Cricket Biography

The iconic captain Brendon McCullum, England's T20 visionaries Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler and Trinidad's Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine, who rose to become among the first T20 millionaires, explain how they shaped T20 - and how it shaped them. Test greats Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting recount what a sea-change T20 represented and decode T20 strategy. AB de Villiers explores the limits of modern batting. Venky Mysore, the cricket revolutionary you have never heard of, reveals how the game is changing off the field.

Legendary cricket broadcaster Henry Blofeld takes the listener on a journey from A-Z through the world of cricket. In his trademark charming style, Blowers goes through the alphabet, explaining some of the puzzling cricket terminology and regaling his favourite anecdotes from his 50 years in the sport, covering the most important moments in the sport's history as well as the most entertaining and amusing.

From the turbulent life of the late Shane Warne to the skill, mentality and character behind Pat Cummins' new-look captaincy, and through the decades to the wit, wisdom and genius of Sir Donald Bradman, Great Australian Cricket Achievers and Characters examines the career highs and lows of many of the game's big names.

This book is a personally written account of Jimmy’s "50 Golden Years", in show business, from holiday camp Redcoat to Bluecoat then onto his first big break on television, (after many struggles), going on to headline for four of his own series for Central television in the 1980s with 'Royal Command Performances' and TV Variety shows in between, then his BBC Radio 2 series written by the great scriptwriter Eddie Braben in the 1990's which ran for five years called, 'Jimmy's Cricket Team'.

Highlights of a career in cricket from Britain's favourite umpire.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.

The author takes us on her journey from a small town in Indiana to achieving her goals on a global scale. Due to the ever-present crickets, she learns to rely on herself. It’s a story of beating the odds, becoming independent and successful. She discusses the complexities of the mother/daughter relationship and her experience with trauma, weight issues, and anxiety.

For more than a decade, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has captivated the world of cricket and more than a billion Indians with his incredible ingenuity as captain, wicketkeeper, and batsman. Bharat Sundaresan tracks down the cricketer's closest friends in Ranchi and artfully presents the different shades of Dhoni - the Ranchi boy, the fauji, the diplomat, Chennai's beloved Thala, the wicketkeeping Pythagoras - and lays bare the man underneath. He discovers a certain je ne sais quoi about the man who has a magical ability to transform and elevate everything that comes into his orbit.

The fascinating life story of professional cricketer Kevin Pietersen, MBE, from his childhood in South Africa to his recent experiences as one of the leading lights in the world of international cricket.

Felix takes us through his life growing up in South West London and describes how his story is forever punctuated and given meaning by cricket. Through his own exploits as a slow left arm spinner of 'lovely loopy stuff', to the tragic illness of his mother, life with The Maccabees and his cricket redemption, Felix touches on both the comedic and the tragic in equal measure. Throughout, there's the ever-present roller coaster of following the England cricket team.

At the epicentre of England's historic triumph was Ben Stokes, the talismanic all-rounder with an insatiable appetite for The Big Occasion. He contributed an absolutely critical 84 runs off 98 balls when England batted, a seemingly nerveless innings of discipline and maturity. Thrillingly, it was enough to tie the scores at 241 runs each, so the match reverted to a Super Over - just six balls for each side to bat in the ultimate in sporting sudden death. Stokes and his batting partner, Jos Buttler, saw England to 15 runs off their over.

From the time she was a very young girl, Rachel Carson felt a bond with nature. Growing up in Pennsylvania, she spent hours exploring meadows and woods, dreaming of seeing the ocean. As Rachel grew older, she combined her gift for writing with her love of nature, producing award-winning books about the sea. But her best-known achievement was the publication of Silent Spring, an account of the dangerous effects of pesticides on plants and animals.

Michael Simkins is the ultimate Sunday cricketer - passionate, obsessive, technically inept and hopelessly deluded. When an injury rules him out, he decides to set off on an odyssey across the counties of England. It's a journey that begins at the birthplace of cricket, takes in the burial site of his favourite ground and even stops along the way to flirt with the love child of WG Grace and Kerry Katona that is Twenty20. It ends with the ultimate cricketing zenith - returning to the field of play to bowl an over to Freddie Flintoff in fading light in front of a capacity crowd.

Listen to a cricket pundit's memoirs, featuring articles from his time as the Daily Telegraph cricket correspondent. But this audiobook also includes some surprisingly vivid and poignant accounts of his life as a Japanese prisoner of war - all read in his "brown, treacly voice".

Cult hero of the Big Bash League, Brad Hogg is still in his prime almost three decades after he first played cricket. As well as playing for his country, Brad has worked in shearing sheds and on the Fremantle wharf, as a postman, football umpire, tree-lopper and roustabout, even completing a finance degree along the way. Memorable, sad and often hilarious, The Wrong 'Un is the inspirational story of one of the game's most popular players.

Glenn McGrath is an Australian cricket great - a fast bowler both feared and admired by top-level cricketers around the world. Off the field, his life was touched by tragedy with the death of his first wife, Jane, from breast cancer yet also marked by a determination to celebrate her life and make sure her legacy helps thousands of others through the Jane McGrath Foundation - now one of Australia's biggest and most effective breast cancer charities

Out of the box thinking, ruthless pragmatism and an innate ability to understand, define and then redefine the game of cricket are probably the hallmarks of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's cricket. From hitting countless sixes in his school ground in the sleepy town of Ranchi to finishing a run chase with another towering six in a World Cup final against Sri Lanka, Dhoni's journey is undoubtedly one of the most iconic of our times. Many have tried to decode his mystique, and yet, every account seems to have fallen frustratingly short of capturing the essence of the man.

As a cricketer, broadcaster and celebrity jungle-dweller, Phil Tufnell has travelled the world far and wide. From the great cricket tours of Australia and South Africa to his equally memorable jaunts to Benidorm and Blackpool, Phil has spent much of his life living out of a suitcase, meeting a host of colourful and memorable characters along the way. The Tourist takes you out on the road, into the dressing room and behind the scenes of the commentary box to reveal just what really happens on Tour.

It is not often that an author and his editor strike up a relationship which survives forty years of epistolary exchanges and intellectual sparring. The strangely enduring and occasionally fractious friendship which developed between the famously outspoken historian Ramachandra Guha and his reticent editor Rukun Advani is the subject of this quite eccentric and thoroughly compelling literary memoir.

When England beat Pakistan to become T20 World Champions in November 2022, they crowned an extraordinary rise to the top from the depths of 2015, and became the first male side to hold the 20-over and 50-over titles at the same time. This is the story of how they got there. From early failure, to the building of a golden generation, and a look to the future, this is the must-listen story from the key protagonists about building one of England’s most successful sporting teams from rubble.

Nick Compton had it all. A literal golden boy, to many observers it would seem that he was born to be a great in the sporting arena coming as he did from an incredible sporting ancestry. HIs grandfather Sir Denis Compton played cricket for England and football for Arsenal. Honed at an elite English boarding school, with a telegenic profile perfectly suited to the modern media environment, Nick appeared to be blessed with that rare ability to be able to stride out and face down the world's quickest bowlers, to survive and thrive in the danger zone at the hands of the hurtling new ball.