Chris Waters – författare

Hedley Verity was one of Yorkshire and England''s greatest cricketers. In a career that ran from 1930 to 1939, the left-arm spin bowler took 1,956 wickets at an average of 14.90. Verity was chiefly responsible for England''s only Ashes victory at Lord''s in the 20th century, when his 15 wickets helped to win the 1934 Test - 14 of them captured in a single day. And he dismissed the legendary Australian batsman Don Bradman more times than anyone in Test cricket, claiming his wicket on eight occasions - and a record-equalling 10 times in first class cricket. But the high-water mark of Verity''s career came during a long-forgotten County Championship match in 1932. On the Headingley ground near his birthplace, Verity returned staggering figures of 10 for 10 against Nottinghamshire - a world record that still stands.Now, for the first time, the story of this amazing game has been told as Chris Waters narrates it in relation to Verity''s career - a career that ended with the outbreak of a war in which Verity was tragically killed at the age of 38.Warm and wistful, charming and colourful, 10 for 10: Hedley Verity and the story of cricket''s greatest bowling feathonours the history of our summer sport.

Few sporting records capture the imagination quite like that of the highest individual score in Test cricket. It is the blue riband record of batting achievement, the ultimate statement of stamina and skill. From Charles Bannerman, who scored 165 for Australia against England in the inaugural Test match in 1877, to Brian Lara, who made 400 not out for West Indies against England in 2004, the record has changed hands ten times. Chris Waters' The Men Who Raised the Bar charts the growth of the record through nearly one hundred and fifty years of Test cricket. It is a journey that takes in a legendary line of famous names including Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Leonard Hutton, Sir Garfield Sobers and Walter Hammond, along with less heralded players whose stories are brought back into the light. Drawing on the reflections of the record-holders, Waters profiles the men who raised the bar and their historic performances.

Few sporting records capture the imagination quite like that of the highest individual score in Test cricket. It is the blue riband record of batting achievement, the ultimate statement of stamina and skill. From Charles Bannerman, who scored 165 for Australia against England in the inaugural Test match in 1877, to Brian Lara, who made 400 not out for West Indies against England in 2004, the record has changed hands ten times. Chris Waters'' The Men Who Raised the Bar charts the growth of the record through nearly one hundred and fifty years of Test cricket. It is a journey that takes in a legendary line of famous names including Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Leonard Hutton, Sir Garfield Sobers and Walter Hammond, along with less heralded players whose stories are brought back into the light. Drawing on the reflections of the record-holders, Waters profiles the men who raised the bar and their historic performances.

Few sporting records capture the imagination quite like that of the highest individual score in Test cricket. It is the blue riband record of batting achievement, the ultimate statement of stamina and skill. From Charles Bannerman, who scored 165 for Australia against England in the inaugural Test match in 1877, to Brian Lara, who made 400 not out for West Indies against England in 2004, the record has changed hands ten times. Chris Waters'' The Men Who Raised the Bar charts the growth of the record through nearly one hundred and fifty years of Test cricket. It is a journey that takes in a legendary line of famous names including Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Leonard Hutton, Sir Garfield Sobers and Walter Hammond, along with less heralded players whose stories are brought back into the light. Drawing on the reflections of the record-holders, Waters profiles the men who raised the bar and their historic performances.

Fred Trueman was so much more than a cricketing legend. ‘ The greatest living Yorkshireman’ according to Prime Minister Harold Wilson, he couldn’ t help excelling at everything he did, whether it was as a hostile fast bowler for Yorkshire and England, and the first man to take 300 Test wickets in a career, or as a fearlessly outspoken radio summariser for Test Match Special. He was famous for regularly spluttering that, ‘ I don’ t know what’ s going off out there,’ as well as for the amount of swearing he managed to incorporate into everyday speech. Beloved of cricket crowds, who filled grounds to witness his belligerent way of playing the game, and nothing but trouble to the cricket authorities, ‘ Fiery Fred’ was the epitome of a full-blooded Englishman.But as Chris Waters reveals in this first full biography, behind the charismatic, exuberant mask lay a far less self-assured man – terrified even that his new dog wouldn’ t like him – and whose bucolic version of his upbringing bore no relation to the gritty and impoverished South Yorkshire mining community where he actually grew up. Drawing on dozens of new interviews with his Yorkshire colleagues, family and friends, this life of Fred Trueman will surprise and even shock, but also confirm the status of an English folk hero.