The Times - UK (2020-12-03)

the times | Thursday December 3 2020 1GM 71

Sport

There is no job description in sport
quite like that of a cricket captain. To
have any chance of doing well, the
successful applicant must fulfil the roles
of chief strategist, man-manager and
PR spokesman, while upholding their
own standards as a frontline performer.
In football, tactical instruction is
issued from the dugout by the manager.
In rugby, the coach sits in the stands to
gain a clearer view of proceedings,
miked up to pass messages down to the
touchline. But “cricket captains do not
have the luxury of being elevated above
the activity of those they lead”,
according to Mike Brearley, the former
England captain.
In this context, it is hardly surprising
that cricket coaches are attempting to
ease the burden by providing greater
tactical input from the dressing room,
armed as they are with high-tech
analysis tools.
There was nothing particularly high-
tech about the numbers and letters
hung over the England balcony to
inform Eoin Morgan’s decision-making
against South Africa at Newlands on
Tuesday, but the coded messages were
the result of sophisticated number-

the time. “We should embrace new

technology wherever we can,” he said.

“We must not pooh-pooh new ideas.”

It remains to be seen whether the

game embraces the ideas being utilised

by England, “a live informational

resource that the captain may choose to

use or ignore as he wishes”, according to

the ECB. Leamon has employed similar

methods before with Multan Sultans in

the Pakistan Super League, where

Andy Flower, the former England head

coach, was in charge. Flower explained

that it was meant to help the captain to

manage “match-ups” by using analysis

to get the tactics right for each batsman.

There are plenty of ways, of course, in

which messages are transmitted on to

the field. A drink or change of gloves

taken out to a batsman will often come

with advice, or a fielder on the bounda-

ry edge can be a similar conduit when a

team are bowling. In Tests, a captain

has been known to go off the field for a

toilet break, with the additional possi-

bility of soliciting advice from his coach.

Talk of match-ups calls to mind base-

ball, in which such forensic analysis of a

batter’s strengths and weaknesses has

long been part of the game. This year

baseball was rocked by the sign-stealing

scandal, in which the Houston Astros

were found to have cheated in previous

seasons by videoing the hand signals

Haas hand

Schumacher

debut drive

Formula One

Rebecca Clancy

Motor Racing Correspondent

Has use of data crossed the line?

crunching by Nathan Leamon, the

England analyst who works closely

with Morgan.

Morgan, in fact, looked less in need of

assistance than his opposite number,

Quinton de Kock, who was struggling

to keep aloft the different balls a captain

must juggle. When Lutho Sipamla, the

greenhorn seamer, was being taken

apart, he was in desperate need of an

arm round his shoulder or, at least,

some advice. Neither was forthcoming

from De Kock behind the stumps.

At that point Mark Boucher, the

South Africa coach, may have wished

that a previous attempt to transmit

information from the dressing room to

the captain, a scheme dreamt up by one

of his predecessors, had been more

successful. Boucher was the wicket-

keeper in South Africa’s 1999 World

Cup game against India at Hove, when

his captain, Hansie Cronje, was given an

earpiece by Bob Woolmer, the coach, so

that he could pass on advice. Had De

Kock been wearing such a device at

Newlands, Boucher would surely have

urged him to give a pep talk to Sipamla.

But the earpieces were swiftly

outlawed by the International Cricket

Council and have not been seen again,

much to Woolmer’s disappointment at

given by the catcher that indicate what

a pitcher will deliver. Coded messages

were then relayed on to the field by As-

tros staff banging on bins in the dugout.

In baseball, sign-stealing is consid-

ered an art form when it is done with

the naked eye. When artificial assist-

ance is employed, from the use of bin-

oculars in previous eras to a ruse in-

volving Apple watches used by Boston

Red Sox in 2017, the practice is severely

frowned upon. For their sign-stealing

offences the Astros were given the

heaviest punishment in MLB history.

A similar approach was taken to

Woolmer’s attempt to use earpieces.

While he could have legitimately

relayed his advice to his captain

through fielders on the boundary, the

use of a foreign device to perform the

same task was considered unpalatable.

Will England’s coded messages be a

sign of things to come? However much

elite performance may now be driven

by technological analysis, a line is often

drawn when the human essence of a

contest is in danger of being diluted. “In

the IPL, you have two tactical time-

outs for suggestions from analysts,” Jos

Buttler said. “But you have to be careful

how you use it. There has to be an

instinctive, intuitive side to the game.”

