Clutch, pressure, choke: discussing the language of cricketing discourse

In the latest episode we discuss popular terms used to describe a cricketing contest - and why these are often lazy alternatives with no standard definition.

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Talking Points:

• The category error in sports - when stories are used to describe contests


• The narrative around 'big moments' and how some phases are assumed to 'decide' contests


• The rampant discourse around 'pressure situations'


• The belief that some players are superior at the finish than at the start


• Jordan and Robert Horry - and the spread of the clutch narrative


• Australia v South Africa, Edgbaston, 1999: a narrative gold


• The future of cricket discourse - and ways to describe the entire contest 

Participants:

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee); Kartikeya Date (@cricketingview); Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd); Ashoka (@ABVan)

Related:

• The episode that really matters - 81allout podcast with Sidharth Monga


• What's the story, Morning Glory - 81allout podcast with Karthik Krishnaswamy


• What we talk about when we talk about cricket - 81allout podcast with Daniel Norcross


• Anatomy of a classic - Virender Sehwag on his 155 in Chennai - Interview by Chandrahas Choudhury and Nishant Arora - ESPNcricinfo


• Bias Case - Steve Tignor - Tennis World


• James Anderson and reverse-swing - Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara discuss - YouTube


• Against narratives - Kartikeya Date - Cricketingview


• Why there is no such thing as a finisher in ODI cricket - Kartikeya Date - ESPNcricinfo


• Roger Federer opens up - Interview by David Remnick - New Yorker


• Paddy Upton's interview of Allan Donald - Apple podcasts


• 'I wanted to be there at the end. That was my drug' - Lance Klusener interview - The Cricket Monthly


• Rudi Webster - Think Like a Champion - Amazon.com