Gosh, is it really a year since the last one? The new cricket season waits before us, to borrow radio genius Danny Baker’s delicious aphorism, like a great big shoe with its lights on. It’s quite probably my age, but the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack is surely coming round quicker every year. At least that’s how it feels.

It’s the first under the editorship of Lawrence Booth, the youngest editor of the Wisden Almanack for 72 years. I’m pleased to report its very much business as usual. No boats have been rocked, it still looks, feels and reads very much like a Wisden should. He tackles the weighty issues affecting (the future of) the game – Twenty20, India and the IPL, the jailing of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer, the World Cup and Test cricket. However, he has also introduced two competitions (see page 25), one of which offers a lucky reader/writer the chance to have his or her work published in next year’s Almanack, which will be the 150th.

The big news is always the Five Cricketers of the Year. Yes, the selection of Alastair Cook was a no-brainer, but what had he done, or not done, to escape the accolade thus far, a full six years since his debut ton in India? Likewise, Kumar Sangakkara, a run-glutton for Sri Lanka for the past dozen years, who was also named The Leading Cricketer in the World, 2011.  Tim Bresnan, a cricketer who is showing every promise of rising above the rank of doughty yeoman into something approaching the new Flinto… Let’s just say he’s turning into a pretty useful Test all-rounder. Completing the quintet are County Champions Lancashire and Worcestershire stalwarts respectively Glen Chapple and Alan Richardson.

A mighty two hundred plus pages are devoted to absorbing essays, reviews and comment before we get on to the nuts and bolts of stats covering every game of note from the past year with records being broken or updated from across the game’s rich history.

It’s not for me to tell you what to read in a Wisden Almanack, it’s for you to delve in as your whim takes you. What gives greatest delight, for me, is that nothing escapes its attention, however obscure or arcane. I chanced across a category titled ‘I might as well not have bothered’, subtitled ‘Players in English first-class cricket who top-scored in both innings, took ten wickets and lost.’ Take a bow, Warwickshire’s C.R.Woakes, the tenth player to do so, the first being W.G. Grace back in 1869, whose 64 and 23* plus 7-20 and 3-103 could not prevent Hampshire defeating him, and his obviously hapless team mates, by 209 runs in August.

Finally, I wouldn’t normally scour the stats of the Aussie domestic game but my Wisden fell open, like a wizard’s book of spells, at just the right page. May I draw English and Australian eyes to page 884 – Australia First-Class Batting Averages, 2010-11. Places 1 to 3 are occupied by Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott, all of whom play for the England XI. An Aussie (Queensland’s James Hopes) sneaks in at 4, before Andrew Strauss, also of the England XI stands at number 5. Yes, Sir Donald Bradman, Mark Taylor, Dennis Lillee, Steve Waugh, Alan Border, Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting, we haven’t forgotten, your boys took one hell of a beating.

Well done, Lawrence Booth and all his merrie contributors.

The good people at Wisden have published two brand-new ‘How-to’ guides aimed at all cricket coaches, teachers and players looking for ways to improve performance in the forthcoming season (which is meant to be starting today – Sir Geoffrey Boycott has just said on TMS that the report from Headingley is snow and ice).

Both guides are produced by Mark Davis, who played for Somerset in the eighties alongside Beefy, Vivi and Big Bird, and Sam Collins, cricket journalist and former captain of Eton. Mark Davis’ pedigree is enhanced with 16 years coaching at Millfield School. The authors set out logical coaching advice in clear, easily understood language, with photographs and diagrams to add further explanation.

Each guide includes:

• The basics – Grip, stance, trigger movement for bats. Grip, run up and delivery stride for bowlers.
• The shots that every batsman needs, plus the shots better left only to the supremely talented or the most brainless of batsmen (yes, not only the reverse sweep, but the slog sweep, switch hit and Dilscoop are all included). That said, for all of the 21^st century innovations, the authors still place the greatest importance on the ability to master the forward defensive.
• Detailed explanations of seam, swing and spin bowling.
• Practice drills – always sound like fun to me, but in twenty-plus years of village cricket my team have never once attempted anything approaching a ‘drill’.
• Analysis of potential problems and easy fixes for batsman and bowler.
• Technical and match advice, including mental preparation, that caters for players of beginner, intermediate and advanced level. Although less so for grizzled, dyed-in-the-wool village veterans.
• Clear pictures and illustrations demonstrating correct technique and how to put it into play.

