SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE

CRICKET SOCIETY AND MCC BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2017

Date: 3 March 2017 Release time: 10 AM

 Books from three distinguished English former cricketers and the first female writer to make the short list vie with titles on Australian and Pakistani themes for the coveted annual Society and MCC Book of the Year Award

 The winner of the £3,000 prize will be announced on Wednesday 19th April in the Long Room at Lord’s

 Downton Abbey star, and former chairman of Hampstead CC, Jim Carter will give the keynote address

The 2017 Cricket Society and MCC Book of the Year Award shortlist is announced today. The six-strong list includes books from cricket presenter Mark Nicholas and journalist Emma John about their fascination with cricket. Also included on the shortlist are titles by two former England cricketers: Graeme Fowler’s memoir includes an account of his depression and its effects, while Alan Butcher writes about cricket in Zimbabwe. Books about cricket in Pakistan and Australia’s Victor Trumper complete the list.

Chair of judges said: “There is some good writing here. All six books reflect passion for and knowledge about their subject matter. I look forward to lively discussion at the judges’ final meeting; there is no doubt we will come up with a worthy winner."

The competition, run by the Cricket Society since 1970 and in partnership with MCC since 2009, is for books nominated by MCC and Cricket Society Members, and is highly regarded by writers and publishers. Last year’s winner was Simon Lister’s Fire in Babylon: How the West Indies Cricket Team Brought a People to its Feet. Dan Waddell won in 2015 with Field of Shadows: The English Cricket Tour of Nazi Germany 1937.

The £3,000 for the winner, and certificates for all the shortlisted books, will be presented at an awards evening in the Long Room at Lord’s on Wednesday 19th April. A sell-out audience of 200 people will comprise Members of the Cricket Society and MCC, the shortlisted authors and publishers, as well as some of today’s finest cricket writers and journalists.

Notes for editors

The six books on the shortlist (alphabetically by author):

Alan Butcher’s The Good Murunghu; Pitch Publishing

Graeme Fowler’s Absolutely Foxed; Simon & Schuster

Gideon Haigh’s Stroke of Genius; Simon & Schuster

Richard Heller and Peter Oborne’s White on Green: A Portrait of Pakistan Cricket; Simon & Schuster

Emma John’s A Memoir of Teenage Obsession and Terrible Cricket; Wisden

Mark Nicholas’ A Beautiful Game, My love affair with cricket; Allen & Unwin

The other five books considered (alphabetically by author): Aravind Adiga’s Selection Day; Pan Macmillan

Keith and Jennifer Booth’s Rebel with a Cause, The Life and Times of Jack Crawford; Chequered Flag

Jon Hotten’s The Meaning of Cricket; Yellow Jersey Press

Andrew Murtagh’s Test of Character; Pitch Publishing

Jonathan Trott with George Dobell’s Unguarded: My Autobiography; Sphere Little, Brown

Eleven books – nominated by either Cricket Society or MCC members (not publishers) – were accepted for the long list and whittled down to six by a panel of judges independently chaired by writer, broadcaster and former England and Somerset cricketer Vic Marks. The other judges are David Kynaston and Stephen Fay (MCC) and John Symons and Chris Lowe (The Cricket Society). Nigel Hancock, Chairman of The Cricket Society, is the competition’s administrator.

The Cricket Society – www.cricketsociety.com and @CricketSociety – encourages a love of cricket through playing, watching, reading and listening. It supports young cricketers, makes annual awards, holds regular meetings, publishes an acclaimed Journal and Bulletin and has its own cricket team.

MCC is the custodian of the Laws and Spirit of Cricket, an innovative independent voice in world cricket, and a passionate promoter of the game. It is also the world’s most active cricket-playing club and the owner of Lord’s – the Home of Cricket.

– Ends –

For further information on this story please contact:

Vic Marks – 07771 958845 or [email protected]

Nigel Hancock – 07885 733320 or [email protected]

Neil Robinson – 020 7616 8559 or [email protected]