Lawrence Booth (born 2 April 1975 at Oxford) is a British sports journalist, author and a cricket writer for the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday , and editor of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack since 2012. [1]
Booth was educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford, before going up to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he read Modern Languages. Booth became the youngest Wisden editor for 72 years upon his appointment in 2012. [2] He had previously written for The Guardian , The Observer and The Sunday Times , and is still a regular contributor to Wisden Cricket Monthly magazine. He wrote "The Spin" column at The Guardian for seven years, and his "Top Spin" column for MailOnline was named "Online Column of the Year" at the 2010 Sports Journalists' Association awards. In March 2013, he won Scoop of the Year at the SJAs after revealing that Kevin Pietersen had sent text messages to the touring South Africans the previous summer.
Booth has written, edited or co-written 19 books, including Arm-Ball to Zooter, Cricket, Lovely Cricket?, Bazball, which in 2024 was shortlisted for the MCC/Cricket Society Book of the Year award [3] , and the last 13 editions of Wisden , including the 150th, published in 2013. [4]
Left-arm unorthodox spin, also known as slow left-arm wrist spin, is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm unorthodox spin bowlers use wrist spin to spin the ball, and make it deviate, or 'turn' from left to right after pitching. The direction of turn is the same as that of a traditional right-handed off spin bowler, although the ball will usually turn more sharply due to the spin being imparted predominantly by the wrist.
Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a batter can be dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an appeal by the fielding side, the umpire may rule a batter out lbw if the ball would have struck the wicket but was instead intercepted by any part of the batsman's body. The umpire's decision will depend on a number of criteria, including where the ball pitched, whether the ball hit in line with the wickets, the ball's expected future trajectory after hitting the batsman, and whether the batsman was attempting to hit the ball.
Sir Leonard Hutton was an English cricketer. He played as an opening batsman for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1934 to 1955 and for England in 79 Test matches between 1937 and 1955. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack described him as "one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket". He set a record in 1938 for the highest individual innings in a Test match in only his sixth Test appearance, scoring 364 runs against Australia, a milestone that stood for nearly 20 years. Following the Second World War, he was the mainstay of England's batting. In 1952, he became the first professional cricketer of the 20th century to captain England in Tests; under his captaincy England won the Ashes the following year for the first time in 19 years.
ESPNcricinfo is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches, and StatsGuru, a database of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present. As of March 2023, Sambit Bal was the editor.
Arthur Edward Robert Gilligan was an English first-class cricketer who captained the England cricket team nine times in 1924 and 1925, winning four Test matches, losing four and drawing one. In first-class cricket, he played as an amateur, mainly for Cambridge University and Sussex, and captained the latter team between 1922 and 1929. A fast bowler and hard-hitting lower order batsman, Gilligan completed the double in 1923 and was one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year for 1924. When his playing career ended, he held several important positions in cricket, including that of England selector and president of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). A popular figure within cricket, he was widely regarded as sporting and friendly.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, or simply Wisden, colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a review for the London Mercury. In October 2013, an all-time Test World XI was announced to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
Wilfred Rhodes was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches. He holds the world records both for the most appearances made in first-class cricket, and for the most wickets taken (4,204). He completed the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in an English cricket season a record 16 times. Rhodes played for Yorkshire and England into his fifties, and in his final Test in 1930 was, at 52 years and 165 days, the oldest player who has appeared in a Test match.
Percy George Herbert Fender was an English cricketer who played 13 Tests for his country and was captain of Surrey between 1921 and 1931. An all-rounder, he was a middle-order batsman who bowled mainly leg spin, and completed the cricketer's double seven times. Noted as a belligerent batsman, in 1920 he hit the fastest recorded first-class century, reaching three figures in only 35 minutes, which remains a record as of 2021. On the basis of his Surrey captaincy, contemporaries judged him the best captain in England.
Edward Thomas Smith is an English author and journalist, former professional cricketer, and cricket commentator. He played first-class cricket for Kent, Middlesex and England.
Charles Stowell "Father" Marriott was an English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Lancashire, Cambridge University and Kent. Marriott played between 1919 and 1938 and was considered one of the best leg-break and googly bowlers of the time. He went on to teach, having served during World War I in the British Army.
Maurice Leyland was an English international cricketer who played 41 Test matches between 1928 and 1938. In first-class cricket, he represented Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1946, scoring over 1,000 runs in 17 consecutive seasons. A left-handed middle-order batsman and occasional left-arm spinner, Leyland was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1929.
Ernest William "Jim" Swanton was an English journalist and author, chiefly known for being a cricket writer and commentator under his initials, E. W. Swanton. He worked as a sports journalist for The Daily Telegraph and as a broadcaster for BBC Radio for 30 years. He was a regular commentator on Test Match Special, easily recognised by his distinctive "fruity" voice. After "retiring" in the 1970s, he continued to write occasional articles and columns until his death in 2000.
Gideon Clifford Jeffrey Davidson Haigh is a British-born Australian journalist and non-fiction author who writes about sport, business and crime in Australia. He was born in London, was raised in Geelong, and lives in Melbourne.
Abraham "Abe" Waddington, sometimes known as Abram Waddington, was a professional cricketer for Yorkshire, who played in two Test matches for England, both against Australia in 1920–21. Between 1919 and 1927 Waddington made 255 appearances for Yorkshire, and in all first-class cricket played 266 matches. In these games, he took a total of 852 wickets with his left arm fast-medium bowling. Capable of making the ball swing, Waddington was admired for the aesthetic quality of his bowling action. He was a hostile bowler who sometimes sledged opposing batsmen and questioned umpires' decisions, behaviour which was unusual during his playing days.
Matthew Lewis Engel is a British writer, journalist and editor.
Jack Gale Wilmot Davies was an English psychologist and sportsman who played first-class cricket and top-level rugby union. He served in the War Office during World War II and was a noted academic psychologist. He served as the President of MCC in 1985–1986 and was the tenth person elected an Honorary Life Vice-President of the club.
Simon Lister is an English author.
Alex Massie is a British journalist based in Edinburgh. He is served as the Scotland editor for The Spectator, and writes political columns for The Times and The Sunday Times. Massie is also a regular contributor to ITV Border, BBC Television and BBC Radio.
Timothy John March Phillipps de Lisle is a British writer and editor who is a feature writer for The Guardian and other publications, focusing on cricket and rock music.
Rahul Bhattacharya is an Indian journalist and novelist. He currently resides in New Delhi.
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