Welcome to The Science of Swing!

This is The Science of Swing, a series of articles on the aerodynamics of swing bowling in cricket.

My name is Aaron Briggs, and from 2018-2022 I studied for a PhD in the Aerodynamics of Cricket Ball Swing at the Whittle Laboratory in Cambridge. I now work as a Sport Aerodynamicist and Performance Analyst, trying to start a career in cricket. After failing to make it as a serious on-field cricketer, I turned to science as a way to get into the professional game, and now try and make sense of the numbers surrounding the sport. My other hobbies include following Reading FC and escaping computer screens by hiking and swimming.

Other members of my research team include Dr Sam Grimshaw, a turbomachinery aerodynamics expert from the University of Cambridge, who was my supervisor and is still a handy leg spin bowler/middle order bat. Sam’s passions outside of cricket include machines that spin fast and blow air around (think electric aircraft) and beating Oxford at hockey. Alongside Sam, I was also supervised by Dr Nick Atkins, a lecturer at Cambridge and world-expert in thermofluid mechanics. Nick doesn’t play cricket but can now be found listening to radio commentary of the championship while thinking about hard problems related to jet engines and gas turbines.

This newsletter is a space for us to write about interesting aspects of my research, and help popularise novel ways to think about the amazing sport of cricket. I can’t promise to post regularly, but hope that when I do it will change the way you think about the game.

You can find me at @ABriggsCricket on Twitter, or via abriggs.cricket@gmail.com.