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You’ve only got to listen to an interview with England’s lead analyst Nathan Leamon from June 2021¹ to realise that for years cricket, like other sports, has been awash with data. Every ball, hit, catch, wicket and run is recorded to “reveal things you can’t see with the unaided eye”.

However, despite the wealth of available data behind the scenes and pitch-side, England’s Test performance has declined, although in the shorter forms of the game performance seems to have been fairly consistent.

Could it be that the Test team are suffering from data overload, with much more time to pore over it, and without the ability to structure or use a framework to turn the data into meaningful and useful information?

According to research, although decision-makers increase their information processing with an increase in information load, once capacity is surpassed, additional information becomes noise and results in a decrease in information processing and decision quality.²

Thinking analytically is crucial to efficiently and effectively diagnose any problem and recommend a course of action, whether personally or for clients. Never more so in a high-pressure environment when everyone is looking to you to provide a response.

For over 30 years, Openside has been teaching the Analytical Thinking Process as part of Consulting Skills Development for consulting and professional services clients. In the last decade, internal strategy and advisory teams and their organisations have also benefited from Analytical Problem Solving to help them diagnose problems and provide actionable recommendations.

¹ England’s lead analyst Nathan Leamon explains the role of data and analytics in cricket ? – YouTube

² (Wang, M. (1999). Information dimension, information overload and decision quality. Journal of Information Science, 47(3).