saturday feels slow.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Do what most people your age are not doing
That is the whole advantage, and it is available to anyone who wants it. Nobody is stopping you.
No stats source yet.
Talent is not the thing
Stuart Barnes is honest about why he did not make it as a professional, and it is worth listening to precisely because it is not a highlights reel.
Ericsson vs innate-talent debate. Stuart Barnes is honest memoir, not data.
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe, Clemens Tesch-Römer, Psychological Review, 1993. Paraphrase.Listen because it is not a highlights reel.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Why, what, where, when, who and how
Why are you at training?
Practice that feels good is nearly always practice at something you can already do. Twenty cover drives off a gentle feed is a nice half hour, and next Saturday will be exactly the same as last Saturday.
Ericsson: practice that stays inside already-mastered skills does not improve performance.
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe, Clemens Tesch-Römer, Psychological Review, 1993. Paraphrase.Twenty cover drives off a gentle feed is a nice half hour. Saturday will be the same.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
What are you working on?
One thing. Pick the fault that is costing you the most and leave the rest alone until that one is gone, because you cannot think about five things while a ball is arriving at you.
One fault. Working memory / one-cue card. No cricket multi-cue RCT opened.
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe, Clemens Tesch-Römer, Psychological Review, 1993. Paraphrase.Pick the fault costing the most. Leave the rest.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Where does it have to work?
The nets will lie to you. A machine and a throwdown mostly arrive at the stumps or the pads, which is exactly where a swing across the line pays, so the fault gets rewarded every ball for a month and then stops paying on a Saturday against somebody bowling at fifth stump.
No stats source yet.
When, and how often?
Half an hour on a Tuesday and again on a Thursday beats three hours on Saturday morning. What you are building is a habit, and a habit is made of repetitions spread out rather than piled up.
Spacing effect is one of the most replicated findings in learning science. Not a cricket trial.
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe, Clemens Tesch-Römer, Psychological Review, 1993. Paraphrase.Half an hour Tuesday and Thursday beats three hours Saturday morning.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Who is feeding you?
Whoever is throwing at you is half the session. Somebody who only gives you what you like is company, and company is not practice.
No stats source yet.
How will you know it worked?
Decide before you start what would count, and make it something you can see rather than something you can feel. Not hitting it better. The toe of the bat crossing the line on the ground on eighteen balls out of twenty.
Deliberate practice requires a measurable criterion. The "18/20 over the line" is the site's example, not a published threshold.
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe, Clemens Tesch-Römer, Psychological Review, 1993. Paraphrase.Decide before he starts what would count, and make it visible.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Process, and being good at failing
Trust the process, get the prize
Judge an innings on whether you did the right things, not on the number next to your name. Did I watch it? Was I still? Did I play late? Answer those honestly and the runs arrive on their own schedule.
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe, Clemens Tesch-Römer, Psychological Review, 1993. Paraphrase.Did I watch it? Was I still? Did I play late? The runs arrive on their own schedule.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Be genuinely fine with missing
If you never fail you are not attempting anything. Being okay with failing actually makes you fail less, because you stop spending the next ball thinking about the last one.
The 11.2 false-shots number is the statistical half in professional men's cricket. Accepting error is how an innings uses those eleven.
S Rajesh, ESPNcricinfo, 2019-08-21. Paraphrase.If he never fails he is not attempting anything. The next ball cannot be about the last one.
Top order Test batters edge or miss about eleven balls for every time they get out. Being beaten is normal at every level.
Losing is part of winning
Not a consolation, a mechanism. The people who win most have lost most, and have looked hard at every one of them instead of away.
No stats source yet.
Think about what you gain, not what you lose
Fear points at the thing you are trying to avoid, which is exactly where you then hit it. Point at what you want instead, and trust the technique you have practised.
Ponting "think about scoring runs, don't think about getting out" (ICC, on the site). Ironic-process / avoidance-cue literature is psych, not cricket stats.
Ricky Ponting, reported by Ben Sutton, 7NEWS / Channel 7, 2026-08-22. Quoted.Fear points at the thing he is trying to avoid.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Your game face
A competitive persona you can put on deliberately. Two or three action words, sometimes with an animal or a player attached. It is not fake. It is a description of who you need to be once the game starts.
