Bat & Pad: Writings on Australian cricket (1804-2001)

Cricket literature is one of the wonders of the sporting world: no other sport has anything to compare with it. It is outstanding for its quantity - cricket books alone may be numbered in the thousands -but even more for its quality, for cricket writing has often attained the very highest literary standards.

Without doubt, some of the finest journalists in the English-speaking world for almost 100 years have been cricket writers, and the best of them are represented here; Cardus and Arlott, Fingleton and Robinson. As well, the anthology includes the work of giants in other literary fields who could not resist turning to cricket for subject matter.
Australian cricket and cricketers have long been an inspiration to writers.

Australians have always played the game with a special flair and vigour and this has been reflected in the way writers have described them. Cricket has been written about in Australia since 1804 when a Sydney newspaper published the colony's first match report. Since then countless millions of words in prose and verse have been devoted to the game and its players.

For those who love both the game and its literature this is an anthology to be savoured long after the last ball has been bowled and the players have left the field, Cricket may be a summer game but BAT& PAD is a book for all seasons.