Cricket changed my life: Eleven personal journeys

Cricket Changed My Life: Eleven Personal Journeys by Annie Chave was published on Friday 11 April by Fairfield Books

Through wide-ranging and illuminating interviews, Chave reveals and examines the (often-unpredicted) life-enhancing properties of cricket, revealing its power to reclaim lives lived on the brink of despair.

About the book

“Probably because my own life has been utterly changed by the impact of cricket, I am intrigued by the life stories of people in the same boat.”

In Cricket Changed My Life Annie Chave throws the spotlight on a range of people, whose variety highlights the fact that cricket can benefit anyone, that the game’s reach is not confined to players or even to fields of play.

From a Pakistani teenager left for dead by terrorists to England’s first black international cricketer; from journalists and broadcasters who have battled adversity to forge careers in cricket to a pair of Syrian refugees; and from one of England’s greatest all-rounders to the inimitable David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd, Chave tells the unique stories of lives transformed by cricket.

The subjects are:

• Waleed Khan - survivor of a terrorist attack, motivational speaker and #iWill ambassador
• Roland Butcher - the first black cricketer to represent England
• Georgie Heath - broadcaster and journalist who has forged a successful career in sports media despite significant and ongoing health issues
• Fred Rumsey - former cricketer and founder of the Professional Cricketers’ Association
• Sue Redfern - former international cricketer and international umpire
• Callum Flynn - England Physical Disability cricketer
• Enid Bakewell - legendary England all-rounder
• Bharat Sundaresan - journalist and broadcaster who overcame drug addiction then emigrated to Australia to follow his dreams
• David Lloyd - much-loved commentator, former England cricketer and coach
• Wissal Al-Jaber and Maram Al-Khodir - Syrian refugees who found new hope and purpose in cricket
• Daniel Norcross – Test Match Special commentator who took an unconventional route to the press box

Praise for Cricket Changed My Life

“An uplifting and joyous read, capturing – at times with stunning emotion – the power of cricket to transform lives.”

Stephen Chalke

About the author

Annie Chave has written extensively on cricket over the past seven years, for most of which she has been part of the commentary team for the independent radio station, Guerilla Cricket. For the last two summers she has been the third voice for the BBC commentary team at Somerset CCC. She is the editor of County Cricket Matters, a quarterly magazine celebrating the county game, and a regular columnist for The Cricket Paper. She is a Cricket Society committee member and, for the past two years, a judge for the Cricket Writers’ Club book of the year.

Buy the book

Cricket Changed My Life: Eleven Personal Journeys is available to buy from thenightwatchman.net and all good booksellers.

Click here to buy the hardback (RRP £18)

Click here to buy the ebook (RRP £4.99)