One hundred colourful portraits of the cricketing characters whom Ian Botham has come across in his eventful career and who have influenced the game for good in his time: from top players, umpires and coaches to pop stars, writers and philanthropists.
What's the difference between short leg and deep midwicket? When would you be thinking about bowling a yorker? What's so great about the sound of leather on willow? Cricket’s vocabulary is a mixture of jargon and cliché, poetry and prose, misty-eyed romanticism and old-gits’ cynicism. Arm-ball to Zooter is a witty guide to the peculiarities of the game, its history and major figures; cricket-lovers might find their own pet hates confirmed; cricket newcomers might be amazed at what cricket-lovers have been up to all these years.
Sir Ian Botham and the Ashes are as closely intertwined as willow and leather or Merv Hughes and his moustache. You simply cannot think of one without the other. In this book, Sir Ian takes you on a ride through a lifetime's relationship with cricket's oldest and most treasured prize, revealing just how it has shaped his life and how he has helped to turn it into the contest it is today. From the moment he first watched the likes of Ken Barrington stride to the wicket in jaw-jutting defiance to the day he flayed Australia's bowling attack around Headingley as if playing with his mates in the park, and then onwards to his role in commentating on what was arguably the finest series of the lot, in 2005, Sir Ian has a rich and varied connection with the Ashes, and he tells all here. The Ashes is a series that has provided incredible highs and heartbreaking lows for English and Australian fans alike over the past 35 years. Sir Ian has often been at the centre of the roller-coaster ride. Whether it is his account of his days as England's dogsbody in 1977 in Melbourne or the story of his refusal to let Bob Willis bowl downwind until he was angry enough to skittle the Aussies in 1981, all is revealed in depth in Botham's Book of the Ashes.
Acclaimed as a magisterial, classic work, A Social History of English Cricket is an encyclopaedic survey of the game, from its humble origins all the way to modern floodlit finishes. But it is also the story of English culture, mirrored in a sport that has always been a complex repository of our manners, hierarchies and politics. Derek Birley’s survey of the impact on cricket of two world wars, Empire and ‘the English caste system’, will, contends Ian Wooldridge, ‘teach an intelligent child of twelve more about their heritage than he or she will ever pick up at school.’ In just under 400 pages Birley takes us through a rich historical tapestry: how the game was snatched from rustic obscurity by gentlemanly gamblers; became the height of late eighteenth century metropolitan fashion; was turned into both symbol and synonym for British imperialism; and its more recent struggle to dislodge the discomforting social values preserved in the game from its imperial heyday. Superbly witty and humorous, peopled by larger-than-life characters from Denis Compton to Ian Botham, and wholly forswearing nostalgia, A Social History of English Cricket is a tour-de-force by one of the great writers on cricket.
'What seeps through the pages is Benaud's passion for the game, his open-mindedness and his eye for a story. He has become a cricket institution' The Sunday Times 'His timing is magical, his phrasing simple and his choice of what and when, quite brilliant ... his heart beats upon our summer game and frequently acts as its conscience' Daily Telegraph 'It's his insight, loyalty, generosity and quick wit that has kept him at the very top' The Sun * * * * * * A Sunday Times top ten hardback bestseller, this is a hugely enjoyable celebration of the game of cricket, written by its most popular TV commentator. My Spin on Cricket tells the story of the great game through the ages, through personal anecdotes and a lively, well informed narrative by Richie Benaud, the popular cricket commentator and former Australian cricket captain. Hailed as one of the most influential cricketer and cricket personalities of the last fifty years, he was the runaway winner in The Wisden Cricketer's commentators' poll of 2005. With the emphasis on the modern game, Richie puts current events under the spotlight and relates them to the past. He discusses all aspects of the game, including gambling, sledging, leadership and technological development in this entertaining and highly informative book.
Derek Pringle is finally ready to tell his story of cricket in the 80s. First chosen by England whilst still at university in 1982, Derek featured in the national side for the next 11 years. He played 30 Tests, 44 One Day Internationals, and appeared in 2 World Cups. Inside the dressing room, and out on the pitch, Derek witnessed at first hand an era of English cricket populated by characters such as Botham, Gooch, Lamb, and Gower. An era so far removed from today's rather anodyne sporting environment. And it wasn't just at international level that the sport lived life to the full. He was an integral part of Essex's all conquering side that won the County Championship 6 times as well as numerous one day trophies. Full of insight and experience here is the story of one of English cricket's most tumultuous periods told by someone who was there.
Globalizing Cricket examines the global role of cricket's of development, diffusion of cricket through colonization, and impact on the changing notions of English national identity.
Hardly a week goes by without Dickie Bird visiting a county or Test match arena where he can keep up to date with all that is happening in the cricket world, while at the same time taking the opportunity to reflect, in the company of old friends and acquaintances, on his own colourful contribution to the sport that lasted for over half a century. Dickie remains the most famous umpire of them all and is still highly respected throughout the world. A lovable eccentric with a joyful sense of fun, he decided, as he approached his eightieth birthday, to recall the highlights of his life in cricket, while also providing an illuminating insight into what he has been up to since his retirement.