The story of cricket's greatest rivalry, told through the tales behind 100 eclectic and entertaining quotations - from the birth of the Ashes in 1882 to the present day. An updated and expanded edition of Rob Smyth's rollicking history of Anglo-Australian loathing on the cricket field, including three new pieces to cover the topsy-turvy Ashes series of 2015. Gentlemen and Sledgers charts the ebb and flow of Anglo-Australian cricketing fortunes across 131 years and 314 matches by telling the stories behind 100 memorable Ashes quotations. Examples of the dark art of sledging - and even the occasional considered cricketing judgement. Evoking memorable moments and matches as well as highs and lows in the careers of Australia and England's greatest players, Gentlemen and Sledgers is an informal, freewheeling, discursive and entertainingly opinionated history of the Ashes.
Author Biography
Rob Smyth is a Guardian and Telegraph sports journalist and the author of The Spirit of Cricket: What Makes Cricket the Greatest Game on Earth, and the co-author of Danish Dynamite: The Story of Football's Greatest Cult Team.