No stats source yet.
Flow, and getting back to it
Flow is not luck. It has conditions: a clear task, no scoreboard in your head, and complete attention on the thing in front of you. You can rebuild those conditions on purpose.
Csikszentmihalyi 1990: clear task, attention on the thing, challenge-skill balance. Not a cricket flow-percentage.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow (Harper), 1990. Paraphrase.He can rebuild the conditions on purpose.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Copy on purpose
If somebody in front of you is doing it, physics says you can too.
Sources page already corrects Landy: 46 days after Bannister, not six weeks. Historical fact, not cricket analytics.
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe, Clemens Tesch-Römer, Psychological Review, 1993. Paraphrase.Knowing it is possible is most of the job. Use the corrected gap.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Being coachable is a skill
It is a skill exactly like the cut shot is a skill, and you can get better at it. It is also much rarer, which makes it worth more.
No stats source yet.
Form
Stay on the track as long as you can
When you are in form, you have a clear view of what is coming, room to move, and time to see the danger. Do not wander off it casually assuming you know the way back.
No stats source yet.
Practise on a different track
The nets are a different track. Useful, but there is only one track that counts, and that is match day. Stay on it as long as you can, and enjoy being there.
Specificity again (Ericsson). Match day is the track that counts.
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe, Clemens Tesch-Römer, Psychological Review, 1993. Paraphrase.Nets are useful and they are not Saturday.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Know your own way back
When you get lost, it is hard work hacking out of the scrub. Remember how you got back last time, and go to the five levers. That memory is the most valuable thing a batter owns.
No stats source yet.
Write it down while it is working
The day it all feels easy, stop and write down what you were actually doing.
Cameron Green time capsule, on the site. Coaching metacognition.
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe, Clemens Tesch-Römer, Psychological Review, 1993. Paraphrase.The day it feels easy, write what he was actually doing.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Pleased, never content
Enjoy a good day properly. Then go back to work, because the weeds started growing the moment you stopped looking.
No stats source yet.
Team
You win and lose as a team
Everybody does something they wish they had not, and that is fine, because the greatest do. Don Bradman was bowled for a duck in his final Test innings, needing four runs to average a hundred.
Bradman bowled for 0 in his last Test innings, 99.94 career average — Statsguru / every almanack. The point is not the number; it is that the greatest still fail in public.
This Sport Life (Statsguru extract), thissportlife.com, 2025-01 (page; Tests 2000–Jan 2025). Paraphrase.Everybody does something they wish they had not.
Bradman finished with a Test average of 99.94 and was bowled for nought in his last innings.
Talk, constantly
Between overs, between balls, from the non striker's end. Information nobody says out loud is information the team does not have.
No stats source yet.
Standards, stacked daily
Culture is not a speech. It is a small number of standards that everybody actually keeps, repeated until a hard day feels normal.
Cummins / Flower material on CAPTAINS-RESEARCH.md. Culture-as-repeated-standards is leadership writing, not a cricket stat.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.A small number of standards everybody actually keeps.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Trust first, not last
Ricky Ponting told every group the same thing: you do not have to earn my trust, you have it until you lose it. Be yourself, play your way, and feel good about yourself every day.
Ponting, attributed on the site. Not a trust-inventory study.
Ricky Ponting, reported by Ben Sutton, 7NEWS / Channel 7, 2026-08-22. Quoted.He has it until he loses it. Be yourself.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
The rest of it
Six cards, in the order they sit on the page.
The things that are not about technique
Be brave, and sometimes we make mistakes
That is what makes us better. A brave mistake is worth more than a safe nothing.
11.2 false shots per dismissal is the number underneath a brave mistake in professional men's cricket. Morgan's reckless/fearless distinction (unquoted; CAPTAINS-RESEARCH.md) is the moral half.
S Rajesh, ESPNcricinfo, 2019-08-21. Paraphrase.A brave mistake is worth more than a safe nothing. Not a licence to slog.