Published at £14.99 each, both are currently discounted by 10% at the Wisden Bookshop.

The only obvious critique is that neither book comes with a guarantee of improved performance – I was pulling your leg with the headline. Like they say, there is no substitute for hard work and ‘Practice, Practice, Practice‘.

Good luck for the season to all cricketers everywhere (unless you’re playing my village team). Let the sun shine and play commence.

]]> http://www.buzzincricket.co.uk/improve-your-game-with-wisden-guaranteed/765/feed/ 1 http://www.buzzincricket.co.uk/michael-vaughan-the-new-fred-trueman/762/ http://www.buzzincricket.co.uk/michael-vaughan-the-new-fred-trueman/762/#comments Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:50:54 +0000 Vic Templar http://www.buzzincricket.co.uk/?p=762 Cricket fans of a certain age grew up in the age of regular cricket on BBC tv, but will still have tuned in to TMS to listen whilst watching with the sound turned down. With the advent of Sky in the early 1990’s TMS gradually became the sole diet for some of the species.

A fixture of TMS’s golden age post-Arlott was the super gruff, Yorkshire grunts from the bluntest of blunt speakers from the capital of Bluntshire – Frederick Sewards Trueman, a man who spoke with the experience of 307 test wickets, all taken at lightening pace whilst puffing on a briar of St Bruno. And boy, did he speak… A man whose observations (“Botham can’t bowl“) eventually grated too much on a generation who had never seen him play and, though we knew he had been a legend on the field, off it he had become a bore. His expert analysis invariably began and ended with ‘I don’t know what’s going on out there.’ It almost became a catchphrase.

However, I was always a fan. The more outspoken the better, for in an age when, Atherton-excepted, the England team were rubbish, hearing how high the Fred-o-meter would go was one of the few compensations. He was ousted from the airwaves before his death six years ago. One hopes he is playing rather than talking up in heaven (if you believe in that sort of thing).

It is mistakenly thought by some that Sir Geoffrey Boycott took over his mantle of the ‘it were better in my day’ grizzled old pro. Wrong. Yes, there is no-one straighter than Geoffrey who tells it straighter than his straightest of straight bats, but he is always fair. Geoffrey can be a little cruel, he can be heard chuckling at hapless run outs (pot, kettle, black) and moronic shot selection with groans at poor bowling (‘that was shoddy creekit’). He can often be heard saying that something or someone is roobish. But he only says it when it is.

If you doubt me, you have not been listening carefully enough to Fiery (a nickname also bestowed on Trueman). He has immense enthusiasm for the game. He absolutely loves cricket. It is his very lifeblood. I think he has been leant on, by various producers and editors. He has listened to advice. He has been careful not to fall into the traps that would have turned him into a latter-day Trueman. Of course, he thinks it were better in his day, but listen to him talk about Tendulkar, Dravid, Ponting, Pollock, Donald, Warne and McGrath. He rates them as highly as any players he played with and against. He claims to love KP, despite all his unorthodoxy, and even cricket’s surly young nephew, Twenty20.

Yet, there is a successor to Trueman’s ‘I-don’t-know-what’s-going-on-out-there’ crown. Though Manchester-born, he is as Yorkie as Fred, illy, Boycs, Closey, Clegg, Compo and Foggy. He is, of course, Michael Vaughan, the grumpiest 37-year-old-man in cricket.

Have you been listening to the latest four days of embarrassment for the current team? “Absolutely no excuse”, “Why did Stuart Broad play?”, “Did not attack enough”, “Really disappointing”, “You just can’t do that”, “You have to say that’s a poor shot”, “Oh NO!” (after KP’s dismissal this morning) , “The top six have failed again”, “This is ridiculous. We get brought up on this kind of bowling.” “Miles below par”, “embarrassing.”

During England’s pathetic response to the Sri Lankan first innings on Tuesday, Michael Vaughan just kept repeating ‘there are no magic balls’ implying that their poor display a few weeks ago against Pakistan could be explained by the mysteries of their spinners and pitch conditions. Here, there were no excuses and a clearly exasperated Vaughan gave a masterclass in chuntering.

