The Sports Bookshelf

A host of authors will be discussing their books at the London Festival of Sports Writing, which takes place at Lord's Cricket Ground from Thursday (November 12) to Sunday this week. This is the third year of this new festival dedicated to the best in sports writing, jointly hosted by David Luxton Associates and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) with the support of media partner London Evening Standard. The four-day celebration kicks off on Thursday with cricket, football and tennis on the agenda for the opening day. Among the authors appearing will be Richard Tomlinson, author of Amazing Grace: The Man Who was W.G. , William Skidelsky, author of Federer and Me: A Story of Obsession . Tomlinson will sit down with Lawrence Booth, editor of Wisden, and Jonathan Rice, who compiled Wisden on Grace , to discuss the legacy of the great W. G. on the 100th anniversary of his death in the company of Richard Whitehead, editor of The Times on the Ashes . Skidelsky will talk about his

With the latest battle for the Ashes little more than a month away, the cricket book market welcomes a number of new titles, headed by Sky TV star David 'Bumble' Lloyd's latest collection of anecdotes and observations from the quirkiest voice in cricket. Bumble has seen cricket from just about every angle -- player, coach, umpire and commentator -- and the collection of sideways views and hilarious stories that made up Start the Car: The World According to Bumble thrust Accrington's favourite son into the bestseller lists. Now, just in time for England's Test cricket showdown with Australia, he follows up with The Ashes According to Bumble , which continues in the same vein, with a special accent on the biggest rivalry in the game. Publishers HarperSport promise "a whole new cricket bag full of yarns from his years on the pitch and in the commentary box...more tales of Bumble’s time rubbing shoulders (and chinking glasses) with the great (as well as n