This book includes comprehensive coverage of every League in the North West plus Youth and Women's Cricket, Leagues, Clubs, Contacts, Fixtures, New Structures, Previews and Reviews, Facts, Figures and Tables.

Rudi Koertzen is one of world cricket's most experienced and respected umpires. In a career spanning 29 years, he has stood in 100 Test matches and 200 One Day Internationals. (To date, he is the only umpire to have stood in 200 ODIs.) The slow and deliberate way in which he raises his left arm to give a batsman out has given rise to his nickname, Slow Death, which gives this memoir its title. The title takes the reader back to some of the most important highlights in Test, ODI and T20 matches over the past three decades, including several World Cups and Ashes series. It also covers the controversial side of international cricket, from match fixing to terrorist attacks. And Rudi gives his views on the use of technology in cricket, looking at the pros and cons of the umpire decision review system (UDRS).

When Dakota stole away in her fathers jeep, she had no idea of the dangers she would be facing. But she finds out when she becomes dinner for a giant cricket. But when Jake saves her in a nick of time she falls for him. it becomes a race against time when they are chased by giant crickets and lava. But deep in the cave there are a colony of people. And the leader has different ideas about them leaving.

"You do well to love cricket," said Lord Harris, "for it is more free from anything sordid, anything dishonourable, than any game in the world." Harris, who captained the first England team to do battle with the Australians in this country, obviously never got his hands on a copy of The Worst of Cricket. If that volume failed to totally convince you that the sport is designed to disturb, dismay and disgruntle in equal measure, then maybe it was because it only scratched the surface. Subtitled 'More Malice and Misfortune in the World's Cruellest Game', The Worst of Cricket 2 completes the job, taking up where its predecessor, one of the best-selling titles in Pitch's popular 'Worst of Sport' series, left off. The book takes another humorous look at the whole catalogue of malevolence, misadventure and madness associated with the sport - corruption, violence, drunkenness, incompetence - on and off the pitch!

Dickens gave his first formal expression to his Christmas thoughts in his series of small books, the first of which was the famous "Christmas Carol." There followed four others: "The Chimes," "The Cricket on the Hearth," "The Battle of Life," and "The Haunted Man." The five are known today as the "Christmas Books." Of them all the "Carol" is the best known and loved, and "The Cricket on the Hearth," although third in the series, is perhaps next in popularity, and is especially familiar to Americans through Joseph Jefferson's characterisation of Caleb Plummer.

Adult, sports autobiography, printed in Large Print. Brim Full of Passion follows the story of Wasim Khan's journey to becoming the first British born Asian to play professional cricket. Eight-year-old Wasim Khan yanks a board out of the garden fence, nicks his Mum's only decent knife, and starts whittling. A month later he's putting his first bat to good use: sending the school's tennis balls high onto the roof so that he can sneak back over the gate at night and liberate them. Brim Full of Passion follows this son of Kashmiri immigrants from the grimy streets of Small Heath to leafy Edgbaston, where he breaks in through the fence to watch England play Pakistan. A year later he's there legitimately, batting for the under-13s. The dream is simple: Warwickshire, England, the world. After four gruelling years as an apprentice pro he makes the all-conquering Bears team of 1995, and is on the brink of the England 'A' squad. But a loss of form, a dodgy selection policy, and one of the first British-born Asians to make the country grade loses his confidence. A move to Sussex is a disaster: he falls out with captain Chris Adams, can't get a game, and winds up playing for Derbyshire for nothing. At 30 it's all over and he's embarking on a new career as a coach. Anything to stay in the game he loves.

R. C. Robertson-Glasgow once again employs his well-known wit and urbanity to introduce a further collection of cricketing portraits .This time he has winded his scope to include not only the cricketers who have won international fame, but also those who have given years of faithful service to their countries and universities. Ranging from Sir Aubrey Smith, whose cricketing feats for Sussex and Cambridge date back to the mellow Edwardian days, to Kenneth Miller, dashing Australian batsman-bowler, these prints include such stalwarts as, Laurie Fishlock, Len Hutton and L.J.Todd of Kent-and J.M. Lomas, the graceful Oxford batsman, whose untimely death robbed cricket of a potential great name. Robertson-Glasgow, former Oxford University and Somerset cricketer and now correspondent for the Observer brings not only wide playing experience but years of acute observation and comparative criticism to bear on his subject. His style, as easy and assured as a Compton off-drive, combines with his wisdom and kindly shrewdness to make this book a memorable successor to Cricket Prints, his first book.

