LATE CUTS: Musings on Cricket

The former Somerset and England cricketer Vic Marks played in six Tests and 34 one-day internationals and was the Cricket Correspondent for the Observer for 31 years and ended up fulfilling that role for the Guardian as well. In amongst his artfully delivered stock ball, enough deliveries grip to keep the pages turning in this literary equivalent to an afternoon in the sun at a county out ground hearing the sound of a cricket ball hitting the willow. In his book, Vic Marks takes us beyond the boundary rope and shares the parts of the game that fans don't get to see from the food served at lunchtime (then sweaty ham, now quinoa, cranberry and feta salad), to the politics of the dressing room. Whether revisiting his playing days to reveal the secrets of bowling a killer spell and what it feels like to be heckled by a riled-up crowd, or ruminating on the current state of the game (don't mention The Hundred!), here are the charms, quirks and peculiar allure of cricket, a game still very much alive today and all from the authoritative voice heard on TMS. 282pp, paperback.