Tim Wigmore

Matt Roller

'A must-read for any cricket lover' Nasser Hussain, Former England captain and Sky Sports commentator The inside story of how England became the first men's team to hold both of cricket's World Cups simultaneously, from the players and key people involved. When England lifted the T20 World Cup in November 2022, they became the first ever men's team to be One-Day International and Twenty20 world champions simultaneously. In English sport, triumphs aren't just rare – they also tend to be followed by a collapse. England's white-ball cricket side was different: a team that followed scaling the summit by doing so again. They became, as Australia's captain put it, “the benchmark” for the rest of the world. White Hot tells the full story of how England built one of the most extraordinary sides ever seen in limited-overs cricket. First in 2019 and then in 2022, they produced a series of mesmerising performances to win two World Cups. It is a story of the vision and strategy that underpinned England's transformation from white-ball stragglers into a side at the very cutting edge of their sport. It is a story of a golden generation, and the development of a system that passed on those values to the players that came next. And it is a story of how a conservative sporting culture shed its inhibitions to become a hub of innovation where players were free to be aggressive - even in the most important games. Featuring exclusive interviews with players at the heart of the 2019 World Cup win, including Joe Root and Jason Roy; the 2022 World Cup victory, like Harry Brook, Sam Curran and Alex Hales; and double world champions including Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood. With insight from coaches and administrators, including Trevor Bayliss, Rob Key, Matthew Mott and Andrew Strauss, it reveals how England changed their culture, attitude to unorthodoxy and approach to risk forever. White Hot examines this incredible journey in forensic detail. This is captivating reading for cricket fans - and anyone who wants to understand how a floundering team can become record-breakers.

The Inside Story of England Cricket’s Double World Champions

White Hot

Stefan Szymanski

SELECTED AS ONE OF WATERSTONES BEST SPORT BOOKS OF 2022. A CRICKETER BOOK OF THE YEAR. 'Superb' Matthew Syed, The Times 'Fascinating' The Observer 'Crickonomics is packed with sufficient statistical analysis to have the most ardent cricket geek purring with pleasure' Mail on Sunday 'An insightful, Hawk-Eye-like analysis of the numbers behind cricket' Financial Times An engaging tour of the modern game from an award-winning journalist and the economist who co-authored the bestselling Soccernomics. Why does England rely on private schools for their batters – but not their bowlers? How did demographics shape India's rise? Why have women often been the game's great innovators? Why does South Africa struggle to produce Black Test batters? And how does the weather impact who wins? Crickonomics explores all of this and much more – including how Jayasuriya and Gilchrist transformed Test batting but T20 didn't; English cricket's great missed opportunity to have a league structure like football; why batters are paid more than bowlers; how Afghanistan is transforming German cricket; what the rest of the world can learn from New Zealand and even the Barmy Army's importance to Test cricket. This incisive book will entertain and surprise all cricket lovers. It might even change how you watch the game.

The Anatomy of Modern Cricket: Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards 2023

Crickonomics

Crickonomics answers those questions you have about the sport, and many more that you haven’t: you’ll be delighted to know all the answers. Just as the bestselling Soccernomics did for football, this book will take a rational look at the game of cricket, past and present

Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards 2023

Crickonomics: The Anatomy of Modern Cricket

Freddie Wilde

'excellent ... both breezily engaging, and full of the format's latest, best and nerdiest thinking' - Gideon Haigh 'An invaluable guide by two smart young writers to the story of T20 cricket, to the strategies that underpin it and to the players who have made the format' - Mike Atherton, The Times 'the first essential study of the T20 game, studded with analysis and big-name interviewees' - Wisden Cricket 2.0 tells the story of how an old, traditional game was transformed by Twenty20 and how this format moved from being a gimmick to the face of modern cricket. The iconic captain Brendon McCullum, England's T20 visionaries Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler and Trinidad's Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine, who rose to become among the first T20 millionaires, explain how they shaped T20 - and how it shaped them. Test greats Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting recount what a sea-change T20 represented and decode T20 strategy. AB de Villiers explores the limits of modern batting. The Afghan phenomenon Rashid Khan shows that T20 superstars can now come from anywhere. Venky Mysore, the cricket revolutionary you have never heard of, reveals how the game is changing off the field. Told through compelling human-interest stories and featuring interviews with more than fifty players and coaches, Tim Wigmore and Freddie Wilde examine how a cocktail of globalisation, new aggressive tactics and huge investment are changing the sport faster than ever before, while analysing the myriad ways in which a traditional game has been revolutionised forever, both on and off the pitch. This is the extraordinary and previously misunderstood story of Twenty20 cricket - told by two people who have chronicled the revolution. One of Wisden Cricket Monthly's books of the year, 2019 'A fascinating insight into how the newest format has impacted on the game at every level including Test cricket. Essential reading for T20 fans and traditional followers' - Scyld Berry, The Telegraph 'Cricket 2.0 is the definitive book for those looking to understand the T20 format - both on and off the pitch' - Nasser Hussain 'A lucid and thoughtful guide to the T20 phenomenon' - The New Statesman 'Wigmore and Wilde take us on an absorbing ride ... well written, some of their revelations come with the startling force of unexpected thunder on a still night' - Suresh Menon, The Hindu 'Tim and Freddie are the torchbearers of tomorrow, we must listen to them' - Harsha Bhogle, CricBuzz

Inside the T20 Revolution - Winner of the Wisden Book of the Year 2020

Cricket 2.0

A. Mark Williams

"Insightful, thoughtful, and altogether wonderful." DANIEL COYLE, New York Times bestselling author of THE TALENT CODE "This book is a must read." EDDIE JONES, Head Coach, England Rugby THE SECRETS OF SUPERHUMAN PERFORMANCE Never have the best sportspeople seemed so far removed from the rest of us, their prowess so unfathomable. So how are these extraordinary athletes made? THE BEST reveals how the most incredible sportspeople in the world get to the top and stay there. It is a unique look at the path to sporting greatness; a story of origins, serendipity, practice, genetics and the psychology of excellence, as well as of sports science and cutting edge technology. Packed with gripping personal stories and exclusive interviews with top athletes including Siya Kolisi, Marcus Rashford, Pete Sampras, Steph Curry, Jamie Carragher, Ian Poulter, Helen Glover, Ada Hegerberg, Elena Delle Donne, Joey Votto and Mike Hussey, it explains how the best athletes develop the extraordinary skills that allow them to perform remarkable feats under extreme pressure. Get inside the minds of champions and understand first-hand what makes them perform during high-octane competition, what they think about in the heat of the moment and what drives them to do what they do. By combining examples from numerous original interviews with top athletes and leading sports science research, THE BEST deconstructs superhuman performance and answers the question on every sports fan's mind: "How did they do that?"

How Elite Athletes Are Made

The Best

As the world's second most popular sport, cricket is much richer and more diverse than many realize. Globally, passionate players give up holidays, time with loved ones, and hard-earned money to achieve the extraordinary and play for their country. Afghanistan, whose captain grew up on a refugee camp, will play in the 2015 World Cup not just in spite of the Taliban, but partly because of them. In Ireland, cricket has reawakened after a century of dormancy-but can they achieve their aim of Test cricket and end the player drain to England? These tales resonate far beyond cricket, touching on war, sectarianism, and even women's rights. This book explains why an Emirati faced Allan Donald armed only with a sun hat; whether cricket will succeed in China and America; what happened when Kenya reached the World Cup semi-finals; and how cricket in the Netherlands almost collapsed after two bad days.

Second XI

“Fascinating” The Observer “Illuminating” The Times “Crickonomics is packed with sufficient statistical analysis to have the most ardent cricket geek purring with pleasure” Mail on Sunday “An insightful, Hawk-Eye-like analysis of the numbers behind cricket” Financial Times An engaging tour of the modern game from an award-winning journalist and the economist who co-authored the bestselling Soccernomics. Why does England rely on private schools for their batters – but not their bowlers? How did demographics shape India's rise? Why have women often been the game's great innovators? Why does South Africa struggle to produce Black Test batters? And how does the weather impact who wins? Crickonomics explores all of this and much more – including how Jayasuriya and Gilchrist transformed Test batting but T20 didn't; English cricket's great missed opportunity to have a league structure like football; why batters are paid more than bowlers; how Afghanistan is transforming German cricket; what the rest of the world can learn from New Zealand and even the Barmy Army's importance to Test cricket. This incisive book will entertain and surprise all cricket lovers. It might even change how you watch the game.

