The shortlist for the Cricket Society and MCC Book of the Year Award 2023 has been announced today.
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.
Books by Wasim Akram, Moeen Ali and Geoffrey Boycott are among those chosen on the 2023 shortlist. All six books and authors will be celebrated, and the winner announced, at an awards evening at Lord’s on Tuesday 11 April.
"some very good books narrowly missed out"
Chair of judges Robert Winder said: “There was a good deal of heart searching over the choice this year, and some very good books narrowly missed out. That is always sad.
"But the judges were happy to have been able to select a list of great range and energy, from national history and autobiography to close analysis and children’s story.”
The 2022 winner was David Woodhouse’s Who Only Cricket Know, Hutton’s Men in the West Indies 1953/54.
The six books on the 2023 shortlist are:
Sultan, A Memoir, Wasim Akram with Gideon Haigh, Hardie Grant
The Legend of Sparkhill, Moeen Ali and Tanya Aldred, Fairfield Books
Being Geoffrey Boycott, A First and Second Hand Account of 108 Caps, Geoffrey Boycott and Jon Hotten, Fairfield Books
An Island’s Eleven, The Story of Sri Lankan Cricket, Nicholas Brookes, The History Press
First of the Summer Wine: George Hirst, Schofield Haigh, Wilfred Rhodes and the Gentle Heart of Yorkshire Cricket, Harry Pearson, Simon & Schuster
Crickonomics: The Anatomy of Modern Cricket, Stefan Szymanski and Tim Wigmore, Bloomsbury Sport
The 12 other books long listed were:
Answering the Call, The extraordinary life of Sir Wesley Hall, Paul Akeroyd, J.W. McKenzie
Fair Game, Alex Blackwell with Megan Maurice, Hachette Australia
Beyond the Pavilion, Reflections on a Life in Cricket, Barry Knight with Andrew Leeming, Quiller Publishing
Lords of Mischief: Dan Leno and Clown Cricket, Eric Midwinter, Max Books
Swallows and Hawke, English Cricket Tours, the MCC and the Making of South Africa, 1888-1968, Richard Parry and Andre Odendaal, Pitch Publishing
Fifteen Minutes of Fame, Australia’s 70 One-Test Wonders, Ken Piesse, cricketbooks.com.au
Laker and Lock, The Odd Couple, Christopher Sandford, Pitch Publishing
Between Overs: How Life gets in the Way of Cricket, Michele Savidge, Pitch Publishing
Elephant in the Stadium, Arunabha Sengupta, Pitch Publishing
Making Decisions: Putting the human back in the machine, Ed Smith, William Collins
Different Class, The Untold Story of English Cricket, Duncan Stone, Repeater Books
CLR James, A Life Beyond the Boundaries, John L Williams, Constable, HB
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