Every claim is checked against a primary source before publication. Numbers are quoted with their period; rules are quoted with their format version.
Editorial policy
How the desk writes, edits and corrects
The editorial policy spells out the standards the Come Sports desk holds itself to. It covers how pieces are written, how they are edited, how corrections are handled, and what the desk will not publish under any circumstances.
How new desk members are trained
The desk keeps a small set of training notes alongside the editorial policy. The notes are updated whenever the policy is updated so the two stay aligned.
The first week
Anyone joining the editorial work reads this policy and the commercial-disclosure note end to end, then shadows the structural edit on one full piece before touching a draft. The shadow is observational only; the person is not put in front of the reader until they have completed at least one full review.
The first month
Across the first month, output starts at one piece under close supervision, then two pieces under lighter supervision. The work still passes through the three-check process (structural edit, factual review, voice review) before it goes live.
Continuing reference
The editorial policy is treated as the desk’s living reference. Any change to the policy is paired with a short note naming the change, the reason for the change, and the date the change took effect.
Editorial policy is best read as a small number of commitments rather than as a long document. The commitments listed here are written so a reader can hold the desk to them — sourcing the primary record, naming the conflict, fixing the mistake in the open, and refusing the work that would require the desk to break any of those.
Where the policy gets fiddly, the practical answer is to default to the reader rather than to the desk: when in doubt, the writing tells the reader more and hides less.
Six editorial standards the desk holds itself to
These are short on purpose. Standards that fit on a card get read; standards that take a paragraph get skipped.
The voice is editorial and calm. Cricket jargon is defined on first use; sentences are short where the topic allows; prose does one thing at a time.
Pieces are written to be useful on a second read. The structure repeats across guides so a reader can move between rooms without re-learning the frame.
Hype vocabulary that adds no information is removed at the edit pass. The argument carries the piece, not the adjectives.
The desk will not invent numbers, accuracy claims or user counts. When a topic is outside scope, the policy says so directly.
Material corrections are footnoted at the bottom of the affected piece with the date. Silent overwrites are avoided.
How a piece moves from brief to publication
Work moves through three checks before publication: a structural edit, a factual review, and a voice review. Pieces that fail any check return to the writer, not to publication.
1
Brief
The writer starts from a topic brief that names the reader’s question, the supporting reading the piece will lean on, and the primary sources for the factual pass.
2
Draft
The draft follows the four-step frame: anchor the question, set the frame, walk through the working, land on a takeaway.
3
Structural edit
The structural editor looks at scannability, reading flow, and how the piece compares against the brand voice guide.
4
Factual review
Every claim is checked against a primary source. Numbers are confirmed; format versions are confirmed; quotes are confirmed.
5
Voice review
A separate voice review reads the piece against the brand voice guide. Hype vocabulary and promotional phrasing are removed.
6
Publication
The piece is published with a publication date and, where needed, an editorial note. Quarterly reviews begin from the publication date.
Where the desk looks for primary sources
The desk's source hierarchy is short. Primary sources beat secondary sources, named sources beat anonymous sources, and dated sources beat undated sources.
Primary sources preferred
- Official rulebooks and format versions from governing bodies.
- Match scorecards and tournament statistics from the official data feeds.
- Player interviews published in named outlets, with a date.
- Conference calls and press releases where they exist.
- Published research where the methodology is named and reproducible.
Avoided as primary
- Unnamed sources where a named source is available.
- Aggregator sites that re-quote other sources without adding original reporting.
- Social media posts that cannot be verified against an original event.
- Self-published statistics that do not show their methodology.
- Statistics that pre-date the format version currently in use.
How corrections are handled
Even with three checks per piece, things slip through. The publication has a short written rule for what happens next.
Material corrections are footnoted
If a piece needs a material correction, the piece is edited, then a footnote is appended at the bottom of the reading that names the change, the date it was made, and a short description of what was wrong. Silent overwrites are avoided because they make the older version impossible to check.
