This selection of the very best, and most intriguing, writing on cricket, drawn from the mid-eighteenth century to the present day, adopts a fresh approach. It is arranged around the theme of the many things that must happen simply for a day's play to happen - from creating a clearing in a Malaysian jungle to getting to the ground - so includes, alongside writing by players both great and unknown, the perspectives of spectators, umpires, scorers and other unsung heroes of the game.

There are contributions from John Arlott, Neville Cardus, C. L. R. James and E. V. Lucas; Marcus Trescothick writes on his introduction to cricket aged three; Angus Fraser on meeting Nelson Mandela; Phil Tufnell on being shanghaied into getting a haircut by Mike Gatting; and Rachael Heyhoe Flint on being the first woman to step onto the Lord's ground as a player.

But it is the cricket itself and the outstanding players and their achievements that remain the focus - the greats of the recent and distant past involved in some of their most famous exploits.

From 'disgraceful scenes at Lord's', described by Irish writer Robert Lynd, to North America, which W. G. Grace toured in 1872, and from a match played on ice to the tropical islands of Fiji and Samoa, this is a collection that does full justice to the extraordinary breadth, diversity and enduring fascination of the greatest game in the world.

There is a treat around every corner . . . this will stay on the bedside table for some time . . . It is a splendid reminder that we have the best game in the worlds, and the best writers too. -- Richard H. Thomas * All Out Cricket *
Ranges far and wide through the literature of the game . . . almost certainly the only book in history to combine the best bits of Gus Fraser and Charles Dickens. Something for everyone then. -- Andy Bull * Guardian *

BRIAN LEVISON has published three collections of poetry and, with Frances Farrar, a compilation of musical anecdotes, Classical Music's Strangest Concerts and Characters. His poems have been published in The Cricketer and broadcast by the BBC. His Remarkable Cricket Grounds has been shortlisted for the Cross Sports Book of the Year in the illustrated book category.