The Sports Bookshelf

The maverick tennis champion Jimmy Connors, rugby star Simon Halliday and established writers Michael Calvin, Brough Scott and James Astill were among the winners at the British Sports Book Awards 2014, along with new names Tim Lewis and Harriet Tuckey.   Their successes were announced during an event held at Lord’s Cricket Ground and hosted by Test Match Special’s, Jonathan Agnew. The Connors story, The Outsider , is the second tennis book to win in the biography section in the 12-year history of the awards, following Andre Agassi's autobiography Open in 2010. Harriet Tuckey's Everest: The First Ascent , which won the judges' vote for the new Outstanding General Sports Writing category, is the first book from the world of mountaineering to be honoured. Tim Lewis was named New Writer of the Year for his story of the Rwanda national cycling team, Land of Second Chances. All eight individual category winners will now be put to an online public vote to determine the

When cricket writer Chris Waters delivered the manuscript for Fred Trueman: The Authorised Biography to his publisher three years ago, he told friends his first book would also be his last, echoing the words of countless writers before him. The journey from first thoughts to final page can be long and arduous, so grueling sometimes that many vow never to go there again. A modest man, not inclined to blow his own trumpet, Waters wasn't sure whether he had done a good job or otherwise.  The reviews, however, were highly complimentary. Indeed, Fred Trueman: The Authorised Biography won a hat-trick of awards: Wisden Book of the Year, MCC/Cricket Society Book of the Year and British Sports Book Awards Cricket Book of the Year. The thousands of readers who shared the enthusiasm of the award judges will be delighted to learn that Trueman was not his last book.  The second is due out next month. 10 for 10: Hedley Verity and the Story of Cricket's Greatest Bowling Feat is prob

Political journalist James Astill has won the 2014 MCC-Cricket Society book of the year award for The Great Tamasha: Cricket, Corruption and the Turbulent Rise of Modern india. Essentially, it is story of how cricket became Indianised, first via the increasing success of India in international cricket and more recently with the creation of the cash-rich Indian Premier League, the enormously hyped and hugely popular Twenty20 competition, which has seen the powerbase in the world game shift from London to Delhi. But The Great Tamasha, published by Bloomsbury, is a book that goes beyond sport to present a history of contemporary India, explaining how cricket in India, with all of its politics and intrigue, offers a picture of the country in microcosm, beset by corruption, cynicism and vast inequalities, and driven by a shameless fight for wealth and power. Astill, the political editor of The Economist, spent a number of years as the magazine’s bureau chief in Delhi. He has a deep

Some tough decisions face the judges charged with naming the winners at the British Sports Book Awards for 2014, due to be announced later this month, after the organisers announced one of the strongest shortlist line-ups in the 12-year history. Across all nine categories there are outstanding contenders.  The category Autobiography/Biography of the Year includes footballer Dennis Bergkamp's Stillness and Speed and The Outsider , by double Wimbledon and five-times US Open tennis champion Jimmy Connors, as well as former Premier League referee Mark Halsey's controversial Added Time . The Football category includes Guillem Balague’s biography of Lionel Messi, entitled simply  Messi, Sid Lowe’s Fear and Loathing in La Liga and The Nowhere Men, Michael Calvin's tribute to football's essential army of talent spotting scouts. In the Cricket category, Rob Winder's The Little Wonder: A History of Wisden is up against, among otheers, James Astill’s story of cr