Author(s): Barry Norman

SPORT

Calling all cricket fans: settle back in a deckchair, pour yourself a refreshing pint of hoppy English ale, and prepare to savour summer's timeless symphony of leather on willow in the congenial company of Barry Norman (not just one of Britain's best-loved broadcasters, but also a self-confessed cricket obsessive - 'Cricket is my great passion, right up there with the movies!'). Barry Norman's Book of Cricket delivers a wealth of information about every aspect of the world's most popular summer game: how its rules developed from its 18th-century beginnings; its pre-World War I 'golden age' and international expansion in step with the onward march of Britain's empire; the growth of test match cricket (and of Anglo-Australian 'Ashes' rivalry in particular); the emergence of the English county championship and of Australia's state competition; profiles of great players past and present; the modern phenomenon of one-day cricket and the cricket World Cup; legendary matches (from attritional test match classics to limited-overs thrillers); cricket crises and controversies (from Bodyline to Muralitharan and from chucking to sledging); bizarre facts and records; cricket's rich and intriguing vocabulary of words and phrases (from Yorker to doosra); memorable cricket quotes (including, of course, 'the bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey'). And beyond this sumptuous feast of cricket history, facts and feats - enlivened by anecdotes, jokes, quotes and quizzes - Barry Norman's Book of Cricket provides practical guidance on how to become a cricketer. Elegantly designed, gorgeously illustrated, and wryly but affectionately written by an author with a genuine passion for and deep knowledge of the game, Barry Norman's Book of Cricket is a cricket book for all seasons, presented in the same style and spirit as Quercus's best-selling Bumper Book of Football. As appealing to the boy or girl who is anxious to find out more about the game as it is to the seasoned fan looking for a cricketing gift book or memento, it looks set to be the must-have cricket book of 2009.