If you think I’m being unfair, let me say that I am not complaining. I’m merely telling it like it is! I’ve rated Vaughan’s commentary, insights and observations since his first day in the box, and I’ve had the pleasure of following his playing career, being there at Trent Bridge when he scored 197 in a day against India (the same test in which he clean bowled some chap called Tendulkar). The memories of his performances in the 2002-03 Ashes and his captaincy in the magical 2005 series will live with me forever.

But… wind forward 20 years and there will be a whole new set of listeners who may find themselves thinking ‘who does this grumpy old Yorkshireman think he is…?’

James Pattinson is the younger brother of England bowler Darren Pattinson.  Darren played only once for England in 2008.  After being born in Grimsby his family moved to Victoria, Australia where his younger brother, Darren was born.

James looks likely to surpass older brother Darren’s international career as he began what looks likely to be a successful international career, as he helped Australia thrash New Zealand in the first test at The Gabba.  He took no less than 5 for 27 that reduced New Zealand to a mere 28 for 5.  James Pattinson’s debut included an amazing three wickets in his maiden international over.

New Zealand went on to make 150 all out, leaving Australia only 19 to win with a day to spare. Winning the match comfortably they now lead 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Though cricket is not as played in as many countries around the world as football, where it is played you will find fanatical support; and whether you play the game, are a passionate fan or just an occasional spectator, you will be interested in a £3000 cricket competition.

In association with betting company Stan James, BettingExpert – the sports betting website are offering a share of £3,000 to the best cricket tipsters over the course of 12 months ending on 28th June 2012.

To enter the competition and a chance to win prize money all you need to do is follow three simple steps. First, open an account with Stan James, sign up and sign in and then post cricket tips from now until June 2012.  The six best cricket tipsters over the period will win a share of a whopping £3,000 – and it’s absolutely free to join in the fun!

So, if you enjoy cricket and fancy yourself as a top cricket tipster, why not enter this great cricket competition on bettingexpert.com.

Fifty-two is no age. I’d been texted the sad news that guitarist Bert Jansch had passed away yesterday. When I got home I turned to the net to read more, and was aghast to read the news that ‘Picca’ had also gone.

I remember feeling old when Michael Atherton, three years younger than myself, retired. I had followed his career closely from university tyro to promising young Lancastrian to the future of English cricket, patching together an ever-changing cast of underachievers in those pre-central contract days.

Now, I find myself reading obituaries of a man only five years my senior, who I recall watching as a schoolboy on the BBC. A picture of youth; blonde locks and fresh faced with a run up of which a 1970’s West Indian would have been proud and, at his best, with pace to match. A Kent player to boot. As a schoolboy, born and bred in the county, I loved that Kent team with a passion not matched by a cricket side since.

He was the latest in the Kent production line feeding the English test side of the era; following from Cowdrey, there was England’s greatest ever wicket keeper/bowler partnership – Knott and Underwood, plus Luckhurst, Denness and Woolmer.

I’ve read the obituaries. His place in history is secure. He’ll be remembered for Lillee c. Willey b. Dilley and for that key role, the ‘fuselighter’ of Headingley ‘81; his 56 runs prompted Beefy’s shift of gears, not to mention the catch on the boundary.  I was astonished to read that in his 41 tests, he was only twice a winner. An incredible statistic that says more about the chaotic mess of selection and politics that surrounded the team at the time than his performance; a non-too-shabby 138 wickets at 29 each.

By all accounts, a genuinely nice guy and a great coach. Graham Roy Dilley, RIP.

500-1 The Miracle of Headingley '81

Apologies for being a little tardy with this review, being that this updated account was published to coincide with July’s anniversary of that extraordinary game of cricket 361 months ago. For those of a certain age, this will forever be the English cricket fans’ JFK moment. We all know where we were the day that Bob Dylan Willis went nuts and shot down the Aussies or the day before, when his bearded accomplice, Sir Beefy of Bothamshire, had moved the antipodeans into no-man’s land with his 145 run assault then raced to the pavilion, sat down with 3 lions on his cable-knit jumper and smoked a slim panatella.

I know where I was – in Eric Jones’ maths class. Mr Jones was old-school; a war veteran, a quiet disciplinarian, of grey hair, Ronnie  Barker specs and furrowed brow, who occasionally let a wry sense of humour decorate his lessons without losing grip of the controls. As I said, old school, to the extent that he knew that some things in life are more important than the curriculum.

