Life is very rarely dull or quiet when Sir Ian Botham is around. One of Britain's greatest sportsmen, 'Beefy' has always worked hard and played hard, and this book reflects that. Botham has compiled some of his favourite stories from a life devoted to cricket and brought them all together in one volume. With the help of his huge network of friends, colleagues, team-mates and opponents, he has put together a wonderful collection of the best and the funniest stories from the cricket world. Featuring contributions from legends such as Shane Warne, fellow commentators and former team-mates including David Gower, and many of the current England team, this is a book the reader can pick up and immediately be privy to some of cricket's strangest and most hilarious moments, from the player who turned up to a game without any clothes on to avoid being fined for wearing the wrong kit to the cricketing legend whose desire for a burger landed him in hot water.

What's your favorite sport? In My Favorite Sport: Cricket students will learn all about the sport of gymnastics. Each My Favorite Sport book includes engaging nonfiction text about the sport, the equipment, and the skills needed to play the game.

What's your favorite sport? In My Favorite Sport: Cricket students will learn all about the sport of gymnastics. Each My Favorite Sport book includes engaging nonfiction text about the sport, the equipment, and the skills needed to play the game.

Do you know that in the years before World War II, India had a fast bowler who sent shivers down the spine of opposition batsmen? Or that an Indian wicket keeper once sledged none other than the great Sir Donald Bradman when he came out to bat? You would be amazed to know that once, a lieutenant colonel of the Indian Army drove down nearly 500 km from his post in Dharamshala to lead the Indian team for a test match in Delhi. Or this other time, when India’s famed spin trio was unable to make a breakthrough, the vice-captain suggested a left arm pacer to bowl spin and the latter ended up taking five wickets! There was an Indian spinner who once bowled 131 consecutive dot balls. Another tail-ender once had his jaw fractured while batting but refused to come off in the interest of the team. These and many such fantastic stories embellish the glorious journey of Indian cricket. And like any story, the tale of Indian cricket also has magnificent characters – many of whom you know about. But also, many whose tales are less told and have been lost in the sands of time. Read on for more such fascinating tales and know about The Forgotten Sons of Indian cricket.

From the My Favourite series - favourite stories on different themes by different authors, each volume edited by a celebrity in the field. "Villages are all stories, of course" writes Ronald Blythe, introducing this selection of his favourites. In any village, where past and present interleave, stories emerge, coloured by landscape and weather, and shaped by the villagers' lives. For villages are made up of people, from the families who have lived there for generations to the gypsies camping in the lane. Here are Hardy's villagers whose simple compassion cannot avert a neighbour's tragedy; Lawrence's men and women trapped in a small community and set on edge by the unfailing brilliance of a new spring; George Mackay Brown's shepherds and tinkers whose story is as bleak and terse as a ballad. Here is a squire puffed up with self-importance, a gamekeeper calm with self-respect, a priest with the strength of a stevedore, a blacksmith who put his faith in the old ways, a policeman full of malice, a delectable doctor. A child is made welcome at farmhouse tea, with pikelets and plum cake, home-cured ham and sherry trifle - village life at its most comfortable and reassuring. But an old woman in the raw poverty of Dulditch would sooner be robbed by her own kin than be carried to the workhouse. There is humour in this collection, and poetry, and drama, for village stories are as individual as the people who make them.