There\u2019s a scene in The Matrix when Cypher, the sardonic turncoat played by Joe Pantoliano, sits with Keanu Reeves\u2019s Neo in front of a bank of monitors. To Neo\u2019s eyes it\u2019s an endless waterfall of meaningless green code. To Cypher, and to those who have learned the language, it\u2019s not numbers and symbols but living images: \u201cI don\u2019t even see the code,\u201d he says. \u201cAll I see is blonde, brunette, redhead \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
A cricket scorecard works in exactly the same way. To the uninitiated, it\u2019s an impenetrable column of initials, abbreviations and unexplained figures. But for those who know, these sheets of names and numbers are alive with incident; the shape of an innings, the rhythm of a bowling spell, the hidden drama of a partnership.<\/p>\n
\u201cScorecards are beautiful things,\u201d says the BBC statistician Andy Zaltzman. \u201cThey\u2019re like time machines. You can look at a scorecard from 1800 and, even with fairly minimal details, get a sense of how the game evolved. There\u2019s a joy in the infinite variety of the possible narratives within a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andy Zaltzman\u2019s 2019 Cricket World Cup final scorecard. Photograph: Andy Zaltzman<\/p>\n
Therein lies the magic. John Arlott, the great commentator and poet, once described the scorecard as \u201cat once the most compressed and the most expansive form of literature\u201d. A line such as \u201cBradman b Hollies 0\u201d<\/a> is both a plot twist and a shock ending. Five consecutive single-digit scores convey a sense of panic in the dressing room. Extras topping the batting charts, as happened to Bermuda\u2019s women in 2008 when they were bowled out for 13 by South Africa, becomes a kind of cruel punchline. To the trained eye, scorecards are not just records but stories, pocket novellas where you infer characters, tension, pacing, even humour.<\/p>\n Bill Frindall, the BBC\u2019s encyclopaedic scorer nicknamed \u201cBearders\u201d, went further: \u201cThe scorecard is cricket\u2019s autobiography, written one ball at a time.\u201d For Frindall, who recorded every Test between 1966 and 2008 in immaculate longhand, the card wasn\u2019t a dry ledger but a diary, each entry carrying the cadence of a ball bowled and played.<\/p>\n And just like the Matrix code, cricket\u2019s scorecard language has been painstakingly invented. Early scorecards were little more than lists of runs, often published weeks after the game. The oldest surviving scorecard dates back to 1744 and recounts a game between London and Kent played at the Honourable Artillery Company ground. The result \u2013 a 55-run win for Kent \u2013 as well as the individual scores are marked, but modes of dismissals, as well as bowling figures, are absent.<\/p>\n By the late 1700s, Samuel Britcher, scorer at Marylebone Cricket<\/a> Club, began producing annual score lists at Lord\u2019s, printed as penny pamphlets. These were among the first formal scorecards. Britcher recorded runs, dismissals and bowling figures, but only in the simplest sense. For instance, dismissals were often just marked as \u201cbowled\u201d or \u201ccaught,\u201d without details of who caught the ball. The notation was inconsistent. As the renowned amateur player Arthur Haygarth lamented: \u201cWhen there are two scores of the same match, they never agree.\u201d Club cricketers today, especially those tasked with the unenviable job of screaming out \u201cBowler\u2019s name!?\u201d, can no doubt relate.<\/p>\n The Victorian era saw the rise of more structured, statistical thinking. The 1840s scorecards started including balls faced, bowling analyses and extras, though standards varied from publication to publication. By the early 20th century, the modern two-column batting and bowling format was emerging: batters listed with scores and dismissals; bowlers with overs, maidens, runs, and wickets.<\/p>\n Scorekeeping also opens the game to those who might not shine on the pitch. \u201cThey also allow you to be involved even if you\u2019re not very good at playing,\u201d explains Andrew Samson, a veteran scorer and statistician from South Africa. \u201cI\u2019ve always loved doing it. I was pretty rubbish at batting and bowling but I was with the first team at school through scoring. It\u2019s so special seeing fans in the crowd keeping score.\u201d<\/p>\n Modern scorers have turned what was once dichromatic code into a rainbow palette. Zaltzman not only scores in a unique way, matching batters with the bowlers they\u2019ve faced, but also uses an array of coloured pens as he does so. For example, Steve Smith\u2019s runs will be noted in dark blue while Mark Wood\u2019s balls will be in red. A commentator sitting alongside Zaltzman can instantly see patterns, partnerships and momentum shifts.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers’ thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week\u2019s action<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n A spectator checks his scorecard at an Essex v Warwickshire match in 2008. Photograph: David Ashdown\/Getty Images<\/p>\n And yet, as the Matrix warned, the digital age brings a degree of danger. Across the country, runs and wickets are increasingly recorded on iPads and apps, with live feeds streaming into analytics dashboards. Modern scoring provides a precision Haygarth could never have imagined. But, as Samson notes: \u201cIt would be a shame if we lose the old technology of pen and paper. I\u2019d encourage any young fans to give it a go next time they watch a game.\u201d<\/p>\n Zaltzman picks up the story as he shares an image of his own handwritten record of England\u2019s 2019 World Cup final win over New Zealand. On it Ben Stokes\u2019 heroics, Jimmy Neesham\u2019s all-round effort and Jofra Archer\u2019s winning super over are all captured in dazzling technicolour. \u201cI love looking at them as much as I love creating them,\u201d Zaltzman says. \u201cThere\u2019s something therapeutic in writing little numbers next to names. It\u2019s so incredibly satisfying. You start with this blank scorecard and then by the end you have the story of a whole cricket match. What could be better than that?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a scene in The Matrix when Cypher, the sardonic turncoat played by Joe Pantoliano, sits with Keanu…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-115621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}