Cricket is blessed with quality prose and gifted writing.
The nobles and gentlemen who brought the game of cricket from England's
villages to the pavilion at Lord's were often as equally blessed with
the gift of wit and banter as they were with leather and willow. Their
turns of phrase, intellectual insights and outlandish observations were
as likely to knock you for six as to leave you stumped.
The Little Book of Cricket encapsulates their often hilarious,
sometimes sombre and occasionally downright bizarre quotes as the greats
of the game, from Don Bradman to Steve Waugh and Ian Botham to Freddie
Flintoff, all describe their beloved sport in their own words.
"He's got it, England have won the World Cup by the barest of margins...
Absolute ecstasy for England, agony, agony for New Zealand"
Ian Smith, New Zealand commentor, calling that crucial final ball of the
super over
"He lifted the game from a state of conventional excitement to one of
unbelievable suspense and drama and finally into the realm of romantic
fiction."
Henry Blofeld, on a then 18-year-old Ian Botham, 1974