TWO PITCH BOOKS ON CRICKET SOCIETY AND MCC AWARDS SHORTLIST

Pitch Publishing is a fantastic imprint.
They do all the great Got, Not Got series
and plenty of other retro sports titles.

James Brown, The Late Tackle, talkSPORT

Pitch Publishing show the way for enterprising
sports book publishers and remains a beacon
of hope for sports authors aspiring or established.

The Sports Bookshelf.com

Pitch Publishing, an outfit whose "pitch perfect"
commissioning of boxing material stands
as a rebuke to more established houses

Boxing Monthly

Pitch capture the real spirit of sport with entertaining
and clever ideas. They work out what the aficionado
would want to read, then deliver it with great verve.

Paul Hayward, The Daily Telegraph

Pitch have enabled me to write in the ways I enjoy most.
Their production support is superb, delivering eye-catching
designs, attentive proof-reading, energetic marketing and helpful advice.

Tim Quelch, Good Old Sussex by the Sea, Orient to the Emirates, Underdog!

Pitch are willing to back out-of-the-blue and innovative
ideas and turn them into viable, entertaining books.
They do so with great presentation and editorial flair.

Justin Parkinson, Then Came Massacre

Pitch saw the potential in my story, used their expertise
to polish it, published it and helped inspire thousands
around the world to get into the sport of triathlon.

Andy Holgate, Can’t Swim, Can’t Ride, Can’t Run & Can't Sleep, Can't Train, Can't Stop

The process of working with Pitch to produce Picking up the Threads
was enjoyable and rewarding, with the final edition surpassing
expectations and becoming a resounding success.

John Chandler, Picking up the Threads

Pitch will take a chance on books that other publishers won't
and realise that interest in football extends beyond the
Premier League and the top 20 countries in the FIFA rankings.

Steve Menary, Outcasts!

Pitch have the vision to look beyond the obvious,
seeking out interesting ideas and subjects and
matching them with the right target audience.

David Tossell, Tony Greig, The Great English Final, Grovel!, Natural

Pitch have been an absolute joy to work with,
contributing their passion, expertise, knowledge
and experience to help produce a brilliant book.

Sam Pilger, Ashes Match of My Life

Pitch took our original concept and further enhanced it,
using their knowledge, experience and expertise, and helped
make Got, Not Got one of the football books of the year for 2011.

Derek Hammond, Got, Not Got series of books

Pitch bought into the concept of development through football,
channeling profits and proceeds from Eleven into helping
some of the most disadvantaged young people in the world.

Steve Fleming, Eleven

In the highly competitive world of sport publishing,
Pitch have consistently demonstrated the happy
knack of spotting, nurturing and promoting winners.

Neil Dunkin, Anfield of Dreams

21 Feb

TWO PITCH BOOKS ON CRICKET SOCIETY AND MCC AWARDS SHORTLIST

Two Pitch authors have made the shortlist for the Cricket Society and MCC Book of the Year Award 2025, which was announced today.

The Cricketers of 1945 by Christopher Sandford and Forgotten Pioneers by Giles Wilcock are both on the six-book shortlist; while two other Pitch titles were on the original 13-book longlist.

Ben Bloom’s Batting for Time and Jeremy Lonsdale’s An Unusual Celebrity both featured on the longlist, having both also made the shortlist for this year’s Derek Hodgson Book award presented by the Cricket Writers Club

The Cricketers of 1945 is the compelling, poignant, and above all human, story of the reawakening of English cricket after the world's most destructive war. Drawing on accounts from contemporary diaries and personal letters, it gives the reader a strong sense of what it was like to be alive at that unique time. Click here for more information, including a sample chapter.

Forgotten Pioneers: The Story of the Original English Lady Cricketers tells the extraordinary tale of the world's first professional women cricketers. They played a series of exhibition matches in Britain throughout 1890 and 1891 before collapsing amid allegations of fraud in the latter season and being forgotten by history - until now. Click here for more information, including a sample chapter.

The competition, run by The Cricket Society since 1970 and in partnership with MCC since 2009, is for books nominated by MCC and Cricket Society Members, and is highly regarded by writers and publishers.

All six books and authors will be celebrated, and the winner announced, at the annual awards evening at Lord’s on Monday 14 April.

Chair of judges Robert Winder said: “I have never known a year where so many books had strong claims to be short listed. A second set of books would have graced any other year. Some excellent volumes and prestigious writers have been extremely and undeservedly unlucky.”

The six books on the 2025 shortlist are:

Striking Summer, How Cricket United a Divided Nation, Stephen Brenkley, Fairfield Books

One Hell of a Life, Brian Close, Daring, Defiant and Daft, Stephen Chalke, Fairfield Books

Worrell, The Brief but Brilliant Life of a Caribbean Pioneer, Simon Lister, Simon & Schuster

The Cricketers of 1945: Rising from the Ashes of World War Two, Christopher Sandford, Pitch Publishing

Blood on the Tracks, England in Australia, The 1974-75 Ashes, David Tossell, Fairfield Books

Forgotten Pioneers, The Story of the Original English Lady Cricketers, Giles Wilcock, Pitch Publishing

Other books on the final long list were:

Batting for Time, The Fight to Keep English Cricket Alive, Ben Bloom, Pitch Publishing

Echoing Greens, How Cricket Shaped the English Imagination, Brendan Cooper, Constable

Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes, The Story of an Ashes Classic, David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts, Bloomsbury

Lara, The England Chronicles, Brian Lara with Phil Walker, Fairfield Books

An Unusual Celebrity, The Many Cricketing Lives of Bill Bowes, Jeremy Lonsdale, Pitch Publishing

Clyde Walcott, Statesman of West Indies Cricket, Peter Mason, Manchester University Press

Bill Edrich, The Many Lives of England’s Cricket Great, Leo McKinstry, Bloomsbury Sport