WIN a copy of Twirlymen by Amol Rajan

The Cricket Blog has teamed up with Yellow Jersey Press to give two readers the chance to win a copy of Twirlymen: The Unlikely History of Cricket’s Greatest Spin Bowlers by Amol Rajan. From W. G. Grace to Shane Warne, this is an essential look at that most eccentric of cricketers – the spin bowler.

Some figures and personalities have had more influence over the field of spin bowling than others. We have been very fortunate to have had Shane Warne, left, and Muttiah Muralitharan in the game in recent years.

Rather than just focus on the deceptive art of spin bowling and how its many luminaries have not only perfected its many forms but added to it through their own ingenuity, Rajan delves into the depths of the history of cricket to bring alive their personalities.

From the early incarnations of under arm spinners pitching their deliveries on and around mole hills on eighteenth century wickets in the English countryside, through the evolution of round arm bowling and its implications to the art, right up until the present day where it is highlighted that we have been very fortunate, as cricket fans, to witness some of spin bowling’s greatest exponents, Twirlymen covers the origins and inventors of each delivery, challenging some commonly held misconceptions.

Who invented the flipper? The googly? The doosra? Rajan sheds new light on their originators.

This book is unashamedly in awe of the spinner. Rajan makes no apology for this and his obvious love for the spinners work is born out of his own experiences as a young leg spinner trying to break into the fold at Surrey. Whilst it didn’t work out for the author, he bears no grudge or jealousy, only admiration, towards those who have touched the heights of the game through their mastery of deception.

“Books surveying the Test arena of the 1980s salivate over the pace bowlers who dominated it without pausing to contemplate the flip side of their ascendance, and the horror of a sport emptied of its most cerebral and aesthetically pleasing past time,” says Rajan in Twirlymen. “The consequent neglect of attention to spin bowlers has been unforgivably myopic.”

Indeed spin bowling has been under the threat of extinction at many points in cricket’s long history, and Rajan reserves special praise for those who carried the torch during such barren times. The book is broken down into the time zones of spin bowling as Rajan sees them; brave originals, the first flourish, the second flourish, the wilderness years and onto the new great age of spin.

Each personality and master of the subtle art of spin bowling has left his mark. Certain names, however, loom large over the genre and, subsequently, Twirlymen.

As well as explaining the various deliveries through interludes that illustrate the book, Rajan takes us deeper into the philosophy of each delivery. From leg-breaks and off-breaks, to zooters and carrom balls; each delivery is detailed from its inventors and greatest exponents.

It is a hugely entertaining book that brings together a group of people united through adversity and history. There are tales of joy and hardship, of introverts and extroverts, and of those who simply could not cope with their own personalities. The author clearly longs for a return to the medium paced spin bowling days of Sydney Barnes, and his character is brought to the fore of this work.

The history of spin, or ‘the history of mystery’ as Rajan refers to it, is colourful and insightful. When you read his work, just make sure that you have a spherical object in close proximity; the inspiration to try the deliveries is in the text, and the temptation is in the diagrams. You’ll know how to bowl and understand each delivery, but executing them is another matter!

To be in with a chance of winning a copy of Twirlymen, simply click below to ‘like’ The Cricket Blog on Facebook before sending your name and address to cricket@front5.co.uk by midnight Tuesday June 7. We have two copies up for grabs and winners will be notified on Wednesday. Good Luck!

To learn more about the book, please visit www.vintage-books.co.uk for more details.