Top order Test batters play 11.2 false shots for every time they get out. The best in the world are beaten eleven times an innings and keep going.
Nobody in life is too good to have manners
Not one person. Not ever. This is the easiest thing on the whole site and it counts more than any of it.
No stats source yet.
Do not get too high or too low
Six off the last ball, bowled off the next. The player who stays level in both is the one still batting at the end.
No stats source yet.
Never give up
Games turn on somebody deciding it is not over. Hat tricks happen to teams who have already stopped trying.
No stats source yet.
Be a great team mate
You cannot bat alone, field alone, or bowl without fielders. If you tried, it would just look funny.
No stats source yet.
Mental strength is trained, not issued
Nobody hands it to you at birth. It is built in the boring parts, on the days when nothing is going well.
Ericsson again. Mental skills are practised in the boring parts.
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe, Clemens Tesch-Römer, Psychological Review, 1993. Paraphrase.Nobody hands it over at birth.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
One fault at a time
Seven cards, in the order they sit on the page.
You are standing open
Where your chest is pointing
Open means the chest faces the bowler; side-on means it faces square leg.
No separate clinic statistic. The numbers that justify the clinic are Test dismissal shares (caught 61.5%, bowled 17.0%, lbw 16.8%) and Leamon's 22.6 good-length average — he is getting out to balls that are not that ball.
This Sport Life (Statsguru extract), thissportlife.com, 2025-01 (page; Tests 2000–Jan 2025). Paraphrase.The badge-vs-sleeve check is the diagnostic. Same geometry as the open-stance batting lesson.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
It is scoring you runs
The open shape scores to leg, which is why it lasts.
No separate clinic statistic. The numbers that justify the clinic are Test dismissal shares (caught 61.5%, bowled 17.0%, lbw 16.8%) and Leamon's 22.6 good-length average — he is getting out to balls that are not that ball.
This Sport Life (Statsguru extract), thissportlife.com, 2025-01 (page; Tests 2000–Jan 2025). Paraphrase.Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
It cannot come down straight from there
Arms hang off the chest; chest at midwicket means the bat crosses a straight ball.
No separate clinic statistic. The numbers that justify the clinic are Test dismissal shares (caught 61.5%, bowled 17.0%, lbw 16.8%) and Leamon's 22.6 good-length average — he is getting out to balls that are not that ball.
This Sport Life (Statsguru extract), thissportlife.com, 2025-01 (page; Tests 2000–Jan 2025). Paraphrase.This is why edges and the gate appear. Dismissal shares sit on the batting cards.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Neither of them was a good ball
Bowled and lbw off straight ones, not the 22.6 ball in professional men's cricket.
No separate clinic statistic. The numbers that justify the clinic are Test dismissal shares (caught 61.5%, bowled 17.0%, lbw 16.8%) and Leamon's 22.6 good-length average — he is getting out to balls that are not that ball.
This Sport Life (Statsguru extract), thissportlife.com, 2025-01 (page; Tests 2000–Jan 2025). Paraphrase.He is getting out to balls Smith would put away. That is the clinic.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
A captain will work this out
Midwicket fills; off side empties; two overs.
No separate clinic statistic. The numbers that justify the clinic are Test dismissal shares (caught 61.5%, bowled 17.0%, lbw 16.8%) and Leamon's 22.6 good-length average — he is getting out to balls that are not that ball.
This Sport Life (Statsguru extract), thissportlife.com, 2025-01 (page; Tests 2000–Jan 2025). Paraphrase.No tracking needed. The field is the tell.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Change your shoulder, not your hands
One cue: front shoulder at the bowler.
No separate clinic statistic. The numbers that justify the clinic are Test dismissal shares (caught 61.5%, bowled 17.0%, lbw 16.8%) and Leamon's 22.6 good-length average — he is getting out to balls that are not that ball.
This Sport Life (Statsguru extract), thissportlife.com, 2025-01 (page; Tests 2000–Jan 2025). Paraphrase.Same as idea-point-the-front-shoulder-down-the-pitch.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Six drills, in this order
The Saturday morning sequence already on the page.
