Kings in Waiting is the story of how Somerset failed to win their maiden Championship title despite finishing second five times during the 2010s. Since they finished bottom of the table in 2006, Somerset have enjoyed and endured the most exciting period in their history. Following their bottom-of-the-table finish, they hired Justin Langer as their captain and he transformed them into one of the most competitive teams in the land. He departed in 2009, although the good work he had done alongside his successor Marcus Trescothick was expected to result in trophies. But they somehow failed to deliver, remarkably finishing as runners-up in eight tournaments between 2009 and 2012. This led to them being described as the bridesmaids of English cricket. After a few quiet years, a new team began to emerge under Chris Rogers, one full of youth and promise. He guided them to second in 2016 and his successor Tom Abell finally managed to win a trophy in 2019. Yet the all-important Championship title remains absent from their cabinet.

**Voted Wisden Cricket Monthly's best cricket book ever in 2019** WINNER, BEST CRICKET BOOK, BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2010 _________________ Golden Boy is a blistering expose of the tumultuous Lillee/Marsh/Chappells era of Australian cricket, as viewed through the lens of flawed genius Kim Hughes. _________________ Kim Hughes was one of the most majestic and daring batsmen to play for Australia in the last 40 years. Golden curled and boyishly handsome, his rise and fall as captain and player is unparalleled in cricketing history. He played several innings that count as all-time classics, but it's his tearful resignation from the captaincy that is remembered. Insecure but arrogant, abrasive but charming; in Hughes' character were the seeds of his own destruction. Yet was Hughes' fall partly due to those around him, men who are themselves legends in Australia's cricketing history? Lillee, Marsh, the Chappells, all had their agendas, all were unhappy with his selection and performance as captain - evidenced by Dennis Lillee's tendency to aim bouncers relentlessly at Hughes' head during net practice. Hughes' arrival on the Test scene coincided with the most turbulent time Australian cricket has ever seen - first Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket, then the rebel tours to South Africa. Both had dramatic effects on Hughes' career. As he traces the high points and the low, Christian Ryan sheds new and fascinating light on the cricket - and the cricketers - of the times.

Few things are as evocative of the English summer as Test Match Special, and in 2019 the team had the biggest cricket season ever to cover, with the men's and women's Ashes series and the ICC World Cup all taking place. The action didn't disappoint, as TMS listeners tuned in to follow some of the most exciting action you could wish for. Now, in this brilliant and compelling account of the summer, we get to see behind the scenes to find out what really goes on in the commentary box. As well as covering all the key events on the field to ensure the reader can relive a brilliant summer, the Test Match Special Diary takes the reader to the heart of the action to join Aggers and the rest of the crew. Relive the stunning drama of England's nailbiting World Cup victory in a Super Over, or Ben Stokes's match-winning innings to save the Ashes at Headingley, and find out how the commentary team coped as the tension mounted during some of the greatest games in cricketing history. As well as the cricket, we get to hear from the guests who inspired them and about the cakes that were irresistible; the bloopers that had them in stitches to the incredible moments that will never be forgotten - it's all here in this fascinating book. Filled with contributions from all the regulars in the TMS commentary box, including Jonathan Agnew, Geoffrey Boycott, Isa Guha, Alison Mitchell, Phil Tufnell and Michael Vaughan, along with some of the most obscure cricketing trivia from scorers Andrew Samson and Andy Zaltzman, this is a book that no fan of Test Match Special can be without.

