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.

Gordon Banks arching gracefully through the air horizontally to punch away a ball from the goal mouth. On the ball with Billy Bremner in a facsimile signed article. Shoot's star writers Bobby Moore from West Ham and Alan Ball from Everton reveal their details including who they would most want to meet in the world (Frank Sinatra, Cassius Clay and Brigette Bardot). George Best, Brian Clough and Derby County, Ray Clemence talking soccer, here is all the lowdown on the games and the stars and the champions and the losers and the fans and Gazza and Greavsie. Page after page of colour and facsimile black and white reprints from the pages of the top teenage footie magazine bring back fond memories of when sideburns and haircuts were long, shorts were short, and England's World Cup victory was a recent event. It is a time when a footballer's favourite meal was steak and chips, he drove a Ford Capri and his biggest dislike was ignorant people. Muddy pitches, garish kits, bubble perms, since its launch in 1969, Shoot's magazine had the best articles and funniest features. A nostalgia fest to bring back loads of memories from the Golden Age of Football. 176 big colourful pages packed with photos, 21.6 x 28cm.