Bill Ricquier

Cricket enthusiasts endlessly debate the question of who are the best players across different eras. In Immortals of English Cricket, Bill Ricquier tells the cricketing life stories of 12 of England's greatest (male) cricketers. Ricquier selects his Immortal English team from players who didn't just dominate, they changed the game with their sheer will. Those portrayed include prolific run-scorer Alastair Cook; Ian Botham, who was the most famous sportsman in the country in the 1980s; and James Anderson, England's leading Test wicket taker. Selected also is Wilfred Rhodes, the legendary slow left arm bowler who made almost 40,000 first-class runs and took over 4,000 first-class wickets, and the extraordinary Fred Trueman, described as the 'finest bloody fast bowler who ever drew breath'. Immortals of English Cricket will inspire discussion, debate and controversy but indisputably represents a team of remarkable skill and character, one to proudly represent the Crown and Three Lions on any Elysian field.

In The Immortals of English Cricket, Bill Ricquier tells the cricketing life stories of eleven of England's greatest (male) cricketers. Ricquier selects his Immortal English team from players who didn't just dominate, they changed the game with their sheer will. Those portrayed include: Jack Hobbs, the highest run-scorer in the history of first-class cricket; Ian Botham, who was the most famous sportsman in the country in the 1980s; and James Anderson, England's leading Test wicket taker. Selected also is Wilfred Rhodes, the legendary slow left arm bowler who made almost 40,000 first-class runs and took over 4,000 first-class wickets, and the extraordinary Fred Trueman, described as the "finest bloody fast bowler that ever drew breath." The Immortals of English Cricket will inspire discussion, debate and controversy but indisputably represents a team of remarkable skill and character, one to proudly represent the Crown and Three Lions on any Elysian field.

Pakistan is one of the youngest of the Test playing countries, having played its first Test match in 1952. Over the years it has produced some of the most talented and exciting cricketers the world has ever seen. These have included the charismatic all-rounders Imran Khan and Wasim Akram: the ‘Little Master’ Hanif Mohamed; Javed Miandad and the modern master Inzamam ul-Haq; Pakistan’s first genuine cricketing hero Fazal Mahmood; the mesmerising leg-spinner, Abdul Qadir; and two of today’s most exhilarating stars, Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi.The Pakistani Masters profiles these players and many others; the informative and entertaining profiles being accompanied by superb photographs. Intertwined with the portraits of these outstanding players is the colourful story of Pakistan’s turbulent history in international cricket with triumphs and controversies rapidly succeeding each other.

India has given the world some of the most exciting cricketers in the history of the game. This book looks at fifteen of the finest of them. The selection features Ranjitsinhji, Duleepsinhji, the Pataudis, Farokh Engineer, Bedi, Gavaskar, Kapil Dev Shastri, Azharuddin, Tendulkar, Srinath, Dravid, Kumble and Ganguly. Besides playing at the very highest level cricket (for England or, later, India) all of these players have enjoyed superb county careers and have been admired exponents of the domestic game. With personal and playing biographies, detailed statistics and many superb illustrations, The Indian Masters will be of enormous interest to cricket lovers everywhere.