Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy: A Journey to the Heart of Cricket's Underworld

Description

______________ THE WISDEN CRICKET BOOK OF THE YEAR 2012 'Hawkins knows both cricket and gambling, but his greatest asset in this penetrative investigation is nerve' - Sports Books of the Year, Sunday Times 'Brilliantly and vividly told ... The cricket world ... should know more about how the gambling end of the fixing saga actually works. And they should start with this book' - The Cricketer 'The most explosive book yet about corruption in cricket' - Lawrence Booth, editor of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ______________ A startling and powerful journey to the very core of India's illegal bookmaking industry that exposes the scale of corruption and the match-fixing that now runs rife throughout world cricket. For several years Ed Hawkins made friends with India's illegal bookmakers - men who boast turnover of hundreds of millions of dollars per cricket match - as well as the corruption officers of the International Cricket Council who are trying to shut them down. It's a shady world and rumours abound. But then Hawkins receives a message that changes everything and he decides it is time to expose the truth behind match-fixing. Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy is a story featuring politicians, governing bodies, illegal bookmakers and powerless players - as well as corruption, intimidation and even suicide. It is a story that touches all cricket-playing nations around the world. It is a story that every cricket fan must read. You might never again watch a cricket match without suspicion...

Ed Hawkins is an award-winning sports journalist. He has twice been named the Sports Journalists Association's Sports Betting Writer of the Year. This is his second book.

This is a disturbing but essential read * Sunday Express * Eyebrow-raising and entertaining in equal measure ... Explosive stuff * Racing Post * Hawkins knows both cricket and gambling, but his greatest asset in this penetrative investigation is nerve * Sports Books of the Year, Sunday Times * There has always been something about the News of the World's spot-fixing sting that didn't quite add up. What bookmaker in their right mind would take a bet on a no-ball at a specific time? Ed Hawkins discovers the real reason as he gets to know the illegal Indian betting markets ... The world of the fixer is complex, insidious, and bigger than you might think * Sport * This book is a must read for cricket fans who want to discover the truth behind the controversies and allegations that have circled the sport in recent years * Irish Post *