Corruption in cricket: an eye-opening journey into the game's heart of darkness
Given the substantial number of cricket books published each year, it would be unusual if none emerged as a candidate for William Hill Sports Book of the Year. For the 2013 award, the shortlist quite rightly includes the fine piece of investigative journalism that revealed the true nature of corruption in cricket, or at least took the reader closer to the truth than anything hitherto undertaken. Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy (Bloomsbury) is written by Ed Hawkins, who has made his name for his knowledge of betting rather than batting or bowling, collecting awards year after year for his insightful analysis on the Betfair website. His motivation in delving into the underworld of illegal bookmaking in India was not so much about uncovering corrupt cricketers as understanding how and why fixes happen. His findings were startling, not least because they questioned whether the fix famously exposed by the News of the World that resulted in three Pakistan cricketers -- Salman Butt, Mohamma