Pakistan is a country beset with politicised instabilities economic problems ethnic conflicts religious fervour & crises of identity. It is also a country in which the game of cricket has become a nationwide obsession. How has that happened? How does a Muslim country jealous of its independence & determined to forge a Pakistani identity so passionately embrace the alien gentleman's game imported by the distant & departed former colonial masters? What do we learn of Pakistan from its attitudes & responses to cricket? This book sees Pakistan
- its history politics & society
- through the prism of cricket. Shaharyar Khan & Ali Khan describe how cricket defines national identity & boosts morale even while Pakistan struggles to contain internal political conflict & the influence of the Taliban near & within its borders; they show how the game shapes the political social & cultural landscape of Pakistan & its fractured relations with India. But with recent betting scandals & accusations of spot-fixing throwing Pakistani cricket into the global media spotlight what does cricket tell us about condition of Pakistani society today? The former Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board a man with an unparalleled insight into the establishment Shaharyar Khan examines how this very Western sport came to embed itself in the psyche of Pakistanis old & young transcending social & class boundaries. The authors illuminate Pakistan for readers by offering an unusual & highly original perspective
- that in understanding the state of cricket in Pakistan can we gain a deeper understanding of the state of Pakistan itself. Demonstrating how the turbulence around cricket has much wider political implications this book will fascinate general readers & cricket enthusiasts at the same time proving essential reading for observers of Pakistan India & the South Asia region.


...

Whether youre a weekend cricketer or aspiring armchair expert Cricket For Dummies helps you make sense of this fascinating sport. Not just a jargon busting guide to crickets laws techniques & tactics it also contains advice on kitting yourself out & provides lessons on playing the game & improving your batting bowling & fielding skills. For the budding fan theres a guide to the greatest players the memorable matches & a tour through the cricketing scene
- both domestic & international
- giving you the knowledge you need to fully appreciate this special game. This book has been updated for the Ashes 2009 featuring revised information on new players the Indian premier league Stanford 20:20 & the latest coverage of past & future competitions. Julian Knight is a BBC journalist writer & cricket enthusiast. He is a former youth coach & captain & has been a club cricketer for over 20 years. Consultant Editor Gary Palmer played first class cricket for ten years with Somerset before becoming a professional coach.

...

A complete guide to cricket for players & fans alike Whether you're a budding player or aspiring armchair expert Cricket For Dummies helps you get to grips with this fascinating sport. Completely revised & updated for the first back-to-back Ashes series in 38 years this hands-on guide gives you clear explanations of the cricket's laws step-by-step explanations of techniques & tactics & exciting coverage of the tournaments global rivalries & great players. Fully revised & updated to chronicle the rise of twenty 20 cricket & the IPL the implementation of DRS & the changing face of the game Covers cricket basics-the pitch the laws the equipment & more Provides an in-depth look at cricket formats Offers a guide to building cricket skills-bowling batting & fielding

Includes:: coverage of the best players & the biggest tournaments throughout the world Complete with Top Ten Lists of the greatest cricketers the most memorable cricket matches & the biggest controversies Cricket For Dummies is your one-stop resource on this popular sport.

...

Award-winning author Simon Hughes brings to life the history of the Ashes through 10 of the most iconic matches in the fixture's 135-year history. With an innovative & distinctive approach Hughes selects each match as a narrative spine packed with thrillingly evocative detail alongside the issues controversies heroes & villains of each match. With both fascinating analysis of ten unforgettable Test matches & fast-paced history of cricket's fiercest rivalry this is the perfect way for cricket lovers both English & Australian to prepare for the ten-match feast of Ashes cricket that begins in Nottingham in July 2013 & ends in Sydney in January 2014. It

Includes:: complete statistics & records of all the Ashes fixtures & results.

...

A fascinating collection of true stories about cricket's oddest matches
- ranging from the bizarre to the downright hilarious.
...

The Cricketers' Who's Who (2013)is the turn-to book for players journalists & fans alike; their English cricket bible. The 34th edition of this esteemed publication is produced by the team at the popular cricket magazine All Out Cricket in association with the Professional Cricketers' Association &

Includes:: a foreword by England Test captain Alastair Cook. With detailed insightful personal profiles for every county cricketer featuring in the 2013 county season it gives readers the inside track on every player both on & off the pitch including career stats & a biography revealing hidden talents. This eminently dippable reference book extends to in-depth entries on Scotland the Unicorns the Netherlands & all the umpires on the first-class panel; there is also a key profile of each first-class county & their coach together with performance reviews for the previous season.

...

OS Explorer Map is the Ordnance Survey's most detailed map & is recommended for anyone enjoying outdoor activities like walking horse riding & off-road cycling. Providing complete GB coverage the series details essential information such as youth hostels pubs & visitor information as well as rights of way permissive paths & bridleways. ...

Detective Inspector Ray Lennox has fled to Miami to escape the aftermath of a mental breakdown induced by occupational stress & cocaine abuse & a harrowing child-sex murder case back in Edinburgh. But his fiancee Trudi is only interested in planning their wedding & soon Lennox cast adrift alone in Florida. A coke-fuelled binge brings him into contact with another victim of sexual predation ten-year-old Tianna & Lennox flees across the state with his terrified charge determined to protect her at any cost. But can Lennox trust his own instincts? & can he handle Tianna while still trying to get to grips with the Edinburgh murder? ...

In a whirlwind demolition of dozens of misconceptions about crime Nick Ross proposes what is arguably the most radical re-think of crime policy since the dawn of policing. Setting conventional thinking on its head Crime challenges everything we take for granted showing why the criminal justice system has little effect on crime rates how policing has been hijacked to serve the needs of lawyers & how 'facts' about crime are continually manipulated to serve the needs of politicians & the media. Crime is the result of twenty years' experience working with victims & police & ten years' research to find out what makes crime rates ebb & flow. This is a major work that explodes fallacies & entreats us to be more sceptical. Crime will delight those who come to it with an open mind & infuriate ideologues from the left right & centre. ...

Meet Fahner the retired small-town doctor who resorts to the garden axe when his patience with his cruel wife runs out. Meet Patrick so entranced by the sight of his sleeping girlfriend that he cuts a small piece out of her back just to see what she tastes like. Meet the silent assassin who calmly despatches two Neo-Nazi thugs on a railway platform. A nameless lawyer invites us to read an extraordinary dossier of violent & unspeakable acts. All the crimes have one thing in common: the guilty are never convicted in a court of law. But however heinous the crime the narrator shows how the human circumstances behind events can tell a different story. Provocative shocking & brilliant these stories may change the way you judge the world. ...