Get excited for the 2017-18 Ashes series with this wonderful collection of wacky and hilarious anecdotes from the man who is never stumped for a good cricketing story, Phil Tufnell. A deliciously eccentric series of anecdotes, Tuffers' Cricket Tales is a Sunday Times bestseller. Phil Tufnell, aka 'Tuffers', is the much-loved English cricketer from the 1990s who has now become one of this country's favourite broadcasters. Not cast from the same mould as other players of his generation, Tufnell became a cult figure for his unorthodox approach to the game ... and to life in general. Tuffers' Cricket Tales is a collection of the great man's favourite cricket stories that will amuse and inform in equal measure. Tufnell's unmistakably distinctive voice, as heard to such good effect on Test Match Special, steers fans through dozens and dozens of terrifically entertaining and insightful anecdotes, garnered from his 25-year playing and broadcasting career. He introduces a cast of genuinely colourful characters found in dressing-rooms and commentary boxes from around the world, and in the process offers a uniquely warm and quirky homage to his sport. A perfect gift for all cricket fans. Raves for Tuffers' Cricket Tales: 'Hilarious' (Daily Star Sunday); 'Amusing' (All Out Cricket); 'Deliciously eccentric' (Lytham St Anne's Express) Five star reader reviews for Tuffers' Cricket Tales: 'Just like having Tuffers reading it to you. A well written book, a vivid imagination and lots of stories to make you laugh' 'This book proves once and for all that Tuffers is a national treasure. The beauty of this book is that even people who only like cricket a little, love Tuffers a lot. A winner' 'This book is an absolute hoot. There's a funny story pretty much on every single page, and the warmth of Tuffers' heart shines through. An absolute must for all cricket fans'

From the history-steeped ‘home of cricket’ at Lord’s, to the mecca of Indian cricket at Eden Gardens, this encompassing guide ranges across five continents to bring you the best cricket venues the world has to offer. Accompanied by corresponding articles from The Times of notable matches at each venue, discover the history behind these remarkable grounds. With its beautiful, full-colour photography, scorecards, and locator map, this is an essential book for all fans of cricket. Grounds include: Adelaide Oval, Australia Bangabandhu National Stadium, Bangladesh Centurion Park, South Africa Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates Eden Gardens, India Eden Park, New Zealand Edgbaston, England Galle International Stadium, Sri Lanka Harare Sports Ground, Zimbabwe Iqbal Stadium, Pakistan Kensington Oval, Barbados Lord’s, England Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia Newlands, South Africa The Oval, England St John’s, Antigua

The declaration of war against Germany on 3 September 1939 brought an end to the second (and as yet, final) Golden Age of English cricket. Over 200 first-class English players signed up to fight in that first year; 52 never came back. In many ways, the summer of 1939 was the end of innocence. Using unpublished letters, diaries and memoirs, Christopher Sandford recreates that last summer, looking at men like George Macaulay, who took a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket but was struck down while serving with the RAF in 1940; Maurice Turnbull, the England all-rounder who fell during the Normandy landings; and Hedley Verity, who still holds cricketing records, but who died in the invasion of Sicily. Few English cricket teams began their first post-war season without holding memorial ceremonies for the men they had lost: The Final Innings pays homage not only to these men, but to the lost innocence, heroism and human endurance of the age.

In this true-life sporting memoir of one of the best batsman in the game who stunned the cricket world when he prematurely ended his own England career, Trescothick's brave and soul-baring account of his mental frailties opens the way to a better understanding of the unique pressures experienced by modern-day professional sportsmen. At 29, Marcus Trescothick was widely regarded as one of the batting greats. With more than 5,000 Test runs to his name and a 2005 Ashes hero, some were predicting this gentle West Country cricket nut might even surpass Graham Gooch's record to become England's highest ever Test run scorer. But the next time Trescothick hit the headlines it was for reasons no one but a handful of close friends and colleagues could have foreseen. On Saturday, February 25, 2006, four days before leading England into the first Test against India in place of the injured captain Vaughan, Trescothick was out for 32 in the second innings of the final warm-up match. As he walked from the field he fought to calm the emotional storm that was raging inside him, at least to hide it from prying eyes. In the dressing room he broke down in tears, overwhelmed by a blur of anguish, uncertainty, and sadness he had been keeping at bay for longer than he knew. Within hours England's best batsman was on the next flight home. His departure was kept secret until after close of play when coach Duncan Fletcher told the stunned media his acting captain had quit the tour for personal, family reasons. Until now, the full, extraordinary story of what happened that day and why, of what preceded his breakdown has never been told. He reveals for the first time that he almost flew home from the 2004 tour to South Africa, what caused it, and what followed--his comeback to the England side and a second crushing breakdown nine months later that left him unable to continue the 2006-2007 Ashes tour down under. "Coming Back to Me" will replace the myths and rumors with the truth as Trescothick talks with engaging openness and enthusiasm about his rise to the top of international cricket; and describes with equal frankness his tortured descent into private despair.