John Westerby England’s messages strictly a secret

England’s use of coded messages was

like watching Strictly Come Dancing,

Mark Wood admitted. The fast bowler

said: “We are always looking for new

ways to improve so maybe this is it,

the analyst gets hold of a scorecard

like [the TV dancing judge] Craig

Revel Horwood and then we’ve got

a new game show. I thought it was

shoe sizes at one point.”

Mick Schumacher, the son of the

seven-times world champion Michael,

will race for Haas in Formula One next

year. The 21-year-old has signed a

multiyear agreement with the

American outfit and will partner

Russia’s Nikita Mazepin, who was

announced on Tuesday.

It means a whole new driver line-up

for the team, as the incumbents

Romain Grosjean, who survived a

horrific crash at the weekend, and

Kevin Magnussen will not be retained.

Schumacher is leading the Formula

Two championship heading into this

weekend’s final two races. He will make

his Haas — and F1 weekend — debut in

Friday practice at next weekend’s Abu

Dhabi Grand Prix.

“The prospect of being on the grid

next year makes me incredibly happy,”

he said. “I also want to extend my love

to my parents. I owe them everything. I

have always believed that I would

realise my dream of Formula One.”

Schumacher is part of the Ferrari

Academy and Haas uses Ferrari

engines, meaning the announcement

has been expected. He has long been

linked with a move to F1, having been

scheduled to drive in practice for Alfa

Romeo in October at the Eifel Grand

Prix before fog put paid to that.

His debut comes 30 years after his

father made his bow at the 1991 Belgian

Grand Prix. Michael went on to win

seven world titles during his career,

which ended in 2012, a record recently

matched by Lewis Hamilton.

Schumacher will

make his F1 debut

next week

Russell ready to step up

• with Alonso’s backing

usdayDecember 32020 1GM

R

G

eorge Russell

was only 19 when

he sent a

PowerPoint

presentation to

Williams that outlined why

he deserved a seat in one of

their cars the following

season (Rebecca Clancy

writes).

At that stage, in 2017,

Russell was racing in GP3

— now Formula Three —

and Williams decided that

he was too young, but the

British team were

impressed. Paddy Lowe,

who was the Williams chief

technical officer at the

time, said it made the

teenager from King’s Lynn,

in Norfolk, stand out.

“The thing about George

is he’s very confident,”

Lowe said in 2018, when he

revealed that he had been

sent the presentation. “He

takes the initiative to try to

shape his future and that’s

one of the reasons he’s got

to where he has.”

Russell went on to win

the GP3 title that year and

was signed by Mercedes to

their young driver

programme. A year later, he

won the Formula Two title

and became only the

second driver to win both

championships back to

back, after Ferrari’s Charles

Leclerc.

Williams, the PowerPoint

still fresh in their minds,

announced that they had

signed Russell on a three-

year deal starting from the

2019 season.

Russell remains on the

books of Mercedes,

however, and is effectively

on loan to Williams, which

is why the Silver Arrows

were able to call him up

this weekend to replace

Lewis Hamilton, who will

miss the Sakhir Grand Prix

in Bahrain after contracting

coronavirus. Toto Wolff, the

Mercedes team principal,

thinks very highly of

Russell and sees him as a

future driver for his team.

Russell attended Wisbech

Grammar School and is the

youngest of three siblings,

with a brother, Benjy, and

sister, Cara. He started

karting at the age of eight,

and quickly made an

impression, winning his

first championship just

three years later.

Russell has yet to score a

point during his two

seasons in Formula One,

which is not a reflection of

his talent but of an

uncompetitive Williams

car. He is yet to be beaten

by his team-mate in

qualifying, be it Robert

Kubica last year or

Nicholas Latifi this

season.

The double world

champion Fernando

Alonso, who returns to the

sport next season with

Renault, was asked recently

who had impressed him

recently from Formula

One’s young talent.

“From all of them,

George Russell is the one

that surprises me every

weekend,” Alonso said.

“How he’s driving the

Williams. Zero mistakes.

I’m really surprised about

his natural speed. So if I

have to say one name,

Russell for the future is

going to be my pick.”

Russell yesterday

in Mercedes racing

gear; far left, with

new team-mate

Hamilton in 2010

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