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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 14/09/2026

Here's my take on the basketball yesterday:

Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 31/08/2026

Included are some thoughts on the upcoming women’s basketball World Cup. Can anyone actually challenge the USA? A few months ago — after the FIBA global qualifiers — I picked out France as a team to keep an eye on. What sort of team are they bringing to Germany this week?

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 03/08/2026

Which nations were most impacted by the decision to drop several team ball sports from the Commonwealth program? 2030 hosts India sent many fewer athletes to Glasgow than they did to Birmingham in 2022, and Fiji missed out on competing in rugby sevens.

An excerpt from the latest edition of Plot the Ball. You can read in full here: https://www.plottheball.com/p/the-week-in-international-sport-3de

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 03/08/2026

The Games is a particularly great showcase of top-level international netball. Jamaica upset Australia in the semi-finals, but lost the gold-medal game to New Zealand yesterday. I wrote a bit about their recent record — and coverage of the Australia game — this week.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 18/05/2026

Also in this edition: a look at the current state of women's ODI cricket, a highlight from the start of the Men's Ice Hockey World Championship and a few other things I've learned about international sport this week.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 16/03/2026

Some of the most enjoyable sport I’ve watched so far this year has been at the World Baseball Classic. I wrote briefly about the ongoing tournament in this week’s edition of Plot the Ball — as well as some 3x3 basketball, men’s rugby union and more. www.plottheball.com/p/the-week-i...

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 26/09/2025

I also enjoyed looking into how much quicker Abhishek Sharma has scored than every other opener in the history of T20 International cricket. (He's just hit his first six of the day for India against Sri Lanka.)

A paragraph from the most recent edition of Plot the Ball, which you can read here: https://www.plottheball.com/i/174246433/no-other-ti-opener-has-ever-scored-as-quickly-as-abhishek-sharma

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 26/09/2025

This edition contains one of my favourite charts that I’ve made all year:

A chart showing the average speed of Shohei Ohtani's four-seam fastball in each MLB season since 2018, with a marked increase in 2025. (Data is as at Monday 22 September.) You can read the accompanying post at https://www.plottheball.com/p/with-the-dodgers-shohei-ohtani-is

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 11/07/2025

Caitlin Clark returned to WNBA action from injury on Wednesday — and I wrote about her passing in this week’s edition of Plot the Ball 📊🏐. Also featured are some things I learned about Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Joseph Sua’ali’i, Sam Konstas and Jordan Spieth.

A line chart showing Caitlin Clark's assists and turnovers over time at NCAA and WNBA level. At the start of her WNBA career, her assists dipped before quickly recovering; her turnover rate has remained high, and has actually increasedd so far in 2025.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 06/06/2025

Featured today: 🏏 Jasprit Bumrah ⚽️ Paris Saint-Germain 🏀 Dominique Malonga ⛳️ Nelly Korda 🏒 the Edmonton Oilers

A chart showing Jasprit Bumrah's exceptional bowling performance for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL over time, with particular improvement compared to his peers since the start of the 2024 season.

A table showing how Paris Saint-Germain's attack in open play has changed between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 Ligue 1 seasons, with a particular focus on shots in more settled possession evident in 2024-25.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 26/01/2025

🏉 A snapshot of what makes France and Toulouse scrum-half Antoine Dupont stand out on a rugby pitch

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 26/01/2025

🎾 With help from @tennisabstract.bsky.social, a brief summary of what makes teenage tennis player Mirra Andreeva exceptional

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 26/01/2025

🏒 With help from @danieltw.bsky.social, some thoughts on Gavin McKenna and Canada’s approach to the World Juniors

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 26/01/2025

⚽️ An examination of what two star midfielders — Pedri and Aitana Bonmatí — are doing differently for Barcelona this season

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 26/01/2025

🏀 A look at one of the most interesting players taking part in the new ‘Unrivaled’ three-on-three league, and at JuJu Watkins’ sophomore season in college

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 26/01/2025

🏈 Data on how some of the top QBs in the NFL — Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson — have changed their passing approaches over time

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 26/01/2025

🏏 Analysis of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah hitting his peak for India in test cricket — and the team’s reliance on him on their tour of Australia

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 03/01/2025

In 2025, I want to help readers of Plot the Ball get more joy out of watching and following sport. You can read more about my plans for the newsletter this year here! ✉️ www.plottheball.com/p/what-to-ex...

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 17/11/2024

This edition of the newsletter also included some thoughts on Nelly Korda ⛳️ and Josh Allen 🏈:

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 17/11/2024

In Plot the Ball 📊 this week, I wrote about the upcoming Australia-India series 🏏 — and, more generally, whether men's test cricket is approaching a talent cliff edge. You can read the piece in full here: www.plottheball.com/p/india-have...

