Sports coverage can be lost in the day to day events so this did fill a gap in the market, and it was never a chore. There’s not a lot that makes a chap feel his advancing years more than recognising that he maintains an enduring and strangely passionate attachment to cricket. I particularly enjoyed the focus on IPL team building as that seems to fit with the 'nomics' factor well. Part history, part data analysis, part reflection on the sport’s future, Crickonomics is exactly what the title suggests – a diagnosis of the state of professional cricket through the lens of data analysis economics. This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use.

Some of the statistical sections got a bit too much for me, although others will be fascinated by them. For example, I found the investigation into discrimination against black players in South Africa interesting (average performance declined for black players when the quota levels were increased) but the more narrative led chapter on the rise of smaller Asian nations was another that grabbed my attention.

In general, the chapters based in other countries intrigued me more as I knew less about them, while the stories were told well. His books include Soccernomics, Money and Football, National Pastime, Playbooks and Checkbooks and Winners and Losers.

A contest that may last five days, including several stretches where no runs are scored and indeed nothing much happens, and still ends in a draw. That said, it does draw on many lessons from other sports and may well be of interest to those with a wider interest in sports development.Crickonomics explores all of this and much more – including how Jayasuriya and Gilchrist transformed Test batting but T20 didn't; English cricket's great missed opportunity to have a league structure like football; why batters are paid more than bowlers; how Afghanistan is transforming German cricket; what the rest of the world can learn from New Zealand and even the Barmy Army's importance to Test cricket. It’s an interesting question (as are many of the questions in the book) and the authors produce lots of data to answer it: analyses to check whether it is true and not just a stereotype (it is true) and several tables of data analysing all sorts of things to do with the issue. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial.