aceThe Spin | Robots bowling the perfect doosra are some way off but AI is already reshaping cricket
Abstract: Daniel Kokotajlo, a former researcher at OpenAI, warned last week that it was possible we would end up “creating a new species that ends up ruling the world”. Once the initial shock wore off, and I’d considered what this could mean for my young children and the future of the planet, another thought popped into my head: will this new species be able to swing an old cricket ball or navigate a seaming green top? It sounds frivolous. It is frivolous. But the question is not quite as ridiculous as it first appears. F…
On 16 September 2026 The Guardian described how AI is already embedded in professional cricket, from IPL and Hundred analysts using faster models to identify pitch patterns and weaknesses, to a county pathway platform called EquiPlay that has recorded over 2,000 assessments on 300 young cricketers by 28 coaches to make coaching judgment visible over time.
The shift matters because it moves AI from a future threat of robot bowlers to present-day decisions about player development and fairness, with the ability to spot when state-school players dip at 15 and investigate bias, while leaving unresolved how far cricket should let perfect automated calls replace human umpires.
- Analyst Freddie Wilde says AI now touches almost all elements of his work with IPL and Hundred teams and CricViz.
- EquiPlay platform has logged over 2,000 assessments on 300 young cricketers by 28 coaches in a first-class county pathway.
- China's second World Humanoid Robot Games featured more than 500 robots, with one running 100m in 8.64sec despite many stumbling.
If AI systems could make every umpiring call perfectly, cricket may face pressure to replace human umpires, shifting technology from assistance to substitution.
The rundown
The piece describes two current deployments: CricViz-linked analysis where models process more information faster for batters and bowlers, and EquiPlay which turns coach scores into narrative feedback and checks consistency across groups linked to ethnicity, socioeconomic background, school or geography.
It contrasts this quiet transformation with speculative futures, citing Daniel Kokotajlo's warning about creating a new species, Ray Kurzweil's Law of Accelerating Returns, and the World Humanoid Robot Games, to ask whether fans would accept fully automated umpiring even if DRS currently keeps a human at the centre.
Sources
- JournalismThe Guardian2026-09-16
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