A line chart showing the change in average age (in years) of the batting line-ups of the Australian and Indian men's test cricket teams over their last 200 matches (roughly since 2005). Australia's average age has been steadily rising over the last 50 tests to its current figure of 31.8, while India's — after a similar period of growth — has recently declined, and currently sits at 30.5 years.

A line chart showing the change in average age (in years) of the bowling attacks of the Australian and Indian men's test cricket teams over their last 200 matches (roughly since 2005). Both teams' average age has been steadily rising over their last 50 tests, although Australia's attack (31.4 years) is still a year or so younger than India's (32.3).

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 02/11/2024

As the Autumn internationals begin in earnest today, I wrote about men’s rugby — and the current All Blacks team — in this week’s edition of Plot the Ball 🏉📊. You can read and subscribe below! www.plottheball.com/p/can-scott-...

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 26/10/2024

A recent episode of the Thinking Basketball podcast made me wonder: how has the make-up of the NBA changed over the last couple of decades? I tried to answer that question in this week’s edition of Plot the Ball 🏀📊.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 14/10/2024

Over the last couple of weeks at Plot the Ball, I've written about the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup 🏏📈 and Barcelona's approach to squad management ⚽📊.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 21/09/2024

The WNBA playoffs start this weekend — and the New York Liberty might never have a better shot at winning a championship 🏀📊.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 14/09/2024

In this week’s edition of Plot the Ball, I tried to put another historic Shohei Ohtani season in context ⚾️📊

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 17/08/2024

Put my own twist on the Olympics medal table this week at Plot the Ball 🥇📊. You can read — and subscribe — here! www.plottheball.com/p/plot-the-m...

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 25/06/2024

Over the last few weeks at Plot the Ball 📊, I've written about both Euro 2024 and the T20 World Cup. If you want to catch up on those pieces — as well as lots of other topics I've covered recently — you can find links in my recent round-up post.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 18/05/2024

The French Open gets underway soon — so I did some thinking about Carlos Alcaraz and his approach to tennis in this week’s edition of Plot the Ball 🎾📊.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 04/05/2024

If Caitlin Clark is going to make the US Olympic team later this year, she’s going to have earn her spot. Which WNBA stars will she be competing against? That’s what I looked into in this week’s edition of Plot the Ball 🏀📊.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 27/04/2024

For me, the lasting image of Masters Sunday this year was Tiger Woods’ post-round interview. So, in this week’s edition of Plot the Ball, I looked into where he is as a golfer right now — and how his skills have evolved throughout his professional career ⛳️📊.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 13/04/2024

In this week’s edition of Plot the Ball, I wrote about what changes in the NBA playoffs 🏀 — and which stars might step up in the next couple of months 📊.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 11/04/2024

A fun chart from the day job: Using @datawrapper.bsky.social's scatter plot layout (with custom coordinates, grid lines and shading) to rank insurance companies' long-term financial performance according to a couple of different metrics 📊.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 23/03/2024

I’ve loved watching Ricky Rubio play basketball for a long time 🏀 — but he never became an NBA superstar. I tried to reconcile those two things in this week’s edition of Plot the Ball 📊 — while also looking into how men’s basketball in Europe has changed over time.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 16/03/2024

The 2024 NWSL season begins this weekend — and, in Europe, the UWCL will resume in midweek ⚽️. One of the most successful young coaches in women’s football will be moving from Spain to the US in a few months’ time — and I wrote about his transition in this week’s edition of Plot the Ball 📊.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 02/03/2024

What makes Yashasvi Jaiswal unusual for an Indian opening batter? That’s what I looked into in this week’s edition of Plot the Ball 🏏📊. www.plottheball.com/p/yashasvi-j...

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 24/02/2024

This week at Plot the Ball, I looked at an important factor in constructing strong defences in ‘invasion sports’ — with help from the NRL’s Penrith Panthers 🏉📊

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 03/02/2024

In Plot the Ball this week, I wrote about a Japanese baseball star moving to North America — and how we talk about athletes moving leagues ⚾️📊.

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 20/01/2024

In this week’s edition of Plot the Ball, I tried to visualise the incredible longevity of Lebron James 🏀📊. www.plottheball.com/p/lebron-jam...

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Ben Wylie @plottheball.com · 13/01/2024

This week at Plot the Ball, I wanted to see if I could visualise how volatile goalkeepers’ performances from year to year can be ⚽️📊. You can read the post in full here: www.plottheball.com/p/are-there-...

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