Originally published in 1900. A study of this most English of games. With contributions by other well known authors. Contents Include: How To Prepare A Wicket and How to Look After A Ground by T.A. Hearne - Batting by Albert Ward - Slow Bowling by F.G.Bull - Cricketing of Today by M.A.Noble - Fielding by P.F.Warner - Fast Bowling by T.C.Collings - Hints to Young Cricketers by O.R.Borradaile - Recreation and "Cricket" by Lord Harris - Management of a Club by C.W.Alcock - The Rules of Cricket - What Cricket Costs. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

An excellent book on a topic rarely explained, Practical Groundsmanship will be the greatest possible assistance to all who have a respponsibilit of turf upkeep from the park-keeper to the groundsman of the smallest local sports club. Contents Include: The Presentation of Groundsmanship - Cricket - Tennis - Bowls - Hockey - Football - Outfields and General Areas - Running Tracks - Garden Lawns and Paths - Maintenance - Composts - War on Weeds - The Worm Problem - Machinery and Equipment - The Groundsman's Calendar - Dimensions of Playing Areas - Practical Points

C.T.Studd - Cricketer and Pioneer By Norman P. Grubb. Originally published in 1933. A fascinating biography of an english country gentleman and cricketer who becomes a devoted missionary. Contents Include Foreword by Alfred B.Buxton Author's preface A visit to a theatre and it's consequences Three Etonians get a shock An all England cricketer The crisis A revival breaks out among students C.T. becomes a Chinaman He gives away a fortune An Irish girl and a dream United to fight for Jesus Perils and hardships in inland China On the American campus Six years in India A mans's man The greatest venture of all Through cannibal tribes The very heart of Africa C.T. among the natives Forward ever Backward never The God of wonders When the holy ghost came Bwana's house and daily life Hallelujah God enabling us We go on Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

A gently mocking view of English village cricket by an Australian (the 'Old Enemy', no less) who has been bewitched by its grace, charm, and sheer otherworldliness.

Crickety Cricket - A Collection Of Cricketing Poetry and CaricatureBy Douglas Moffat 112 pages Contents include: At the nets - Let us toss - The champion - The smiles of grace - Alphabet - A woodcock - Ye cricketers of England - Bob Peel - The captain's address to his men - Father, Dear Father - The Irish boy - Thomas Hearne - J.T. Hearne - Let me whisper in your ear - Ho! In London - Grace preparing to bowl - The lobster of Sussex - Pougher - S.M.J. Woods Originally published in 1898. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This is the story of how one cricketer in Yorkshire started a nationwide conversation, putting a spotlight on a society riddled with bias. Green grass, blue skies, white flannels and the gentle thwack of leather on willow: the quintessential image of Englishness that heralds the start of the cricket season. A so-called gentleman's game developed with the principle of fair play at its heart. All well and true - unless you're a person of colour living in Britain today. Azeem Rafiq, the former Yorkshire cricketer and England youth captain, learnt this the hard way. When, on 16 November 2021, Azeem stood up and courageously spoke out about his experiences of racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club he was coolly dismissed, told that it was "friendly banter" and that he was a troublemaker. The case blew up, and millions of people voiced their support for Azeem. It's Not Banter, It's Racism will provide a bracing look at the moments that led up to and defined the watershed meeting where Azeem shared his truth. As well as interviewing key figures involved in the case, Azeem, with The Cricketer's George Dobell, will illustrate how the continual denial of racism is sending us backwards as a society, and how pervasive polarisation has become. It is with great sensitivity and determination that Azeem will also unpack his own biases, while also building forgiveness and understanding with the communities he has impacted. Giving voice to the voiceless, Azeem's book stands for accountability and honesty in a world that would prefer to cancel and silence.

The story of an African Game is a ground-breaking history of black South African cricket that debunks the myth that blacks have no cricketing culture or history to speak of. Published at a time when South African cricket is forced, by disappointing results and ongoing transformation issues, to take a hard look at itself and where it is going, Story of an African Game is essential reading for a proper understanding of the game in this country. The title lies not simply in its central argument - that cricket grew and thrived in black communities in the Eastern Cape from as early as the 1850s until the ravages of apartheid all but destroyed it - but in the vivid documentary evidence provided by the author. Over 200 photographs graphically depict the game in African communities and show how in many respects it closely mirrored cricket's development in 'white' South Africa and in other British colonies such as India, the West Indies and Australia.

