In the latest episode of our virtual cricket Q&As in association with the Cricket Societies Association, this Friday Mark Church will be joined by The Unforgiven author Ashley Gray with the slightly later start of 9pm.

It's an astonishing tale and an incredible book that has already gained critical acclaim from the cricketing fraternity.

In the early 1980s, 20 black West Indian cricketers were paid more than $100,000 each to take part in rebel tours of apartheid South Africa.

Some, such as Lawrence Rowe and Alvin Kallicharran, were household names in the Caribbean and around the world, while others were fringe players seeking a short cut out of poverty.

All would be condemned by the international cricketing fraternity. Accused of pocketing 'blood money' in order to prop up a regime that systematically discriminated against people of their own colour, they were banned for life from playing the sport they loved. In many cases, they were shunned by their fellow countrymen.

A few turned to drugs and gangs, some turned to God - and others found themselves begging on the streets and dealing with mental illness.

Forgotten and neglected for close to four decades, The Unforgiven tells their often-tragic stories through face-to-face interviews that explore the human cost of an onerous decision made early in these young men's lives. 

This event is the third in the series, and can be accessed via a web browser (Chrome is recommended) or you can download Zoom's software or phone/tablet application.

To join each event will be very simply and straightforward: 

1. Click on this link
2. Enter your name and society
   EG: John Smith, Norfolk Cricket Society

Once the event begins you will be given access into the “room”. There will be a Q&A session, and to ask a question, you will need to use the raise hand option (located in the participants panel, at the bottom), and the host will open your camera and microphone and prompt your question. 

For the full programme of events, through to October, can be found here.