Cricket's Hard Men
The Toughest Characters from the History of Cricket
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Pitch Publishing Ltd
Published:11th Mar '24
Should be back in stock very soon
Cricket's Hard Men takes an innovative look at character, psychology and mental health in cricket to produce a fascinating study of the sport's toughest players.
So, what actually constitutes a hard man of cricket? The truth is there is no simple definition. Whether it's resilience to defy injury from players like Kepler Wessels, Mike Atherton and Allan Border; sheer physicality from cricketer turned cage fighter Adam Hollioake; the bloody-mindedness to snub tradition by Douglas Jardine and John Reid; a chest-thumping need from Arjuna Ranatunga to show pride for a flag that had a reputation of being soft in the cricket world; or the blind courage of Brian Close, each player has his own unique story, told here through in-depth research and exclusive interviews.
The author consulted prominent ex-cricketers and broadcasters before studying this select band, from Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the West Indies and Zimbabwe.
"There has been such a multiplicity of cricket books across the ages that authors often struggle to find an original angle. Richard Sydenham may well have succeeded, compiling this collection of essays on a selection of 22 of the sport’s toughest characters."
* The Cricket Society *"The West Indies teams of 1980 and 1988 boasted more menacing bowling attacks than the side that featured in this book but their batting was probably at a peak in 1984 along with Clive Lloyd’s captaincy; an amalgam of the avuncular and headmasterly which cut through island rivalries to mould a cohesive sporting force. This makes the 1984 West Indies team the greatest (cricket team ever)."
* The CricketISBN: 9781801506816
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
288 pages