The battle for the Ashes between Australia’s and England’s cricket teams is sport’s longest running international competition. It has produced the very best performances that the ancient game can offer, and the fiercest rivalries. Sir Donald Bradman, the twentieth century’s greatest cricketer and captain, saw more of cricket’s finest players than any other individual. He was the game’s most accomplished selector, helping to choose Australia’s Ashes teams over 37 years - from 1934 when he was vice captain until 1971 when he was chairman of the Australian Cricket Board.

This vast experience, coupled with Bradman’s profound knowledge of cricket history, made him uniquely qualified to select the best Ashes teams ever. His studies took in the nineteenth century, when giants such as W. G. Grace, Will Murdoch, Tom Richardson and Fred Spofforth bestrode the cricketing world, as well as the modern era, when the likes of Ian Botham, Dennis Lillee, David Gower and Steve Waugh dominated the game. His choices do not simply represent a list of the sport’s top performers, but finely balanced combinations of players selected for their skills and likely overall contributions to the respective teams.

In exclusive interviews and correspondence with his biographer, Roland Perry, Bradman shares his opinions in vivid individual portraits of each selected player. He also unveils his nominations for the best five individual batting and bowling performances in all the Australia versus England contests that he personally witnessed, along with his own best five innings. Controversial, thought-provoking and always fascinating, Bradman’s Best Ashes Teams has something for every cricket fan and is bound to be the most talked-about cricket book of the year.

Nominated for Cricket Society Book of the Year Award 2002.Winner of the 2001 Lord Aberdare Prize for Sports History.Any attempt to understand the nature of social relations and cultural identities in modern Britain must consider the significance of sport. Sports have had a crucial role in sustaining national consciousness. Because cricket has so often been regarded as a symbol of Englishness, especially amongst those with economic and political influence, the role of race in the sport provides penetrating insights into English national identity, from the belief in racial superiority underlying imperial expansion through to more recent debates about sporting links with South Africa, and racial animosities at test matches. This book examines cricket and race in England over the past century and a half. The author considers how far and in what respects cricket has reflected the racist assumptions of whites, and its role as an arena for ethnic conflict as well as understanding and harmony in England. In the first half of the twentieth century, commentary on the playing abilities of West Indian cricketers was often superficially laudatory but condescending in tone, and argued that racial characteristics would limit their achievements as players. More recently, campaigns to combat racism in the sport and the contributions of African-Caribbeans and Asians to recreational cricket show how central cricket is to appraisals of the cultural factors that have shaped ethnic relations. This absorbing book provides an incisive overview of the interconnections among cricket, race and culture.

Tom Melville presents a well-documented history of cricket playing in America, focusing on its period of growth in the 1840s and its periodic revivals. Cricket failed to take on, or resisted, an American identity, but the sport had considerable appeal both as a sport and as an activity that fostered sportsmanship, control, public manners, and decorum. Cricket found acceptance mainly in the upper class but also appealed to working-class people.

Cricket Explained offers the sports enthusiast a user-friendly introduction to baseball's British cousin, a game that shares with America's national pastime the common ancestor "rounders."

This is the definitive beginner's guide to the game of cricket, written by a world authority on the sport, the co-inventor of the Coopers & Lybrand World Cricket Ratings System. Cricket Explained takes the reader from the game's fundamentals -- basic rules, terminology, equipment -- to the finer points of strategy, individual playing styles, and cricket lore.

The book includes a combined glossary/index for easy reference and is illustrated throughout with the lighthearted drawings of British cartoonist Mark Stevens. So even if you don't know "short leg" from "silly mid off" or a bowler from a batsman, you'll come away from Cricket Explained with an understanding for this truly international sport which, like baseball, is loved both for its elegant simplicity and its vexing complexity.

Among the topics covered in Cricket Explained's concise, user-friendly entries are:
-- Cricket's history
-- Making sense of the action on the field
-- Batsmen and the batting order
-- Fielders and fielding positions
-- Fielding and batting tactics
-- Scoring and statistics
-- Bowling strategy
-- How many players are required
-- How runs are scored, outs are made, and a game is won
-- Umpires and the rules
-- Bowlers and their individual styles
-- Different types of cricket played throughout the world