Following Richie Benaud's death in April 2015, two of Australia's finest sports writers, Norman Tasker and Ian Heads, set off on a search for the real Richie: a man who graced the lives of many for more than six decades - first as an outstanding all-rounder and great captain, and then as cricket's greatest TV commentator. Tasker and Heads cast a wide net, seeking fresh material from the people who knew Richie best. The result is an intimate tribute that gets to the heart of Richie Benaud, the man. Contributors include members of Richie's family and childhood friends; cricket greats such as Sir Garfield Sobers, Ted Dexter, Neil Harvey, Alan Davidson, Steve Waugh and Shane Warne; acclaimed journalists such as John Woodcock, David Frith, Gideon Haigh and Tony Cozier; fellow commentators such as Ian Chappell, Mike Atherton, Mark Nicholas and Mark Taylor; and friends, colleagues and business associates from Australia, England, France, India and the Caribbean. The book begins with a revealing foreword by Richie's brother John, himself a former Test cricketer and prominent journalist. It ends with a moving postscript by Richie's second son Jeff.

*Large format edition* Wisden 2020 provides unparalleled coverage of an extraordinary year of cricket. The 157th edition of Wisden celebrates the World Cup triumph of England's men on a memorable day at Lord's. The cover captures the moment of victory - and arguably the most important split second in the history of English cricket - as Jos Buttler runs out Martin Guptill from the last ball of the super over to confirm England as champions. Wisden 2020 reports not just on a remarkable World Cup, reliving the climax through the eyes of England's players, but on a topsy-turvy Ashes, the Stokes Headingley miracle and all. Wisden also names its champion all-format county, and remembers Bob Willis, who died in December. Emma John reveals what it's like to be a woman member of MCC, while Colin Shindler looks back 50 years at a summer of demonstrations and barbed wire. @WisdenAlmanack

This is an exacting social history of Indian cricket between 1780 and 1947. It considers cricket as a derivative sport, creatively adapted to suit modern Indian socio-cultural needs, fulfil political imperatives and satisfy economic aspirations. Majumdar argues that cricket was a means to cross class barriers and had a healthy following even outside the aristocracy and upper middle classes well over a century ago. Indeed, in some ways, the democratization of the sport anticipated the democratization of the Indian polity itself. Boria Majumdar reveals the appropriation, assimilation and subversion of cricketing ideals in colonial and post-colonial India for nationalist ends. He exposes a sport rooted in the contingencies of the colonial and post-colonial context of nineteenth- and twentieth-century India. Cricket, to put it simply, is much more than a 'game' for Indians. This study describes how the genealogy of their intense engagement with cricket stretches back over a century. It is concerned not only with the game but also with the end of cricket as a mere sport, with Indian cricket's commercial revolution in the 1930s, with ideals and idealism and their relative unimportance, with the decline of morality for reasons of realpolitik, and with the denunciation, once and for all, of the view that sport and politics do not mix. This book was previously published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport

Winning takes many forms. For fans of Matthew Syed, this is a great sports book about leadership, judgement and decision-making - rooted in the theory that helped Ed Smith lead England cricket to sustained success. And to help us all win more. 'An absolutely fascinating book' THE GAME, The Times football pod How do you spot the opportunities that others miss? How do you turn a team's performance around? How do you make good decisions amid a tidal wave of information? And how can you improve? As chief selector for the England cricket team, Ed Smith pioneered new methods for building successful teams and watched his decisions tested in real time on the pitch. During his three-year tenure, England averaged 7 wins in every 10 completed matches, better than they have performed before or since. Making Decisions reveals Smith's unique approach to finding success in a fast-changing and increasingly data-reliant world. The best decisions, Smith argues, rely on a combination of differing kinds of intelligence: from algorithms to intuition. This is a truth that the most successful people know: data cannot account for everything, it must be harnessed with human insight. Whatever the power of data, humans aren't finished yet. Sharing for the first time the tools he introduced as England selector, Smith's book captures the immediacy of life at the sharp end, while also exploring frameworks from the top levels of sports, business and the arts. Decision-making is revealed as a creative enterprise, not a reductive system. Making Decisions offers an invaluable guide for those who want a better framework for developing, explaining and implementing new ideas.

New paperback edition. This is the bestselling autobiography of Ted Dexter - fondly known as Lord Ted - the ferociously powerful and debonair former England international cricketer who captained England in 1961-2, stood as England's chairman of selectors from 1989-1993 and then became President of the MCC in 2001. He is undeniably one of England's most prolific cricketers but, as he's eager to stress in the introduction of his book, he also lived a rich, lively and fulfilling life outside of his sporting career, with tales galore of his various escapades along the French Riviera, his experience of running a sports PR company, flying planes (just "because he could"), playing championship golf, racing greyhounds and so much more. A riveting read not only for those who recall his sporting legacy, but for anyone who resonates with Ted's fervent enthusiasm for both cricket and life. All book royalties will be donated to the MCC Foundation - Transforming Lives Through Cricket. Nominated for The Cricket Society and MCC 'Cricket Book of the Year' award.

Jim Pleass is the last surviving member of Glamorgan's County Championship winning team of 1948, the first time the Welsh team won the highest honour in county cricket. The Cardiff-born multi-talented sportsman, who was also an exceptional footballer and offered trial games for Cardiff City as a schoolboy, built a reputation as a solid and reliable team player at a time when Glamorgan was establishing itself on the first class cricket scene after the Second World War. In stark contrast to contemporary sport which is too often dominated by money and celebrity, Jim was a hard-working professional sportsman typical of his era, who simply enjoyed the camaraderie and of the game he loved. Yet the man who was born in Cardiff in 1923 achieved something that only a handful of the five hundred or so people who have proudly worn the daffodil-sweater since the Club's formation in 1888, can claim to have also matched, winning some sixty summers after the Club's creation their first-ever County Championship title. Jim was a very lucky man, as the book explains his narrow escape from certain death when he stormed the Normandy beaches on D day in 1944. If it wasn't for the over-exuberance of a driver on another landing craft, Jim would never have graced the cricket field wearing the daffodil of Glamorgan County Cricket Club.

A great depression, worsening Anglo-Australian relations, the declining British Empire and the challenge from an Australia striving to find a national identity are the context which explain bodyline and its repercussions. Bodyline was a watershed in the history of cricket and politics were publicly seen as part of sport. This book offers a radical reappraisal of bodyline which challenges the official interpretations of the events, and places them in a unique social and political context. .

Since Victorian times, the MCC had embraced the amateur ideal that cricket was more than a game. It was the very essence of camaraderie and good sportsmanship. Yet for all their evangelising, the game's privileged elite were part of a British establishment which revelled in its national prestige and imperial hegemony. And winning at cricket was essential to maintaining that stature. Ambassadors of Goodwill assesses the MCC's attempt to marry these conflicting objectives and foster goodwill within the Empire via long, formal overseas tours. After the war, the amateur ideal suffered when Len Hutton was appointed England's first professional captain. His uncompromising leadership brought success on the field but discord off it. Managers were installed to restore diplomatic harmony but, with the growing upheavals of the late 60s, cricket became increasingly associated with nationality, race and professional cynicism. Ray Illingworth's controversial win in Australia in 1970/71 clearly signalled the MCC's waning influence.

