A majestic innings: writings on cricket

C.L.R. James is the author of unquestionably the best book ever written about cricket: "Beyond a Boundary" - indeed, one of the finest books written about sport, period. In print ever since its publication in 1963, it has just been reissued again by Yellow Jersey. But James wrote about cricket all his life, though he only ever published one other book on the game, and this is it. Originally published by Allison and Busby, and out of print for the last ten years, it is now republished as part of Aurum's highest-quality cricket list, under a new title and with a striking cover tied in with the cover design of "Beyond a Boundary". "A Majestic Innings" collects together appreciations of great cricketers from Bradman to Botham, Dexter to David Gower, pieces on cricket controversies like the Bodyline series and the D'Oliviera affair, letters to friends like John Arlott and V.S. Naipaul, and above all writings on James's first love, West Indies cricket - on Gary Sobers, Sir Frank Worrell, Learie Constantine, and even the early promise of a young Guyanian called Clive Lloyd. Aurum's cricket list already published almost all the finest writers on the game: Derek Birley, Gideon Haigh, David Frith, David Rayvern Allen - and now it has added C.L.R. James.