No object encapsulates the subtle, mysterious richness of cricket as much as its most famous character, the cricket ball: the swinging, bouncing, spinning heart of the glorious game.

Gary Cox tells us the life story of the ball in its many guises: new ball, old ball, live ball, dead ball, no-ball, lost ball, swing ball and dot ball. He untangles the complexities of spin bowling (with a little help from Shane Warne), the tricks and cheats involved in ball tampering (including a look at the 2018 Australian scandal) and explores the multi-coloured future of a rapidly changing game.

A kaleidoscopic look at the ball through the lenses of everything from philosophy and science to history, politics and biography and the myriad facts and figures of the vast cricket universe, Cox brings you a brimming biography of this legendary leathern orb and the heroes, fools and villains it has created along the way.

Table of contents

Preface
Acknowledgements

Contents of the Over

First Delivery: Loosener
Animated inanimate object
A regular Mad Hatter's tea party
Watching cricket on the radio

Second Delivery: Cricket Ball Surveyed
Ideal ball
Real ball
Perfect handful

Third Delivery: Cricket Ball Made
What is a cricket ball?
Evolution of the rolling globular body
Coriaceus orbis
Centres of excellence

Fourth Delivery : Cricket Ball Played
Bowling overarm, not underarm or throwing
New ball, old ball, live ball, dead ball, no-ball, lost ball, swing ball, dot ball
Ball tampering
Fast bowling – pace is nothing without control
Length
Line
Bodyline
Spin bowling – the art of confusion
Fielding – the art of attentiveness
Transcendental ball

Fifth Delivery: Cricket Ball Pain
Comedy and tragedy
Pitches, padding and cane handle bats
Death toll
Princes, umpires and pigeons

Sixth Delivery: Cricket Ball Fame
Great players, stats and performances
Botham rises from the ashes
Easeful Atlas
The Gatting Ball
The Strauss Ball
The Laker Ball
The Sobers Six Sixes Ball

Seventh Delivery: Umpire Miscounting
Bibliography
Index

Reviews

“Cox's style is delightful. General readers will find Cricket Ball a wonderful introduction to the game. Those more familiar with cricket writing will also enjoy his insights into its more technical aspects. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers.” –  Choice

“Gary Cox finds more angles on the cricket ball than Shane Warne!” –  Gideon Haigh, author of 'The Cricket War',

“Curious, reflective, discursive, Cricket Ball is in part a philosopher's disquisition on the hard leather object, in part a devotee's meditation on the game itself.” –  David Kynaston, co-author of 'Arlott, Swanton and the Soul of English Cricket',

“One of the most original cricket books you'll ever read.” –  Lawrence Booth, Editor of the 'Wisden Cricketers' Almanack' and cricket writer for The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday,

“Cricket ball is a thoughtful delight…It is infinitely more worthy than most of the cliche-ridden pap that crams the sports shelves in our bookshops.” –  Roy Williams, The Australian