Stiff Upper Lips and Baggy Green Caps: A Sledger's History of The Ashes

Stiff Upper Lips and Baggy Green Caps: A Sledger's History of The Ashes

by SimonBriggs (Author)

Synopsis

Peppered with bouncers, expletives, and even the odd diplomatic incident, Stiff Upper Lips and Baggy Green Caps is a rip-roaring journey through 124 years of Ashes history. In September 1882, The Sporting Times published a mock obituary for English cricket, and a great sporting rivalry was born. Relations between England and Australia have never been the same since. Every other year, the two teams gather for the traditional frenzy of backbiting, finger-pointing and dubious facial hair. For a list of every Ashes century and five-wicket haul, try Wisden, but if you want to know which England batsman was a martyr to syphilis and which Australian fast bowler reckoned the Queen had 'nice legs for an old Sheila', then read on... Stiff Upper Lips and Baggy Green Caps exposes the seamy side of Ashes cricket - the inside story behind controversies from the Bodyline series of 1932-33 to the Lillee and Thomson blitzkrieg of 1974-75. It profiles great players from W.G. Grace to K.P. Pietersen, and captures choice examples of the dark art of 'sledging'.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Edition: 2Rev e.
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 03 May 2007

ISBN 10: 1847241840
ISBN 13: 9781847241849

Media Reviews
A history of the Ashes with more spice than you will find in a curry-house kitchen - Daily Telegraph * Daily Telegraph *
...rollicking good fun... - Observer * Observer *
An entertaining, timely and irreverent trip through the history of the Ashes - Sunday Times * Sunday Times *
Author Bio
Simon Briggs writes on cricket for the Daily Telegraph, which kindly allows him to make a living out of his hobbies - cricket and rock music. He grew up in Oxford, in a house full of academics, then studied history at Cambridge, but no-one has ever discovered which period.