THE UNRELIABLE LIFE OF HARRY THE VALET: THE GREAT VICTORIAN JEWEL THIEF

A CLEAR BLUE SKY

As a young boy of eight, Jonny Bairstow was dealt a cruel blow. His father David 'Bluey' Bairstow, the combative and very popular wicketkeeper and captain of Yorkshire, took his own life at the age of 47. Jonny and his family strived to come to terms with the loss of their father and husband. Jonny found his way through his dedication to sport. He followed in his father's footsteps and chose cricket, eventually reaching the pinnacle of the sport and breaking the record for most Test runs in a year by a wicketkeeper.

THE GREAT ROMANTIC: CRICKET AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF NEVILLE CARDUS

Neville Cardus, the most revered cricket writer in the world, once described how one majestic stroke-maker 'made music' and 'spread beauty' with his bat. Duncan Hamilton, an award-winning sports writer himself, demonstrates how Cardus changed sports journalism for ever. While popularising cricket he became a star in his own right with exquisite phrase-making, disdain for statistics and a penchant for literary and musical allusions.