"Ricketts takes us from his cricketing childhood in England, through cricket's curious rituals, to a seat on the bank at a 2006 match between the Black Caps & the West Indies at the Basin Reserve"--Publisher description.
As a teenager from Sri Lanka, Sunny is living the typical life of an expatriate in 1970s Manila—a privileged, carefree existence—until one day when the secret behind his mother's tragic death years earlier is accidentally revealed to him, turning Sunny's world upside down. His life takes a series of unexpected turns—first in England, where he falls in love with the luminous Clara, and later in Sri Lanka, where he returns during a brief lull in the country's brutal ethnic war. Reminiscent of V.S. Naipaul in his nuanced treatment of the melancholy of exile, Gunesekera takes the reader on an utterly absorbing journey across the late twentieth-century postcolonial world. Spanning three continents and thirty years, The Match is a "beautiful and atmospheric" (Irish Times) exploration of the nature of loss and displacement, the search for identity and love, and the possibility, in the end, of redemption and renewal.
The Cricket Match is the best-known and best-loved cricket story ever written. Hugh de Selincourt brilliantly captures the atmosphere of Tillingfold - the model English village with its friendly peacefulness and rustic good humour - on the day of the now celebrated match against the neighbouring village of Raveley.
A startling and powerful journey to the very core of India's illegal bookmaking industry that exposes the scale of corruption and the match-fixing that now runs rife throughout world cricket. For several years Ed Hawkins made friends with India's illegal bookmakers - men who boast turnover of hundreds of millions of dollars per cricket match - as well as the corruption officers of the International Cricket Council who are trying to shut them down. It's a shady world and rumours abound. But then Hawkins receives a message that changes everything and he decides it is time to expose the truth behind match-fixing.Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy is a story featuring politicians, governing bodies, illegal bookmakers and powerless players - as well as corruption, intimidation and even suicide. It is a story that touches all cricket-playing nations around the world. It is a story that every cricket fan must read. You might never again watch a cricket match without suspicion...
Meet Josephine, the most loveable mischief-maker in Barbados, in a magical, heartfelt adventure inspired by Caribbean mythology. * “A heart-wrenching adventure with big laughs and well-earned surprises.” –Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review Eleven-year-old Josephine knows that no one is good enough for her daddy. That's why she makes a habit of scaring his new girlfriends away. She's desperate to make it onto her school's cricket team because she'll get to play her favorite sport AND use the cricket matches to distract Daddy from dating. But when Coach Broomes announces that girls can't try out for the team, the frustrated Josephine cuts into a powerful silk cotton tree and accidentally summons a bigger problem into her life . . . The next day, Daddy brings home a new catch, a beautiful woman named Mariss. And unlike the other girlfriends, this one doesn't scare easily. Josephine knows there's something fishy about Mariss but she never expected her to be a vengeful sea creature eager to take her place as her father's first love! Can Josephine convince her friends to help her and use her cricket skills to save Daddy from Mariss's clutches before it's too late?
For those who eat, live and pray cricket this book is a treasure trove. With over 500 questions, trivia and quirky facts from the ODI's and Test cricket, this Quiz Book has all that has been done on the field. This is a must-have for both connoisseurs of the game and those who follow it as a profession.
Toby Jones and his classmates go to the MCG archives on an excursion and there they meet the old and wise caretaker of the library, Jim Oldfield. Jim realises that Toby has the potential to travel back in time to cricket matches. With Jim's assistance, Toby and his friends are transported back in time to past matches. Ages 8-13.
“A moving, splendidly realized story of courage and grit in modern-day Kabul.” —Vikas Swarup, author of Slumdog Millionaire A harrowing yet tender novel—Bend It Like Beckham in a burka—The Taliban Cricket Club is a moving and unforgettable tale of one woman’s courage and guile in the face of terror and tyranny. Set in war-torn Kabul, Afghanistan, this extraordinary new fiction by Timeri N. Murari, acclaimed author of the international bestseller, Taj, is a sweeping story of love, family, resilience, and survival, featuring an unforgettable heroine determined to help her loved ones win their freedom with a bat and a ball.
'Engaging and enjoyable . . . as probing and as penetrative as a Jimmy Anderson opening spell . . . This is no ordinary novel by no ordinary novelist' Sunday Times 'A fine addition to the painfully thin oeuvre of modern fictional works about cricket' Mike Atherton, The Times 'Outstanding' Mail on Sunday 'If all you know is cricket, then cricket will break you . . .' It is the final Test match of The Ashes. A nation expects, and the rest of the cricketing world is watching. Fast-paced, humorous and candid, The Test follows the battles on and off the field as stand-in England captain, James McCall, tries to get his exhausted team across the finish line. Along the way, his story becomes one of fatherhood, friendship and trusting yourself when no one else will. Nathan Leamon's love letter to Test cricket is that rare thing: a novel that captures the feel and flavour of professional sport from the inside - the good, the bad and the simply surreal. Not since J. L. Carr's classic A Season in Sinji has there been a novel that quite captures the spirit of the game. Included in Wisden Cricket Monthly's Finest Cricket Books Ever Written
All England waited with passionate eagerness for the final match to be played at the Oval. For this was to be played to a finish and would decide the fate of the Ashes. It is 1938 and England is brimming with excitement as the final Test Match against Imperia draws near. But no corner of the land has the fate of the Ashes closer to its heart than the village of Wattlecombe Ducis, Glebeshire. It was here at the Manor House that Norman Blood, captain of England, spent his childhood playing cricket with the vicar's radiant daughter, Monica. And it was she who presented young but poor Joe Prestwick with a belt on the occasion of his first game of cricket, saving his honour for as Sir Timothy Blood remarked, 'I would rather see the whole village dead at my feet than a man bowling in braces.' With a short - but sensational - career behind him, Joe just needs to be selected to play at the Oval to win Monica's heart and her hand in marriage: everything depends on the Test. But The Bad Men, Europe's most wanted gang, have no intention of letting the best team win. Sawn-off Carlo, The Professor and Ralph the Disappointment (an Englishman who, knowing the rules of the Game, is eternally damned for not playing by them) plan to strike a blow at the very heart of proud Albion and her Empire. The Amazing Test Match Crime, first published in 1939, is a wicked yet affectionate comedy of cricketing (and criminal) manners, proving - as if proof were needed - that a straight bat and nimble spinning finger will always win through.