No separate clinic statistic. The numbers that justify the clinic are Test dismissal shares (caught 61.5%, bowled 17.0%, lbw 16.8%) and Leamon's 22.6 good-length average — he is getting out to balls that are not that ball.
This Sport Life (Statsguru extract), thissportlife.com, 2025-01 (page; Tests 2000–Jan 2025). Paraphrase.Drills, not statistics. Film from in front is the test.
Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
How to captain
Sixty six cards, in the order they sit on the page.
How we want to play
We play like we chose to be here
Pat Cummins keeps saying the same thing about the Australian side. Keep it fun, because fun is why everybody started playing, and it is what gets the best out of people and makes them work as a side.
No statistic on this principle. Provenance of the quotations is CAPTAINS-RESEARCH.md. Morgan reckless/fearless remains unquoted (752 Guardian quoted runs, none of them that sentence). Fleming remains Jordan-on-Fleming.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
You are allowed to fail
Eoin Morgan changed England by telling players it was fine to fail. Go and be as brave as you can, and when it does not come off nobody is going to make you pay for it.
No statistic on this principle. Provenance of the quotations is CAPTAINS-RESEARCH.md. Morgan reckless/fearless remains unquoted (752 Guardian quoted runs, none of them that sentence). Fleming remains Jordan-on-Fleming.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Brave has a plan. Silly does not
This is Morgan’s own distinction. Reckless is doing something you would never normally do with no method behind it. Fearless is the same shot with a method behind it.
No statistic on this principle. Provenance of the quotations is CAPTAINS-RESEARCH.md. Morgan reckless/fearless remains unquoted (752 Guardian quoted runs, none of them that sentence). Fleming remains Jordan-on-Fleming.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Everybody knows their job
Stephen Fleming has won more T20 titles than any other coach by doing something unglamorous. Find what a player is good at, give him one clear job, and back him long enough to get good at it.
No statistic on this principle. Provenance of the quotations is CAPTAINS-RESEARCH.md. Morgan reckless/fearless remains unquoted (752 Guardian quoted runs, none of them that sentence). Fleming remains Jordan-on-Fleming.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
We do not accept ordinary, and we do not grind each other down
Andy Flower won three Ashes by refusing to accept ordinary from anybody. He was a hard coach and the standards were the whole of it.
No statistic on this principle. Provenance of the quotations is CAPTAINS-RESEARCH.md. Morgan reckless/fearless remains unquoted (752 Guardian quoted runs, none of them that sentence). Fleming remains Jordan-on-Fleming.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Stand & clarify
Clarify is saying what good looks like before the first ball. Where you field. What this over is for. The warmup counts, and so does the last ball. If you cannot say the job, ask.
No statistic on this principle. It is ours: how we name a standard and hold it. No quotation, by design.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Coaching, not a cricket statistic.
Batting, and the runs are coming
Batting, and the runs are coming — They are bowling wide and short and we are helping ourselves
Their captain moves two fielders and it stops. Free runs always stop, usually inside two overs.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the runs are coming — One of us has hit three fours in an over
A bowling change, and a field with two more men back. The next over will be a maiden if you let it.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the runs are coming — Both openers are in and nothing has happened
This is the best position in cricket and the easiest to throw away. Wickets in the first ten overs come from boredom more than from good balls.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the runs are coming — We are scoring fast but somebody has been dropped twice
He gets out. A batter who has been dropped twice is playing at balls he should be leaving, and the third one carries.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the runs are coming — It is coming easily and the pitch is doing nothing
They will find it just as easy. A flat pitch does not belong to whoever batted first.
No stats source yet.
Batting, with a partnership going
Batting, with a partnership going — They have put everybody on the boundary and the fours have dried up
The run rate falls without a wicket falling, and in ten overs you are behind without having done anything wrong.
Date T20s since 2016: boundary attempt is a priced trade (2.26 vs 0.97 runs; 11.8% vs 3.2% wicket) in professional men's cricket. The 40-dot / 65% line is unverified. Junior: ones vs fours is the same trade at a smaller scale.
