Kirjahaku

Alastair Cook forced his way into the record books in 2006, becoming one of the few England players to score a hundred on debut. By going on to become the only Englishman to hit seven Test centuries before his twenty-third birthday, Alastair found himself in the company of the greatest players in cricketing history.STARTING OUT is Alastair's personal account of this speedy climb to stardom. Equally gifted at music, he opted for cricket as a schoolboy and the young left-hander broke record after record as he progressed to become the first-choice opener for Essex. Now an integral part of the England team with over forty caps, Alastair is perfectly placed to describe the highs and lows of life within the England cricket camp during one of the most exciting and turbulent periods of their history, both on and off the field.Updated to include the full story of the 2009 Ashes series, STARTING OUT amounts to a fascinating insight into life as one of the rising stars of English cricket.

Get to know England legend Alastair Cook in his fascinating and remarkably honest autobiographyTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER & TELEGRAPH BOOKS OF THE YEAR'He is England's greatest ever batsman . . . a hugely enjoyable book' Daily Mail, SPORTS BOOKS OF THE YEAR _________Watch. The. Ball.It's just you. Standing at the crease. Waiting. The bowler is running. His arm swinging. The ball - 155 grams of cork, string and leather - is hurled at you. At 90 mph it travels 22 yards in under half a second. You can barely see it and you've got to be swinging your bat before it's halfway towards you. Because you are in its path . . . Alastair Cook, one of England's most decorated players and highest test run scorer, knows what it is like to be your best under pressure. Yet at 33 he called time on his England career.Come with him as he relives the fraught hours on the pitch, the desperate lows and astonishing highs, the paralysing anxiety that can send the best back home and the extraordinary battle of wills with yourself, the opposing players and even those supposedly on your own side.This is cricket as you've never seen it. The view from the inside . . .LONGLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AUTOBIOGRAPHY AWARD_________'Fascinating, timely. Delves into the psychological challenges of the game' Guardian'Bracingly honest' Times

Fun Facts, Stats, Quotes and Trivia1820s-1960s Early football were mainly 'mob' style games, with enormous numbers of players attempting to advance the ball into a goal area, often by any means necessary. Rules were simple with violence and injury common. The games remained largely disorganized until the early 19th century when games began to be played on college grounds. The invention of rugby was therefore not the act of playing early forms of the game, or the acts of a certain William Webb Ellis, but rather the events which led up to its codification and the development of a common set of laws.The evolution of the game during the 20th century was blighted by global conflicts and many rugby playing soldiers paid the ultimate price. However, the periods following both World Wars saw the game consolidate, constant refinement of techniques and tactics flourished, and frequent and fiercely competitive international tours were being undertaken... this extensive period of expansion of the game has provided rich pickings for A Brief History of Rugby.

Fun Facts, Stats, Quotes and Trivia1970s-1990s The 1970's was described as the 'Decade of the Dragon', a period when Wales fielded teams with some of the greatest players who ever played the game. This rich vein of players filtered through to the British and Irish Lions who proved to be formidable opponents when touring New Zealand 1971] and South Africa 1974]. As amateur players these teams were often a combination of hard working coal miners and well-educated city professionals.Maybe the greatest advance during this period was the evolution of the Rugby World Cup. Concepts and formats had been touted for many years and in 1987 the first edition of this global sporting event took place in New Zealand. This inevitably transitioned to professional rugby, a major development of the modern game which has provided such rich pickings for A Brief History of Rugby.