Description

A BOOK OF THE YEAR – NEW STATESMAN

‘500 Tests is a mind-boggling number, a testimony to Scyld’s commitment and passion for the game’ – RAVI SHASTRI

‘Hell of an effort. All round quality’ – MICHAEL VAUGHAN

LEGENDARY CRICKET WRITER SCYLD BERRY CELEBRATES HIS REPORTING OF 500 TEST MATCHES IN THIS UNIQUE PORTRAIT OF ENGLISH CRICKET CULTURE

Scyld Berry attended his first Test match in a professional capacity in June 1973, as EW Swanton’s ‘amanuensis’. Having reached 500 England Tests – an achievement never reached by any other greats of the cricket-writing world – Berry has watched the sport evolve like no other.

Test cricket is a steady stream: England have had only one winter without Test cricket since 1972, some Test series almost overlap with the next, and players span eras. But the game has changed enormously in the last half-century: helmets, neutral umpires, bigger bats, new shots, data, abolition of rest days, ICC Test Championship, and DRS have transformed this sport on the field. As screens take over, publications shrink and, accelerated by Covid, cricket is increasingly covered remotely, being a newspaper correspondent represents a way of life that is dying out.

500 Declared explores these fundamental changes and developments. From in-depth profiles and explanations to snippets lifted directly from Berry’s notebooks, this is a cricket book unlike any other. It is the culmination of a lifetime watching and writing about this fascinating sport.

Publisher Review

500 Tests is a mind boggling number, a testimony to Scyld's commitment and passion for the game * Ravi Shastri * Hell of an effort. All round quality * Michael Vaughan * Decades of dedication, 500 Tests of brilliant insight * Mark Wood, England and Durham player * A unique account of Test cricket's evolution by one of sport's most distinctive writers * Tim Wigmore, author of Test Cricket: A History * Few can have watched as much cricket as Scyld, and even fewer can have loved the game more. A master-chronicler of the greatest game. * Will Macpherson, The Telegraph * Scyld has been a cricket journalist for 50 years. He's been there and worn the t-shirt as far as writing about Test cricket is concerned. This book is a magnificent look-back. His passion for cricket is unrivalled. * Nasser Hussain, former England captain * There is no one who loves cricket and thinks about it more than Scyld Berry. A genial genius. Congratulations on 500 not out. * Huw Turbervill, editor of The Cricketer * An utter delight, from one of cricket's most original minds. * Lawrence Booth * It is not just Scyld Berry's vast store of knowledge and countless cherishable anecdotes that shine through in this book, but also his abiding and lifelong love affair with cricket. * Richard Whitehead, author of Victory in Australia *