Reader-submitted corrections are logged
Reader-submitted corrections sent via the editorial inbox are logged against the affected piece. The desk reviews each one in turn and, where the correction is material, applies the footnote treatment above. The desk does not promise a fixed turnaround on every note — response speed depends on the piece and the question — but every note receives an acknowledgement.
Link rot is treated the same as a fact check
If a piece's primary-source link goes dead, the desk replaces the link with an archive copy and footnotes the change in the same way. Treating link rot as a fact check means the older version of the source stays checkable.
What the desk will not publish
The refusal list is short on purpose. It sets out the categories of work the desk will not accept, based on the editorial principles.
The desk will not publish
- Tip sheets, prediction lists, or guaranteed-win claims.
- Paid-for editorial content framed as independent review.
- Affiliate marketing for betting operators or paid fantasy platforms.
- Pieces that name individual readers or include personal data.
- Pieces that misrepresent a player's on-field record for narrative effect.
The desk will not accept
- Payment in exchange for a positive mention of a product or service.
- Sponsorship that pre-approves the editorial line of a piece.
- Affiliate tracking on any link in any piece.
- Paid link placement anywhere on the site.
- Comments, quotes, or names supplied without a verifiable on-record consent.
How often the reading is revisited
Different piece types run on different review schedules. The split keeps the desk's bandwidth aligned with how fast the underlying topic actually moves.
| Piece type | Example | Review cadence |
|---|---|---|
| Static reference | Glossary, points system, format explainers | Quarterly |
| Frame-based analysis | Match analysis frameworks, role-impact notes | Twice yearly |
| Tied to a tournament | Tournament previews, player notes for a series | Once per series or monthly |
| Reference notes | Editorial policy, disclosure, privacy | Twice yearly and on legal change |
| Come Sports | Brand pillars, voice guide | Yearly |
Specific voice rules the desk applies
The brand voice guide is the long-form document. The short version of the rules that catch the most failures is reproduced below.
Active voice by default
Pieces use the active voice unless the passive construction is genuinely cleaner. The desk treats passive-voice audit as part of the structural edit because passive voice tends to hide the actor — and a piece that hides the actor tends to hide the argument.
Sentences carry one idea
Sentences that try to do two things at once get split at the edit pass. A reader who finishes a sentence should know what the sentence was for. Multi-clause sentences survive only where the topic actually demands them.
Jargon defined on first use
Cricket jargon (anchor, powerplay, dot ball, six-hitter, death over, par score) is defined the first time it appears in the body of the writing. The glossary is a backstop, not a substitute.
Numbers carry their period
Numbers carry the period and the source they came from in the same sentence. “The batter scored 856 runs in 2024 against pace” beats “The batter has been strong against pace” because the reader can check the claim.
Headings carry the argument
Headings are not decorative. A reader who reads only the headings of a piece should get the structure of the argument. The desk treats headings as a separate draft-stage review.
How the desk stays independent
Independence is structural rather than aspirational. The mechanisms listed here are how the desk holds the line on editorial independence.
Funding lines are limited
The site's funding, where it exists, comes from the brand behind the desk; there is no third-party advertising, newsletter, editorial sponsorship programme or quotation-licensing operation in place at the time of writing. The full list of active revenue lines sits in the commercial-disclosure note. No funding line is contingent on the editorial line of any specific piece.
Refusal list is public
The refusal list describes what the desk will not publish or accept, and the categories of work it has actually declined. Each category is named without naming the parties involved. The list is updated whenever a new category of declined work appears.
Any future sponsorship would be tagged in-line
Any future editorial sponsorship would fund the desk's bandwidth without touching the editorial line. Sponsored pieces would carry an in-line tag at the opening and a closing editorial credit explaining the relationship; the body of every sponsored piece would still be written by the desk against the same editorial standards as every other piece.
Corrections are footnoted, not silent
When a piece needs a correction, the change is footnoted at the end of the reading with the date. Silent overwrites are avoided because they make the older version impossible to check. The same approach applies to link rot and to format-version changes.