As we trooped into his class on the afternoon of Tuesday 21st July 1981 the black and white before our eyes was not chalk on board but a primitive Sony portable TV. Word had spread  during lunch break (Pearce had smuggled in a transistor radio)  that the Aussies were in deep trouble and Mr Jones was not going to deprive his pupils of the chance to witness this historical moment. Thirty boys and a master huddled round the tiny screen to see first Chris Old dropping Alderman – twice, to fatalistic groans, then Willis cartwheeling Bright’s middle stump to joyous cheers.

I concur with Gideon Haigh when he observes in the foreword, ‘It happened, and, for some, never stopped. Thirty years on, and the Headingley Test seems eerily contemporary.’

The England XI have given us many memorable moments since, I was there at the Oval  when Devon Malcolm took nine south African scalps, our current all-conquering side seem to engineer a bus fleet of them, but none match the drama of those 24 weird hours three decades ago. In  years to come there will be documentaries celebrating ‘Freddie’s Ashes’, focussing on Geraint Jones‘ sprawling catch off Kasprovitch’s glove at Edgbaston, but Headingley ‘81 will forever remain a glowing memory without equal.

I had long thought Mike Brearley’s ‘Phoenix from the Ashes’ to be the definitive account, but this book trumps it, at least in Headingley terms. Brearley’s great book took in the whole summer, whereas ‘500-1′ is the anorak’s almanac of the incredible third test; the miracle.

Most of the key players (in its widest sense) have been interviewed for their tuppenyworth/invaluable insight and those who have not (including one Ian Botham) have published enough autobiographies down the years to aid the authors’ research.

The key chapters, three and four, which set the stage, introduce the participants and recount the details of the match, are presented ‘as live’ without hindsight by the authors and this device is successful in achieving their aim of capturing the time, the atmosphere, anticipation and drama as the events unfolded. Of course, they eat their cake too, with snippets of dry, knowing humour; Dilley is described as “not shy of giving the ball a crack, he is developing into a useful No. 9”; Of Gower, “one can only pray they (the selectors) don’t do anything silly…and make him captain.”

This is holiday reading of the first water. If you want a criticism, then some will find the socio-political portrait of Britain in 1981 veers too far towards a subjective left-wing rant on the evils of  Thatcherism rather than a calm, sage, objective analysis of the evils of Thatcherism..

Messers Steen and McLellan have upturned every possible stone that constitutes this story and for that we can say a hearty thanks, as can generations not yet born, who will be able to marvel at the account of this cricket match, or should I say bloody miracle.

500-1 The Miracle of Headingley ‘81 by Rob Steen & Alastair McLellan and published by John Wisden, pp. 269, price £9.99.

Wisden on India - An Anthology

The 1990  First Test between England and India at Lord’s is a match that has lived long in my memory. 21 years on, I can still recall its many moments of drama; Captain Gooch’s triple ton (after losing the toss and being inserted); Captain Azharuddin then trumping him – not by weight of runs, but by batting with the panache of an aristocrat – deft strokes and wristy flicks to leg; India still 24 runs short of facing the follow on and 9 wickets down – Kapil Dev (one of the true greats) stoically blocks the first two balls of Eddie Hemmings’ over then lifts the next four balls into the Nursery End building site; Gus Fraser then despatches Hirwani with the next ball; Gooch’s other ton (and thus the highest ever aggregate in a single Test match); a double-century opening stand taking England’s lead beyond 400; and some 17 year-old-kid called Tendulkar’s astonishing one handed catch knee-high catch on the run, having covered 30 yards of the outfield.

As if I needed another little nugget to lodge in the memory bank from this extraordinary, though predominantly one-sided, match, I found myself on day five, with India two down and miles behind overnight, wandering the streets of the quaint Cinque port of Hythe. Naturally, my thoughts were pondering events 70 miles away. Will Gus and  Devon blow them away?

Oh, what’s this I see, a model shop, splendid! I stepped into the Aladin’s cave with shelves brimful of Airfix and Hornby.  Better still, the old chap behind the counter (it was always an old chap – a be-cardiganed  citizen moulded from the gene pool of Percy Thrower, Magnus Pyke, Raymond Baxter and Jack Hargreaves) was listening to TMS.

