England Women use artificial intelligence (AI) to inform selection utilizing a system. Head coach Jon Lewis says it proved crucial in last year’s drawn Ashes series. Lewis was first exposed to the technology, provided by the London-based company PSi. While coaching UP Warriorz in the inaugural WPL last year. He has since spoken with the likes of England Rugby Union coach Steve Borthwick, about this system.
Bear in mind that this AI is also used by English rugby league side Wigan Warriors and English Football League One side Wigan Athletic. That further allows the coaching staff to simulate various match-ups and scenarios.
“We can run simulated teams versus the simulated opposition to give us an idea about how those teams may match up against each other,” Lewis said on Friday after revealing England’s white-ball squads to host Pakistan from next week.
How England Coach is Utilizing Data Analysis?
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“I can send multiple different lineups to the company and they run, I think it’s about 250,000 simulations per team that I send with all the different permutations that could happen through the game.
“What I would say is it’s not how we select the side, but it’s one part of selection that we use to help understand what could happen in the future. We used it very successfully in the Ashes last summer with match-ups against the Australian side.”
Lewis said the research methods were impacted somewhat by a gap in the quality of historical data in the England women’s game. He believes will improve amid an increasingly packed international schedule and growing franchise scene.
Balancing Data Insights with Human Judgment
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And while Jon Lewis said the tool was particularly useful in helping to make borderline selection calls. He would always opt for a people-first approach in England.
“Obviously we’re on the ground with the people and that’s probably the first thing that we look to in terms of selection, which people are playing well, we use our cricketing eye,” he said. “But it’s one small part of what we do and it’s really interesting, and it played out well last summer against Australia.
“I think it will help with borderline decisions in terms of selections and match-ups. Will it ever be at the front, the thing that selects the team? I would say, in my view, no. Other coaches may feel very differently, but it is really interesting.”
AI was used throughout last summer’s Ashes and Lewis pointed to the T20 leg, which England won 2-1 to get back into the series after losing the one-off Test, as a moment when it came to his aid in weighing up the merits of two players who were “both in really good form and were both selectable”.
“There was one selection in particular last year,” he said. “We saw a real strength in Australia and we matched up our strength, our best bowlers, to that part of the game against Australia last year. That worked really, really well for us. That helped us win the T20 series in particular and that got us back in the Ashes.
“The players were both players that I was thinking about picking. So it did help me with those selections and it turned out that it worked out really well. So yeah, it can help selections, but my go-to would be get your people right first, get them all in the right head space, get their games in order, and then use data to support around selection.”
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Zartash Zulfiqar is a passionate cricket writer whose love for cricket shines through in every word. From match analyses to player profiles, she delivers insightful commentary that resonates with fans worldwide. Stay tuned for the latest from the world of cricket, brought to you by Zartash.
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