The name of Hedley Verity, the master bowler of unyielding menace, is one to be cherished more than 50 years after his death. Allan Hill tells the story of a magnificent sporting obsession in this reissue of the first full-length biography of a revered cricketer. Verity headed the English first-class bowling averages in his first season with Yorkshire and twice took ten wickets in an innings in consecutive seasons. Overall, his mesmeric left-hand spin yielded 1,956 wickets, including 144 for England, in less than ten years.
The book, winner of the Cricket Society's Jubilee Literary award in 1986, contains a foreword by Sir Donald Bradman (whom Verity twice dismissed at Lord's in June 1934 to mastermind England's only victory over Australia at cricket's 'headquarters' in a century). It also includes a revealing memoir of Verity's boyhood and an Australian tour journal (1932-33) kept by the Yorkshireman for his relatives and friends.
The story ends with a graphic account of Verity's ultimate heroism during the Second World War and is followed by a full statistical analysis of his career.
- ISBN10 1780574207
- ISBN13 9781780574202
- Publish Date 6 January 2012 (first published 27 April 2000)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Mainstream Publishing
- Imprint Mainstream Digital
- Format eBook (EPUB)
- Pages 192
- Language English