Kartikeya Date, ESPNcricinfo (CricViz T20s since 2016), 2020 (story 1240901). Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Batting, with a partnership going — They have brought both spinners on and we have stopped
A quiet ten overs, then somebody tries to break out and gets stumped.
No stats source yet.
Batting, with a partnership going — One of us is scoring and the other cannot get off strike
The one who is stuck plays a shot he does not own, and you lose the wrong batter.
No stats source yet.
Batting, with a partnership going — We are ahead but the light is going or rain is coming
The game gets cut short and the total you have is the total you get.
No stats source yet.
Batting, with a partnership going — We are well ahead of where we need to be
Somebody decides the game is won and gets out playing a shot he would not play at four for none.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the game is nearly yours
Batting, and the game is nearly yours — We need a handful of runs and have wickets in hand
Somebody tries to finish it with a six and gets caught, and the next two come in nervous.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the game is nearly yours — We are setting a total and the last overs are here
Two wickets in three balls and you finish twenty short of where you were heading.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the game is nearly yours — We are ahead but two new batters are in at the end
The rate drops just when it needed to climb, because two people are playing themselves in with no time to do it.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the game is nearly yours — Their best bowler has overs left and is coming back
Four quiet overs at the end, and a chase that was easy becomes tight.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the game is nearly yours — Nothing is wrong and there is nothing to do
Nothing, which is the answer. Most of captaincy is knowing when the game does not need you.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the wickets have gone early
Batting, and the wickets have gone early — Three have gone in the first four overs
A fourth follows inside two overs. Wickets come in clusters because the next batter walks in already believing it.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the wickets have gone early — One bowler has taken all of them
He bowls out his spell and takes two more, because nobody has worked out what he is doing.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the wickets have gone early — We have run somebody out and it has rattled us
Another one. A side that has run one out runs two out, because the next call is made by two people who no longer trust each other.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the wickets have gone early — The pitch is doing more than we expected
The whole order gets out the same way, one after another, because nobody has changed anything.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the wickets have gone early — It is a big game and we have frozen
You get bowled out for a total nobody in the side would have predicted, and everybody says afterwards that they were fine.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the runs have stopped
Batting, and the runs have stopped — We have had two overs with almost nothing off them
A wicket. Dot balls do not stay dot balls: the pressure comes out as a shot somebody did not mean to play.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the runs have stopped — They have set a field and we are hitting it
You keep hitting to the same two fielders until one of them catches you.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the runs have stopped — A bowler nobody can get away has come on
He bowls his whole spell for almost nothing and the required rate climbs the whole time.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the runs have stopped — We have lost two while going nowhere
You end up thirty short with four overs unused, which is the most annoying way to lose.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and the runs have stopped — We are behind the rate and nobody has said so
Panic at the end. Ten overs of quiet becomes five overs of slogging, and that gets four people out.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and needing more than you are getting
Batting, and needing more than you are getting — It is hard but the number is still reachable
You leave it too late and need eighteen off the last over, which is a lottery you usually lose.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and needing more than you are getting — The number is out of reach and we all know it
The side plays out the overs, learns nothing, and everybody goes home flat.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and needing more than you are getting — We need runs and we have two wickets left
One shot ends it. With two left the innings is one ball from over, whatever the rate says.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and needing more than you are getting — Their best bowlers are bowling the last overs
Three quiet overs and the game finishes without a finish.
No stats source yet.
Batting, and needing more than you are getting — We need a lot and we have wickets in hand
Nothing, unless somebody starts. Wickets in hand are worth nothing at all if the overs run out with them unused.
No stats source yet.
Bowling, and the wickets are coming
Bowling, and the wickets are coming — Both openers have gone to the new ball
Their best batter comes in and settles, because everybody relaxes the moment the openers are gone.
Kimber 2018: three Powerplay wickets → 67% T20 win (76% PSL). First-over wicket ≈ −12 expected first-innings runs. Junior start is "the first few overs", not a professional Powerplay.
Jarrod Kimber, ESPNcricinfo, 2018-03-15. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and the wickets are coming — One bowler has all of them and is running out of overs
You take him off, the scoring restarts, and he comes back at the end when they are already away.
