Yorkshire Grit by Mark Peel

Yorkshire Grit by Mark Peel

Yorkshire Grit: The Life of Ray Illingworth is a fascinating account of one of English cricket's most outstanding figures told by award-winning writer Mark Peel. Raised in the harsh world of Yorkshire cricket, Illingworth's all-round ability and tactical acumen made him an indispensable member of their great sides of the 1950s and 60s. Leaving Yorkshire in 1968, he went on to captain Leicestershire to unprecedented success, and also became one of England's finest captains and the first man since Douglas Jardine nearly 40 years earlier to regain the Ashes in Australia. Yet for all his success on the field, Illingworth's attritional tactics and refusal to compromise made him a controversial figure. His return to Yorkshire as manager was marred by a clash with Geoff Boycott, while his time as England's chairman of selectors and manager saw clashes with Mike Atherton and other top players. In this first biography of Illingworth for nearly 50 years, Peel reappraises a dominant personality who never shied away from controversy.

"Illingworth a great all-rounder and a great all-round biography"

-- Mark Watkins * Dare Radio *

"This is one I would definitely recommend."

-- Steve Dolman * Peak Fan Blog *

"Peel, whose previous biographies include the likes of England's cricket captain Douglas Jardine and the politician Shirley Williams, knows his market and ,as such, the first reputable biography of Illingworth is a respectful work, a conventional and fair-minded run through his life which would have delighted the man himself."

-- David Hopps * The Cricketer *

"Mark Peel has done cricket lovers a favour with his balanced account of the different perspectives. The author has been nominated for less well-crafted books, and his publisher has served him well."

-- Douglas Miller * Association of Cricket Statisticians *

"In many ways the measure of the quality of a biography is how long it takes to read, and even if Yorkshire Grit hadn’t arrived during a mini heatwave I have no doubt I would still have been unable to make it last more than two days. It is an excellent book and reminded me of many things that I had forgotten, and also made sense of aspects of Illingworth’s life that I had previously struggled to put in their proper context... and there is a good selection of photographs and an index."

-- Martin Chandler * Cricketweb.net *

"Yorkshire Grit: The Life of Ray Illingworth, by Mark Peel and published by Pitch, is a splendid readable biography of the Yorkshire and England legend."

-- Chris Waters * Yorkshire Evening Post *

"Illy’s remarkable career, loving told by master biographer Mark Peel."

-- Ken Piesse * Pavilion, the Australian Cricket Society Magazine *

"Mark Peel's engrossing Illingworth biography delves deep into Illingworth's many verbal jousts with team colleagues and officials, discusses his tactical skills, his abrasive character and achievements in a remarkable all-round cricketing career spanning more than 50 years."

* Sports Journalists Association *

"The best part of what is a very good book, concerns the Illingworth years of England captaincy."

-- John Symons * The Cricket Society *

Mark Peel has written 15 books including England Expects: A Biography of Ken Barrington (winner of the 1993 Cricket Society Literary Award), Ambassadors of Goodwill (shortlisted for the MCC/Cricket Society Book of the Year 2018), Playing the Game (shortlisted for the Daily Telegraph Cricket Book of the Year 2018), The Life of Douglas Jardine (shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards 2021) and Gilly: The Turbulent Life of Roy Gilchrist.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781801504522
ISBN 10	1801504520
Title	Yorkshire Grit
Author	Mark Peel
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Pitch Publishing Ltd
Year published	2023-07-03
Number of pages	288
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable