A primal twist to home advantage

During the qualifying rounds of the 1998 World Cup, Jamaica's football team, The Reggae Boys, were unbeaten at home. Jamaica's Independence Park, dubbed "The Office," became a fortress that no invading force was able to breach. Traditionally superior teams like Mexico, USA and Costa Rica were not only unable to win at The Office, they never even scored a single goal.

Mexico beat them twice at The Azteca, on one occasion pummeling them 6-0. At home, however, Jamaica's defence was impenetrable, their offence speedy and incisive. At home, The Reggae Boys refused to be defeated.

Those of us who follow sport largely accept the validity of home advantage. Teams perform better when they play at home - that is undisputable. Football teams score more goals and concede fewer when they play at home. The same is true of other sports like basketball, netball and hockey. Cricket teams make more runs and concede fewer at home, as do baseball teams. It has even been shown that Olympic athletes win more medals when the games are held in their home country.

Cricket probably differs from other sports in that the conditions in which it is played are more varied and has more of an impact than it does in most sports. The ball bounces more in Australia and South Africa, seams more in England and New Zealand, and turns more in the subcontinent. Naturally, players become adept at exploiting the conditions in which they were brought up. And so there little surprise - though this is perhaps an oversimplification - that India are traditionally known for their spinners, Australia for their pacers, and England for their medium-paced seamers.

Comfortable and confident in their environment, Australia are currently administering a fearful thrashing to their Ashes opponents. The bounce and carry on offer has gifted an advantage to the hosts speedier pacers.

But the Australian attack has been outperforming their English counterparts in other areas as well. Cricviz, a webiste that specialises in statistical analysis, has revealed that the hosts' bowlers have collectively generated more swing and extracted more seam movement than the England bowlers. This is rather surprising since swing and seam are supposed to be the specialty of the English, and their spearhead, Jimmy Anderson, is widely regarded as the most skillful swing bowler in the game.

In cricket nowadays, with players regularly visiting other countries to play T20 franchise cricket, 'A' tours, or in first-class competitions, familiarity with the gamut of playing conditions is widespread. And so if home conditions played a big role in home wins in years gone by, its effects should be now reduced.

But teams are thriving at home more than ever. In fact, according to an ESPNCricinfo article titled