Kimber 2018: three Powerplay wickets → 67% T20 win (76% PSL). First-over wicket ≈ −12 expected first-innings runs. Junior start is "the first few overs", not a professional Powerplay.
Jarrod Kimber, ESPNcricinfo, 2018-03-15. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and the wickets are coming — They have collapsed and their tail is in early
The tail hangs around for ten overs, adds forty, and the game turns into a normal one.
Kimber 2018: three Powerplay wickets → 67% T20 win (76% PSL). First-over wicket ≈ −12 expected first-innings runs. Junior start is "the first few overs", not a professional Powerplay.
Jarrod Kimber, ESPNcricinfo, 2018-03-15. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and the wickets are coming — The pitch is doing a lot and anybody could bowl
It stops doing it. Pitches do most of their moving in the first hour.
Kimber 2018: three Powerplay wickets → 67% T20 win (76% PSL). First-over wicket ≈ −12 expected first-innings runs. Junior start is "the first few overs", not a professional Powerplay.
Jarrod Kimber, ESPNcricinfo, 2018-03-15. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and the wickets are coming — We are miles on top and there is nothing to fix
Somebody gets bored, a catch goes down, and the batter who was gone on nought makes forty.
Kimber 2018: three Powerplay wickets → 67% T20 win (76% PSL). First-over wicket ≈ −12 expected first-innings runs. Junior start is "the first few overs", not a professional Powerplay.
Jarrod Kimber, ESPNcricinfo, 2018-03-15. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and they cannot score
Bowling, and they cannot score — We have bowled a lot of dots and nothing has happened
A wicket, if you hold it. Dot balls are wickets that have not arrived yet, and in professional T20 sides bowling forty or more dots in an innings win most of the time.
Date T20s since 2016: boundary attempt is a priced trade (2.26 vs 0.97 runs; 11.8% vs 3.2% wicket) in professional men's cricket. The 40-dot / 65% line is unverified. Junior: ones vs fours is the same trade at a smaller scale.
Kartikeya Date, ESPNcricinfo (CricViz T20s since 2016), 2020 (story 1240901). Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and they cannot score — A new batter has come in and cannot get off strike
He gets out, or he gets away. It depends on the next eight balls, not the next eight overs.
Date: dominant Test sides take twenty wickets. Junior equivalent: bowl them out, do not sit on a total.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and they cannot score — One of them is stuck and the other is scoring
They work it out and the good one takes the strike. Then you have a problem you did not have.
Date: dominant Test sides take twenty wickets. Junior equivalent: bowl them out, do not sit on a total.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and they cannot score — It is working but our best bowlers are running out of overs
The squeeze ends when they do, and the last ten overs go for twice the rate of the first twenty.
Date: dominant Test sides take twenty wickets. Junior equivalent: bowl them out, do not sit on a total.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and they cannot score — They have started taking risks to get out of it
A wicket, and soon. A batter who has decided to break out has already decided to hit somebody, and it will be to a fielder if you put one there.
Date: dominant Test sides take twenty wickets. Junior equivalent: bowl them out, do not sit on a total.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, with runs to play with
Bowling, with runs to play with — They need a lot and have wickets in hand
They send the hitters up and have a go. It usually fails, and when it does it fails quickly.
Date: dominant Test sides take twenty wickets. Junior equivalent: bowl them out, do not sit on a total.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, with runs to play with — They need a lot but two set batters are still in
Two set batters can find twelve an over for three overs. The game is closer than the required rate makes it look.
Date: dominant Test sides take twenty wickets. Junior equivalent: bowl them out, do not sit on a total.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, with runs to play with — We are ahead but our bowling is nearly used up
Somebody has to bowl four overs at the end who has never bowled at the end, and it goes for thirty.
Date: dominant Test sides take twenty wickets. Junior equivalent: bowl them out, do not sit on a total.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, with runs to play with — We keep giving them wides and no balls
Extras win the game for them. In junior cricket extras are often the highest score on the card, and they come almost entirely at the end.
Date: dominant Test sides take twenty wickets. Junior equivalent: bowl them out, do not sit on a total.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, with runs to play with — They need very few and cannot get them, or so it looks
One over changes it. A team needing very few with wickets left is never as beaten as it looks.
Date: dominant Test sides take twenty wickets. Junior equivalent: bowl them out, do not sit on a total.
Kartikeya Date, A Cricketing View, 2021-08-31. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and they are away
Bowling, and they are away — They are scoring quickly and we have not bowled badly
It settles. A fast start on a good pitch usually slows down on its own once the ball stops being new.
Kimber 2018: three Powerplay wickets → 67% T20 win (76% PSL). First-over wicket ≈ −12 expected first-innings runs. Junior start is "the first few overs", not a professional Powerplay.
Jarrod Kimber, ESPNcricinfo, 2018-03-15. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and they are away — We are bowling badly and they are helping themselves
It gets worse. A bowler who has lost his length in junior cricket does not usually find it in the same spell.
Kimber 2018: three Powerplay wickets → 67% T20 win (76% PSL). First-over wicket ≈ −12 expected first-innings runs. Junior start is "the first few overs", not a professional Powerplay.
Jarrod Kimber, ESPNcricinfo, 2018-03-15. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and they are away — One batter is doing all of it
He gets a hundred and the game is gone by the twentieth over.
Kimber 2018: three Powerplay wickets → 67% T20 win (76% PSL). First-over wicket ≈ −12 expected first-innings runs. Junior start is "the first few overs", not a professional Powerplay.
Jarrod Kimber, ESPNcricinfo, 2018-03-15. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and they are away — We have dropped two catches already
You drop a third. Catching goes in the head, not the hands, and it spreads across a fielding side fast.
Kimber 2018: three Powerplay wickets → 67% T20 win (76% PSL). First-over wicket ≈ −12 expected first-innings runs. Junior start is "the first few overs", not a professional Powerplay.
Jarrod Kimber, ESPNcricinfo, 2018-03-15. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and they are away — It has got loud and nobody is talking to each other
The next twenty minutes go the same way, because a field that has stopped talking has stopped thinking.
Kimber 2018: three Powerplay wickets → 67% T20 win (76% PSL). First-over wicket ≈ −12 expected first-innings runs. Junior start is "the first few overs", not a professional Powerplay.
Jarrod Kimber, ESPNcricinfo, 2018-03-15. Paraphrase.Order on a Saturday: what happens if nobody changes, the one captain call, the job for the other ten. That order is the site's, not a model's.
Bowling, and a partnership is set
Bowling, and a partnership is set — We have tried everything and nothing has worked
They bat to the end. A partnership that survives the middle overs usually decides the game.
No stats source yet.
Bowling, and a partnership is set — They are milking singles and never in trouble
They accelerate at the end from a base you gave them, and the total is sixty more than it should have been.
No stats source yet.
Bowling, and a partnership is set — One is a left hander and we keep changing the field around
You lose an over of concentration every time they cross, and they use it.
No stats source yet.
Bowling, and a partnership is set — Our best bowlers have bowled and they are still there
The rest of the attack gets picked off and the rate goes up in the last ten.
No stats source yet.
Bowling, and a partnership is set — They have started playing shots they were not playing
A wicket. A set batter who has changed how he is batting has given you the first thing you have had for an hour.
No stats source yet.
Bowling, and they need very few
Bowling, and they need very few — They need very few and have most of their wickets
They win. This is the honest answer, and the game is now about how you play the last twenty minutes rather than the result.
No stats source yet.
Bowling, and they need very few — They need very few but their tail is in
One wicket and the whole thing changes. A tail chasing a small number gets out more often than anybody expects.
No stats source yet.
Bowling, and they need very few — It comes down to the last over
Six balls decide it, and the side that has thought about it beats the side that has not.
No stats source yet.
Bowling, and they need very few — They need very few and we have gone quiet
The last overs go past without anybody making anything happen, and you lose without playing.
No stats source yet.
Bowling, and they need very few — It is gone and there are overs left
Nothing, unless you decide otherwise. This is time nobody can take off you.
No stats source yet.