Though it appeared to the untrained eye that I was scanning the display of WWII fighters and bombers, I was in fact craning an ear towards the transistor. Whether Johnners, The Alderman, The Boil, Blowers or Fred was on air I can’t recall, however, just as I was thinking isn’t life great – here I am standing in a model shop in the beautiful Kent seaside village of Hythe, sharing a moment with a kindred spirit – the shopkeeper promptly turned the radio off.

I looked round a look of astonishment on my fizzog, his face like thunder.

“I am trying to run a busineess here. This is a shop. Not a broadcasting house.”

I have always felt that to be a cricket fan is to be part of a brotherhood, a leather and willow freemasonry, a cable knit sweatered cabal, with test and county scores to be shared by the enlightened to the unenlightened. A favour to be happily returned in reverse circumstances.

I am still bemused to this day. Particularly as I was too, at the time, a fellow shopkeeper, who would have chatted all day long to anyone within earshot about any aspect of the game regardless of whether they had any intention of making a purchase. In fact, I would have encouraged them to stay, made them a cup of tea. I just can’t fathom his behaviour. Some folk are born miserable bastards, I suppose.

Lacking a dramatic finish to be classed as one of the greatest of tests, it still rates as a memorable classic, and is thus the first item I look for upon opening this handsome book. (There is something about  a book in a yellow wrapper emblazoned with the letters W-I-S-D-E-N that just does it for me.)

Here it is, page 211. Two paragraphs and four lines of bare stats. Half of page 211. I cast around for more info. Where is the rest of the match report? The scorecards? What about the remainder of the series?

And so it dawned on me, that this is an anthology. Not, as I first thought, a match-by match resume along the lines of the excellent Wisden on the Ashes (which I reviewed
here on 26 May), but, to borrow from Spike Milligan, a book of bits. It is exactly what it says on the tin, but I was just anticipating something a little more… substantial.

And that is my only criticism of the book. No argument at all with the bits that Jonathan Rice has kept in, it’s the bits that have been left out…

The pieces are presented in chronological order and is obviously timed to coincide with this summer’s tour, but I can’t help but think it would have been more tidy to hang on for the completion of the world cup before going to press. They were favourites, after all, on home soil. The reproduction of Prashant Kidambi’s excellent essay on the 1911 Tour from this year’s Almanack would not have gone amiss either as I am sure the appeal of this book would stretch beyond those who buy the Almanack.

The earliest of years, however,  are well-covered and fascinating, particularly as the Indian game was not well reported until more recent times. It brings to life names any cricket lover will have heard of, without quite knowing why -  Ranjitsinhji, The Nawab of Pataudi and Duleepsinhji.

The book predominantly covers Test cricket, although obituaries of key personnel and essays on all Indian Cricketers of the Year  appear throughout the book. Domestic cricket is hardly mentioned and thus nothing of Hanif Mohammed’s knock of 499 in 1959 (a world record for 35 years). I would have loved to read an eye-witness account, particularly as his innings ended by being run out.

My criticisms may be that of a churl, for this is still a mighty fine book, that will make good bedside reading for any cricket lover, particularly if they be an Indian cricket fan.

Wisden on India – An Anthology compiled by Jonathan Rice is published by John Wisden, price £30.

Kent Cricketer Wayne Parnell - Ban On the Use of Wild Animals in Circuses campaign

New PETA Campaign Calls for Ban On the Use of Wild Animals in Circuses.

Cricketer Wayne Parnell has set his sights on a new opponent: circuses that force wild animals to perform unnatural and painful tricks. In a new anti-circus ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Wayne Parnell, who has played for Kent and currently plays for the Pune Warriors and the South Africa national team, appears shirtless and bound by chains next to the words, “Try to Relate to Their Fate. Say NO to Animal Circuses“. A low-res version of the ad is shown below, and a high-res copy is available upon request.

“I choose to participate in sport, but the animals used in circuses aren’t given any choice at all”, says Parnell. “Animals in circuses suffer a lifetime of abuse – all for a few cheap tricks.”

The ad follows a debate in the Commons last month during which MPs demanded that the government put a permanent end to the use of wild animals in circuses. The government has run out of reasons not to implement the ban, which every animal welfare group in this country and the vast majority of the British public demand.

