Bat, Bowl and Beyond

S. A. Carmody (Sarah) grew up in Rainhill, Merseyside, before moving to Leeds, UK, where she now lives with her family and a lively pack of dogs. A lifelong storyteller and observer of human nature, she studied Journalism as a mature student to legitimise her extreme nosiness, later running hyper-local news sites before moving into politics, communications, and campaigning. Passionate about both fiction and social commentary, she finally committed to finishing the many manuscripts she had started. Her published works include Why Gen X Had It All: Growing Up in Britain, The Little Book of First-World Problems, Rule Britannia & Beyond: Britain in the 90s, and modernised editions of Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier and Hocking’s Her Benny. She is also developing original time-travel fiction that blends history, nostalgia, and sharp human observation. Sarah writes to entertain, provoke thought, and spark conversation.

• CONTENTSIntroductionPART ONE.Chapter One. Who is Cricket For?Chapter Two. How to get Involved in Cricket.Chapter Three. The Structure of a Grassroots Cricket Club.Chapter Four. Getting to Know Cricket.Chapter Five: Understanding the Game.Chapter Six. Innings and Overs.Chapter Seven: How to Score Runs.Chapter Eight: Getting Out: All the Ways to be Dismissed.Chapter Nine: Bowling Style and DeliveriesChapter Ten: Batting Strokes: From Defence to Reverse Sweep.Chapter Eleven: Fielding Explained.Chapter Twelve: Umpires, Signals and Decisions.Chapter Thirteen: Staying Safe: Protective Gear and Injury Prevention.Chapter Fourteen: Practising and Nets.Chapter Fifteen: Match Day: What to Expect.Chapter Sixteen: Cricket Etiquette and Spirit of the Game.Chapter Seventeen: Cricket Superstitions from Grassroots and Beyond.Chapter Eighteen: Cricket Slang and What it Means.Chapter Nineteen: The Cricket Dictionary (A-Z).Chapter Twenty: Who Said That? Famous Cricket Quotes. PART TWOChapter Twenty-One: Cricket. From Humble Beginnings to Modern Day.Chapter Twenty-Two: The History of Men’s Cricket.Chapter Twenty-Three: The History of Women’s Cricket.Chapter Twenty-Four: Disability Cricket and its Pioneers. PART THREE Chapter Twenty-Five: The History of the Laws of Cricket.Chapter Twenty-Six: The History of Scoring.Chapter Twenty-Seven The History of the Cricket Bat.Chapter Twenty-Eight The History of Wickets.Chapter Twenty-Nine: The History of the Cricket Ball. PART FOURChapter Thirty: Groundstaff: The Hidden Force in Cricket.Chapter Thirty-One: The Barmy Army.Chapter Thirty-Two: Red Ball v White Ball v Pink Ball in Cricket.Chapter Thirty-Three: The Story of the Test Match.Chapter Thirty-Four: The World Test Championship.Chapter Thiry-Five The Twenty20 Competition.Chapter Thirty-Six The Hundred Competition.Chapter Thirty-Seven: The County Championship. PART FIVE Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Marylebone Cricket club (MCC).Chapter Thirty-Nine: The International Cricket Council (ICC).Chapter Forty: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).Chapter Forty-One: The Lord’s Taverners.Chapter Forty-Two: County Cricket Boards.Chapter Forty-Three: County Cricket Clubs.Chapter Forty-Four: Conclusion-The Endless Story of Cricket.Acknowledgements Bibliography and References Further Reading