Böcker av Jonathan Rice

Kent v Lancashire 1906 tells the story of a remarkable painting, commissioned at the height of cricket's golden age and at the apogee of Britain's colonial power. The man whose idea it was, the fourth Lord Harris, chairman of Kent County Cricket Club, was no aesthete; but in asking Albert Chevallier Tayler, a cricket-loving painter, to paint a scene from Kent's triumphant season, showing Colin Blythe bowling to Johnny Tyldesley, he helped create a masterpiece that changed the way we look at cricket. The painting now hangs at Lord's, having been sold by Kent in 2006 for GBP600,000, then a record amount for a cricket painting. A full-size copy still hangs at Canterbury. The book also follows the lives of the players and umpires portrayed in the painting, two of whom did not survive the Great War. The painting may be timeless, but changes in the way cricket is played, administered and financed in Britain mean that many aspects of the game today would be unrecognisable to those sun-blessed men on the Canterbury turf over a century ago.

The Wisden Collector's Guide is the definitive companion to one of the world's most important sporting publications. It begins with an overview of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, introducing the original John Wisdenand describing the history of the publication. The next section contains highlights and information from each of the 147 editions, including bibliographic details (page extent, price, reprints etc), excerpts from the best articles, cricketers of the year, obituaries, and noteworthy events and matches. There is also additional information of interest to collectors and historical context in the form of news 'headlines' from each year. The guide concludes with a section dedicated to the serious collector. Covering everything from reprints to rebinds and from pagination to publishers, it is a vital resource for collectors. Affording a glimpse of the cricketing and historical landscapeof the last 147 years, this is an accessible and fascinating volume for cricketing fans generally and a must-have item for Wisden collectors.

This wonderfully illustrated book brings to life the historic and the contemporary and will most certainly grace the bookshelves of cricket lovers around the world.