County Champions - Alan Gibson, Alan Melville, Barry Norman, Bill Tidy, Charles Palmer, Colin Cowdrey, Donald Trelford, Duncan Kyle, Frank Tyson, John Arlott, Leslie Thomas, Michael Jayston, Rev. Hugh Pickles, Richard Gordon, Ted Moult, Tim Heald, Trevor Bailey

The seventeen first-class counties that make up the Championship Table are the backbone of English cricket, and inevitably attract the most partisan support. In County Champions, seventeen well-known cricket enthusiasts – some more expert than others – write about an aspect of the county they support.

Author Leslie Thomas describes Glamorgan’s first Championship title in 1948; actor Michael Jayston recalls some of the great characters of Nottinghamshire cricket; John Arlott remembers the Hampshire side of his childhood; Surrey supporter Richard Gordon delves into the history and geography of The Oval; Barry Norman looks back on the Middlesex team of Compton and Edrich, and compares it to the current side; Trevor Bailey profiles the five post-war captains of Essex; Colin Cowdrey (Kent) and Frank Tyson (Northants) relive their playing days; while from playwright Alan Melville (Sussex) and cartoonist Bill Tidy (Lancashire) comes a more lighthearted championing of their respective counties…

Completing the XVII are Alan Gibson (Gloucs.), Tim Heald (Somerset), Duncan Kyle (Yorkshire), Ted Moult (Derbyshire), Charles Palmer (Leics) Rev. Hugh Pickles (Worcs) and Donald Trelford (Warwickshire).

As you might expect from such a powerful line-up, the book is full of marvellously entertaining material: a mixture of informed facts, anecdotes and memories. All unashamedly biased.

From Headingley to Hove, from Cardiff to Colchester, County Champions will delight cricket lovers everywhere.