What prompts common people to kill a guard and rob an office they thought had some tickets for a Test match? Why does a scholar of medieval Bengali literature remark, 'Had life been a sport, it would be cricket'? Who do journalists vindicate by promoting cricket, the imperial game par excellence, as the lifeforce of the ordinary Indian? This book pursues these threads of the people's uncanny attachment to cricket, seeking to understand the sport's role in the making of a postcolonial society. With a focus on Calcutta, it unpacks the various connotations of international cricket that have produced a postcolonial community and public culture. Cricket, it shows, gave the people a tool to understand and form themselves as a cultural community. More than the outcomes of matches, the beliefs, attitudes and actions the sport generated had an immense bearing on emerging social relationships.

The life and times of Middlesex and England wicketkeeper-batsman John 'JT' Murray, one of the acknowledged greats of English post-war cricket. Irresistibly cool, glamorous and apparently unapproachable, Murray was Christopher Sandford's consuming hero at the time the author was confined in an English seaside boarding school in the 60s. Twenty or more years later, the two became friends. In 2017 Murray eventually succumbed to a decade-long campaign and agreed to share in full his lifetime's reminiscences, recounting his experiences of a quarter of a century as a professional English sportsman. Murray proved unfailingly generous and humorous (if by no means uncritical) in his accounts of the great Tests, the tours and the parade of celebrities, sporting and otherwise, he encountered. This treasure trove of stories - described not just in the dry accountancy of scores and averages, but in droll anecdotal detail - lies at the heart of a unique cricket book illustrated by photographs, letters and notes from Murray's own collection.

In March 1977, England cricket captain Tony Greig was arguably the most famous and popular sportsman in the country, and the best all-rounder in world cricket. He had recently led England to a famous series victory in India, her first successful campaign on the subcontinent since the Second World War. Then he had conjured a doughty performance from his travel-weary troops in the dramatic, one-off Centenary Test in Melbourne, narrowly losing by 45 runs. Within weeks, though, his reputation was in tatters. He was branded a traitor and mercenary, stripped of the England captaincy and excluded from the national side. He was also relieved of the Sussex captaincy and banned from first-class cricket for eight weeks. His involvement in the controversial 'Packer Revolution' had caused his fall from grace. Soon afterwards, he left England for good for a commentary career in Australia. At 6ft 7in, Greig was a giant of the game both figuratively and literally. His life story is every bit as fascinating as the controversy that engulfed him.

Sussex and England superstar Maurice Tate's story is one of triumph and fame, controversy and tragedy. In the 1920s and 1930s, the all-rounder was the world's most popular cricketer, famed for his brilliant bowling and broad smile - unlike his infamous cricketing father, whose costly error he more than repaid. In his day, Tate's enormous feet were the subject of a music-hall song, his extra pace considered 'magical'; he's now recognised as the first proper 'seam' bowler. He took almost 2800 first-class wickets and thrilled crowds with rapid-fire sixes and centuries. But along the way he suffered a nervous breakdown at the Bodyline series, and threw beer over Douglas Jardine. After a bitter sacking by Sussex, he became a pub landlord and died in poverty. Recently voted Sussex's greatest ever player, Tate doesn't figure in any more widespread Hall of Fame. It's time to remember this forgotten great of England cricket.

England against Australia for the Ashes - it is one of the oldest and greatest rivalries in sport and almost its entire history has been covered in The Times. The whole story is here: from Shane Warne's ball of the century in 1993 to Gilbert Jessop's power hitting at The Oval in 1902; from the infamous Bodyline tour of 1932-33 to England's surrender to the pace of Lillee and Thomson in 1974-75; from Len Hutton's Coronation-year triumph in 1953 to the long years of defeat before the Ashes were finally recaptured in 2005. The Times on the Ashes showcases great batsmen like Bradman, Ponting, Gower, Trumper, Boycott, Greg Chappell, and the great bowlers of Trueman, Warne, Larwood, Lillee, Underwood, McGrath, Anderson, along with the great captains such as Brearley, Ian Chappell, Vaughan, Armstrong, Jardine, Steve Waugh and Hutton. This book recaptures more than a century of the highs and lows of Ashes cricket through the pages of The Times and features some of the greatest writers in the history of the sport.

