Gavin Mortimer entertains with his diverting views of a great game through key objects in its history. And by using these key objects he is able to recount a history of how this sport began and the strange and meandering progress it made to prominence today.
Once the preserve of the English, now, for nations the world over, summertime means cricket bats to be oiled, rain forecasts analysed and tea in the pavilion. Cricket has enthralled us since the seventeenth century. But what is it about the game that provokes such fervour? Award-winning sports author Gavin Mortimer calls together a cast of salt-of-the-earth Yorkshiremen, American billionaires and dashing Indian princes to tell the strange and remarkable tale of cricket's journey from medieval village sport of 'club-ball' to the global media circus graced by superstars from Denis Compton to Sachin Tendulkar. If you've ever wanted to know what a hoop skirt has to do with overarm bowling, why England fight Australia over a burnt bail, or how to avoid tickling a jaffa in the corridor of uncertainty, Mortimer chalks up a stunning century of tales in the first truly accessible global history of cricket.
Gavin Mortimer, who lives in Paris, is an award-winning writer, and journalist. He is the football correspondent for the Week magazine and also writes for the Sunday Telegraph, BBC History Magazine, and Rugby World.
