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.

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.

From today's newsletter:

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.

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...

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.)

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

Good day for your theory @jonnysinger.bsky.social!

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.

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

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

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

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

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

🏀 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

🏈 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

🏏 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

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...

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

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...

Ah sorry no this one:

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-...

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 🏀📊.

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 ⚽📊.

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

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

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...

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.

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 🎾📊.

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 🏀📊.