A national hero in his playing days, Herbert Sutcliffe belongs to a select band of all-time cricketing greats. Alan Hill's award-winning biography of the Yorkshire and England batsman charts his extraordinary transformation from cobbler's apprentice to urbane gentleman: one of the coolest, most determined and technically accomplished practitioners the game has ever known. Blessed with the looks of a matinee idol, Sutcliffe was a complex, often enigmatic, personality. As a cricketer, he was touched with genius. His career spanned exactly the years between the wars and he performed with distinction in every one of those seasons. He scored 50,138 first-class runs, including 149 centuries, and his remarkable Test average of 60.73 is the highest for an English batsman - higher than those of Hobbs, Hammond or Hutton. Herbert Sutcliffe: Cricket Maestro calls upon the reminiscences of Bob Wyatt, Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Len Hutton and Les Ames among other illustrious contemporaries, to evoke the splendour of Sutcliffe's achievements for Yorkshire and England, and to bring to life the vivacious story of one of the greatest batsmen ever.

It's Britain's hottest summer since 1976 and English cricket is in a sweat of transformation. The public is no longer interested in County Championship games, traditional touchstone of the calendar. Fans prefer a bit of flash, bang, wallop – or so the experts tell us. Where though does that leave the twenty minor counties – strung out from Northumberland to Norfolk to Cornwall – who for the past one hundred and twenty-five years have fancied themselves the stepping-stone between regional club and first class county competitions? A level of the game seen as either an ex-professionals' graveyard or the last refuge of blazered old duffers is in a struggle for its very existence. And come 2020, the venerable Minor Counties Championship will indeed be blown away, like dandelion seeds on the breeze, replaced by the newly-branded and 'more marketable' National Counties Championship. At least that was the plan. In 2018, no-one has yet heard of Covid-19. What they do know is that this threat to their competition is existential and the modernisers at Lord's are to blame, far more interested in such innovations as a proposed new 'Hundred' than bolstering that which has stood the test of time. Granted full access to committee and squad, Tony Hannan, author of Underdogs – A Year in the Life of a Rugby League Town, spent a season with Cumberland CCC amid the lakes, fells and mountains of Cumbria. And as might have been expected in such dramatic terrain, he tells a story full of ups and downs – complete with one or two surprises. Skippered by former Durham player Gary Pratt – who as substitute fielder ran out Australia captain Ricky Ponting during the 2005 Ashes – Cumberland's expenses-only nomads are nevertheless just one important thread in a yarn stretching well beyond the boundaries of Cumbria. The Wicket Men is a cricket book unlike any other. It draws stumps on a small but fascinating aspect of a pastime whose rhythms and rituals, while endlessly evolving, are rooted firmly in the English folk tradition.

Born in Bolton tells the history of the 38 first-class cricketers, including 12 Test Players, to have been born in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The first was Walter Hardcastle, born in Great Bolton in 1843, while the most recent are Matt Parkinson and Josh Bohannon. In between there are some fascinating stories of the careers enjoyed by so many Boltonians down the years such as R.,G.Barlow, Charlie Hallows, Dick Tyldesley, Roy Tattersall, Jack Bond, Frank Tyson, Mike Watkinson, Karl Brown, Sajid Mahmood, and many others. Why Bolton has produced so many fine cricketers and is such a cricket stronghold is explained by two excellent contributions from local cricket historians David Kaye and Jack Williams. Each book is accompanied by a fold-out map listing over 300 clubs in the Bolton area and the location of over 100 cricket grounds.

The New Zealand Cricket Almanack is the cricket lover's bible and is regarded worldwide as one of the finest books of its kind. The 73rd edition contains all the details of another full year of cricket at all levels. As usual, there is a detailed records section and a fascinating collection of the season's happenings.