The Anatomy of Modern Cricket

Mark Williams

GET INSIDE THE MINDS OF ELITE SPORTSMEN AND WOMEN AND DISCOVER WHAT IT TAKES TO BE THE BEST. THIS IS THE STORY OF SUPERHUMAN PERFORMANCE AND THE PLAYBOOK FOR THE SUPERSTARS OF TOMORROW. Never have the best sportspeople seemed so far removed from the rest of us. So how are these extraordinary athletes made and what do their achievements tell us about success? THE BEST reveals how the most incredible sportspeople in the world got that way. It is a unique look at the path to sporting greatness. This is a story of origins, training, luck and serendipity, as well as of sports science and cutting-edge technology. Packed with gripping personal stories and interviews, you will discover how the best athletes develop the extraordinary skills and muscle memory that allow them to perform remarkable acts without consciously thinking about them. THE BEST deconstructs the myths, like the notion that 10,000 hours of practice are needed to make it to the top, and explores the hidden power of the mind to reveal how athletes really think and process information during high octane competition. it gets inside the minds of champions, deconstructing what athletes see during matches and explaining how they do what they do. Drawing on examples and lessons from throughout the sporting world, this is for anyone who wants to know what it takes to be the best.

How Elite Athletes are Made

"Insightful, thoughtful, and altogether wonderful." DANIEL COYLE, New York Times bestselling author of THE TALENT CODE"This book is a must read." EDDIE JONES, Head Coach, England RugbyTHE SECRETS OF SUPERHUMAN PERFORMANCENever have the best sportspeople seemed so far removed from the rest of us, their prowess so unfathomable. So how are these extraordinary athletes made?THE BEST reveals how the most incredible sportspeople in the world get to the top and stay there. It is a unique look at the path to sporting greatness; a story of origins, serendipity, practice, genetics and the psychology of excellence, as well as of sports science and cutting edge technology.Packed with gripping personal stories and exclusive interviews with top athletes including Siya Kolisi, Marcus Rashford, Pete Sampras, Steph Curry, Jamie Carragher, Ian Poulter, Helen Glover, Ada Hegerberg, Elena Delle Donne, Joey Votto and Mike Hussey, it explains how the best athletes develop the extraordinary skills that allow them to perform remarkable feats under extreme pressure.Get inside the minds of champions and understand first-hand what makes them perform during high-octane competition, what they think about in the heat of the moment and what drives them to do what they do.By combining examples from numerous original interviews with top athletes and leading sports science research, THE BEST deconstructs superhuman performance and answers the question on every sports fan's mind: "How did they do that?"

The Best How Champions Are Made

GET INSIDE THE MINDS OF ELITE SPORTSMEN AND WOMEN AND DISCOVER WHAT IT TAKES TO BE THE BEST. THIS IS THE STORY OF SUPERHUMAN PERFORMANCE AND THE PLAYBOOK FOR THE SUPERSTARS OF TOMORROW. Never have the best sportspeople seemed so far removed from the rest of us. So how are these extraordinary athletes made and what do their achievements tell us about success? THE BEST reveals how the most incredible sportspeople in the world got that way. It is a unique look at the path to sporting greatness. This is a story of origins, training, luck and serendipity, as well as of sports science and cutting-edge technology. Packed with gripping personal stories and interviews, you will discover how the best athletes develop the extraordinary skills and muscle memory that allow them to perform remarkable acts without consciously thinking about them. THE BEST deconstructs the myths, like the notion that 10, 000 hours of practice are needed to make it to the top, and explores the hidden power of the mind to reveal how athletes really think and process information during high octane competition. it gets inside the minds of champions, deconstructing what athletes see during matches and explaining how they do what they do. Drawing on examples and lessons from throughout the sporting world, this is for anyone who wants to know what it takes to be the best.

Tim Wigmore

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