Pointless Investigations 4
Do teams play worse after flying east?
The questions nobody sensible would commission, put to 895 men’s Tests since December 2001 and treated with the gravity they do not deserve.
The science here is real. A 2017 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, by Song, Severini and Allada, found that eastward jet lag hurt Major League Baseball teams, while flying west barely did. The body clock runs slightly longer than a day, so it’s easier to stay up late than to wake early.
Measured by longitude, from each side’s home to the country hosting the Test, visiting sides that flew west have won 36.8% of their decided Tests. Sides that flew east have won 34.2%.
Jet lag should fade after the first week. The first Test of a tour, played in a country the visitors hadn’t played a Test in for at least six weeks, should therefore show the effect at its worst. It shows much the same gap: 35.1% after flying east and 36.8% after flying west. On this evidence the jet lag lasts the whole tour.
The longest flights sharpen it. After travelling at least a third of the way round the world eastwards, touring sides have won 12 and lost 26 of their decided opening Tests. After the same trip westwards, they have won 19 and lost 28. The eastward list is led by England going to Australia and New Zealand, and West Indies going to India, where they have lost all four of their opening Tests since 2011.
- LAUSLost by 277 runs at the Gabba, 23 Nov 2006
- DAUSDrawn at the Gabba, 25 Nov 2010
- LAUSLost by 381 runs at the Gabba, 21 Nov 2013
- LAUSLost by 10 wickets at the Gabba, 23 Nov 2017
- LAUSLost by 9 wickets at the Gabba, 8 Dec 2021
- LAUSLost by 8 wickets in Perth, 21 Nov 2025
England’s record makes the case for jet lag better than any baseball study. They haven’t won the first Test of an Ashes tour since 1986, and in the six tours since 2006 they have lost five and drawn one. Travelling the other way, Australia have won four of their eight opening Tests in England since 2005 and lost three.