Bats, Balls & Bails by Les Scott

Bats, Balls & Bails (Collectible Cricket Anecdotes & Records Compendium)

A Thick Compendium of Cricket Anecdotes, Records and Trivia from the Pen of Les Scott

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Bats, Balls & Bails: The Essential Cricket Book
• Author: Les Scott
• Publisher: Bantam Press, London
• Publication Date: 2009
• ISBN-13: 9780593061466
• Edition Details: Bantam Press hardback, first published in Great Britain in 2009.
• Binding: Publisher's pictorial laminated boards, printed with a green grass design and cricket bat, maroon spine with white lettering.
• Physical Format: Compact hardback, text-only pages, no plates or maps.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Good (G)
• Exterior / Boards: The pictorial laminated boards, printed with a green grass design and a cricket bat, show a little general wear. The upper front corner of the spine head is slightly frayed. The maroon spine with white lettering is slightly creased at the foot. The fore-edge is tanned.
• Interior: The text block is tight, with clean pages and slight, uniform toning to the page edges and leaves. No writing, marks or foxing are visible.
• The Dust Jacket: Not Applicable (As Issued)

Synopsis & Historical Value

Bats, Balls & Bails: The Essential Cricket Book is a large collection of cricket anecdotes, records, quotes and trivia, gathered by Les Scott and published by Bantam Press in 2009. It is organised into about a hundred sections, ranging from equipment and the Test-playing nations to counties, tournaments and the game's more bizarre dismissals.

The book is made for dipping into. It pairs light-hearted curiosities, such as the first player to wear a helmet and the first man to try a reverse sweep, with the statistics and stories that cricket followers like to argue over. It suits any cricket-loving household and makes a good gift for a devoted follower of the game.

A solid, compact hardback, offered here as a collectible second-hand copy for the cricket library or the sporting bookshelf.

Author Profile: Les Scott

Les Scott (born 1952) is an English writer and broadcaster. He trained as a teacher at Alsager College and Keele University and became a full-time freelance writer in 1980. He is best known as a football writer and as the ghost-writer of football autobiographies, including those of George Best, Stanley Matthews, Jimmy Greaves, Peter Shilton and Gordon Banks.

His other books include Anfield Iron (2008), Rush (2009), 555 Football Facts to Wow Your Mates (2009) and Between the Sticks (2013). Since 2018 he has worked as a football match analyst for Perform/Opta.