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James Astill, the political editor of The Economist, has won the Cricket
Society and MCC Book of the Year award for 2014. Astill received the
award in the Long Room at Lord's for his book about the rise of Indian
cricket: The Great Tamasha: Cricket, Corruption and the Turbulent Rise of Modern India.
Astill, who was similarly honoured by the Cricket Writers Club, received
certificates and a £3000 award, presented by England's fourth oldest
living Test cricketer Hubert Doggart.
This 45-year-old competition, which has been run in partnership between
The Cricket Society and MCC since 2009, has become a highlight of the
cricketing year. Friday's audience heard that it has been extended for
at least another three years to 2017.
Five of the shortlisted authors, and a representative of the sixth,
spoke about their work. A delighted Astill said: "I am thrilled to win
the award and hope I have shed some light on much that is often hard for
outsiders to India to fathom. The shared experience of cricket there
could sometimes be the only shaft of light in the grim lives of ordinary
people."
Chair of judges Vic Marks, cricket writer and former England cricketer,
complimented Astill's first cricket work for its exploration of India as
well as its cricket.
The competition, run by The Cricket Society since 1970, is for books
nominated by members and not publishers. A previous winner, former
Wisden editor Scyld Berry, hailed his award as "cricket's seal of
literary approval." Another winner did not realize the award had
monetary value too and a prolonged search of the Lord's dustbins failed
to locate his excitedly discarded winning cheque.
Shortlist: James Astill: The Great Tamasha, Cricket Corruption
and the Turbulent Rise of Modern India (Bloomsbury); Authors Cricket
Club: The Authors XI, A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to
Hambledon (Bloomsbury); John Barclay: Lost in the Long Grass (Fairfield
Books); Brian Halford: The Real Jeeves, The Cricketer Who Gave His Life
for His Country and His Name to a Legend. (Pitch Publishing); Malcolm
Knox: Bradman's War (Robson Press); Robert Winder: The Little Wonder,
The Remarkable History of Wisden. (Bloomsbury).
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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