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“It would be a great shame if cricket writing became exclusively the domain of former first-class cricketers. While we bring insight, knowledge and experience of the game that can only be gained from actually having been out there and done it, there is much more to cricket writing than that.”
Indeed there is, and who better to present a new collection of the best cricket writing of the modern era than today’s ‘voice of cricket’. As a young boy watching his newly-discovered cricketing heroes on a grainy black-and-white television, Jonathan Agnew quickly fell in love with the game and went on to pursue a career as a professional player who represented his country before becoming one of the outstanding broadcasters of his generation.
Taking the infamous 1932/33 Ashes ‘Bodyline’ series as his starting point, Agnew or, as he is better known, “Aggers”, selects the most entertaining, crafted and varied cricket writing to illuminate his personal reflections on a series of topics that dissect and explore the modern game from the era of Bradman and Larwood up to the present day.
Cricket: A Modern Anthology features a wide range of contributors including John Arlott, Neville Cardus, Mike Brearley, Simon Hughes, Michael Atherton, Jim Maxwell, Marcus Berkmann, Richie Benaud and Geoffrey Moorhouse.
This is a book brimming with personality and depth that sheds considerable light on the enduring fascination with, arguably, the greatest game ever played.
Jonathan Agnew was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire and brought up on a farm in Stamford, Lincolnshire. He went to Uppingham School before becoming a professional cricketer with Leicestershire. He went on to play 218 matches for his county, taking 666 first-class wickets, including five in an innings on 37 occasions. He played three Tests and three one-day internationals for England and was named one of Wisden’s five Cricketers of the Year in 1988.
He retired in 1990 to become cricket correspondent of the Today newspaper and the following year succeeded Christopher Martin-Jenkins as the BBC’s cricket correspondent. He won the Sony Radio award for Best Reporter in 1992 and in 1994, following the death of Brian Johnston, became the presenter of Test Match Special, commentating and reporting on the England cricket team around the world. In 2010, the Association of Sports Journalists named Agnew Best Radio Broadcaster of the Year, the same year that Test Match Special also won Best Radio Programme.
Jonathan has toured the world for 22 years as a cricket correspondent. He lives in the Vale of Belvoir with his wife Emma, four dogs and a cat.
CRICKET
A Modern Anthology
Jonathan Agnew
This book is dedicated to the memory of
Christopher Martin-Jenkins, who, through his skilful broadcasting, prolific writing and boundless love of the game, was cricket’s greatest friend.
Contents
Foreword by Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH
Chapter 1: The Great Controversies
Sir Donald Bradman: Farewell to Cricket
Duncan Hamilton: Harold Larwood
Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 1934: The Bowling Controversy – Text of the Cables
Sydney J. Southerton’s Analysis
Christopher Douglas: Jardine, A Spartan Cricketer
Basil D’Oliveira: The Basil D’Oliveira Affair
Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2012: The Obituary of Basil D’Oliveira
Sir Derek Birley: A Social History of English Cricket
David Tossell: Grovel! The Story and Legacy of the Summer of 1976
Paul Nixon: Keeping Quiet: The Autobiography
Martin Johnson: Can’t Bat, Can’t Bowl, Can’t Field
Ed Hawkins: Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy: A Journey to the Heart of Cricket’s Underworld
Vaibhav Purandare: Sachin Tendulkar: The Definitive Biography
Gideon Haigh: Sphere of Influence: Writings on Cricket and its Discontents
Steve James: The Plan: How Fletcher and Flower Transformed English Cricket
Chapter 2: The Greatest Test Matches
