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Tossell in line for cricket book award

Three times a contender for honours at the British Sports Book Awards, David Tossell has been short listed for the Cricket Society and MCC Book of the Year Award 2011 for his fascinating Following On: A Year With English Cricket’s Golden Boys (Know The Score).

Although the cover illustration features a jubilant Graeme Swann, the Golden Boys in question are neither of the successful England Ashes teams of recent vintage but the 1998 Under-19 World Cup winners, who were at the time hailed as a golden generation among young English cricketers.
Tossell tracked down each of the 14 players England used on their way to beating New Zealand in the final in Johannesburg and, by examining their lives in 2009, revealed the differing paths their careers had followed.
For Graeme Swann and Owais Shah, for example, 2009 saw both in pursuit of England ambitions. Robert Key and the emerging Twenty20 star Graham Napier were awaiting their country's call, while others wondered whether their county careers would continue or fall victim to economic recession.
Some had left the professional game, combining Minor Counties and club cricket with jobs in sales, property and recruitment. One had become first-class cricket’s youngest umpire.
From the packed stands of Lord's to the most rural of club grounds, Tossell tells their stories against the backdrop of a historic year for their sport, producing a fascinating insight into the cricketing profession.
Tossell, a sports journalist for three decades and currently head of European Public Affairs for the National Football League, is the author of eight sports books. His biography of Bertie Mee, his study of West Indies cricket (Grovel!) and his portrait of the 1970s Welsh rugby team (Nobody Beats Us) were nominated for the British Sports Book Awards, while his biography of Malcolm Allison received wide acclaim.
His third cricket book -- Tony Greig: A Reappraisal of English Cricket's Most Controversial Captain -- is due out in April from Pitch Publishing.


The other books on the MCC-Cricket Society shortlist are :
Now I'm 62: The Diary of an Ageing Cricketer; by Stephen Chalke (Fairfield Books)
A Last English Summer; by Duncan Hamilton (Quercus Books)
The Cricketers' Progress: Meadowland to Mumbai; by Eric Midwinter (Third Age Press)
Slipless in Settle: A Slow Turn Around Northern Cricket; by Harry Pearson (Little Brown).


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