Tigers and other wild animals used in circuses spend most of their time confined to cages or cramped trailers. As countless undercover investigations have documented, animals are routinely mistreated behind the scenes. Circus workers keep the animals in cages or pens, deprive them of everything that is natural and important to them and break their spirits through repetitive disciplinary measures.

The animals are shackled and isolated and experience terrible boredom when they are not being made to perform degrading and confusing stunts. Pacing, bar-biting, circling and self-mutilation are common among performing animals; these types of neurotic behaviour are widely recognised as the results of captivity and an unnatural lifestyle.

The ad was shot in India by photographer Himanshu Seth during the recent Indian Premier League season. Ayesha Wadiwala was the make-up artist.

For more information please visit PETA.org.uk.

Alastair Cook will lead the England team for the first time since taking on the full-time captaincy of the one-day side; and does so after a heavy defeat by Sri Lanka in the recent one-off Twenty20 match in Bristol.

Alastair Cook told BBC Radio 5 live: “We’ve always had the idea that if Bressie came through a few games he would come into the squad. He has been a stalwart in our bowling for the last couple of years.”

Bresnan last played for England in the World Cup after initially getting injured during a one-day international in Hobart in January.  But on his return to playing county cricket for Yorkshire and experiencing recurring pain from the injury he has been sidelined since mid-May.

At the weekend Bresnan returned for Yorkshire and played two Friends Life T20 matches. Against Worcestershire he took 1-47 in his four overs and made 25 not out from 17 balls.  He came through the weekend without any recurrence of pain or injury and this, along with his performances were enough to earn a recall to the England squad.

Alastair Cook didn’t play in the recent Twenty20 defeat but will be well aware of the 5-0 drubbing England received at the hands of Sri Lanka in a home one-day series five years ago.

England One-Day Squad
Alastair Cook (captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes.

Sri Lanka One-Day Squad
Tillakaratne Dilshan (captain if fit), Thilina Kandamby, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Suraj Randiv, Dimuth Karunaratne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Dhammika Prasad, Kumar Sangakkara.

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The Physics of Cricket by Mark Kidger

Cricket – it’s not rocket science, right?  Well, yes – from today, it is, thanks to a new book The Physics of Cricket from Mark Kidger.

The author, a real-life rocket scientist working with the European Space Agency, has joined forces with Nottingham University Press to produce a “must have” book for everyone who takes their game seriously, from armchair pundits to coaches seeking that vital edge.

Its 200 pages will improve games, ignite debates, explode myths, settle arguments and clinch pub quizzes from West Sussex to the West Indies; from the Oval, London, to its namesakes in Adelaide and Bridgetown.

The Physics of Cricket reveals how players already employ anatomy in ways they didn’t realise, and can harness optics, mechanics, fluid dynamics, materials science, statistics, infrared technology, and acoustics to their advantage – if only they knew how.

It pinpoints a range of factors including…

• The chances of winning the toss seven times in a row – it’s once in every one hundred and twenty eight series.  But winning the eighth toss too – higher odds, or 50-50?
• How a flying cricket ball can be as formidable as a low velocity bullet – so what stops it killing the batsman?
• The optimum angle for hitting a six – it’s 45 degrees in theory; what about in practice?
• Precisely what happens when the ball leaves the bowler – and why is the angle of nine degrees – or 12-15 degrees if facing a spinner – critical to the batsman?
• Why a bowled ball can apparently hit the same point three times, yet bounce differently each time – how can the bowler use this to unnerve his opponent?
• Understanding bats – for example, heavier can hit farther, but can carry a serious problem
• And, vitally – Controversy has been the cause of at least one High Court case over ball tampering.  If you understand the way that the ball behaves, the use of the information given by the author will give you that extra edge using perfectly fair means to master a vital skill.

Just for fun – and because cricket is now indeed rocket science – author Mark Kidger even answers the question: “if cricket were played on the moon, how far back would the spectators sit for safety?”

The book is illustrated by a wealth of diagrams, and explains the facts behind renowned events in cricketing history.

Mark Kidger said:

“For years, everyone from schoolboys to world class cricketers have perfected their skills, often based on intuition – but, actually, physics”. Now, for the first time, they can not only explore what’s going on as they enjoy playing and watch others, but improve their game through understanding the many factors they can influence.”

The Physics of Cricket by Mark Kidger is published by Nottingham University Press (ISBN: 978-1-904761-92-1) on 21st June 2011, priced £20.