Not merely cricket, despite Ed Smith being a cricketer at the time of writing, but the book's all the better for that. If you've any interest in sport, you have to read this.

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Product Description

There is a huge category of sports fan: people who love a bloody good argument. Sport makes them think, engage and argue. Given that people already take sport so very seriously, and at such an intense level of enquiry, then Ed Smith concludes we should draw out some of sport's intellectual lessons and practical uses What Sport Teaches Us About Life gives us a rare glimpse into the world of sport as seen from an extraordinarily keen, and closely-involved observer. In one chapter Smith extols the virtues of amateurism in today's professional world; in another he explains why there'll never be another sportsman as dominant as Don Bradman. He unearths the hidden dimensions of England's 2005 Ashes win, examines the impact of the free market on cricket and football, argues that cheating is not always as clear cut as it might seem.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #119165 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 190 pages

Review
'Praise for On and Off the Field 'A small masterpiece of tensions ... uncannily close to the meaning of sport' Simon Barnes, The Times 'Terrific, exactly the kind of book you want from a professional sportsman but you never get: self-analytical, wry, and honest' Nick Hornby, Believer 'The insights in his writing are acute. It's not common to have someone who writes intelligently and honestly about sport from the inside' Independent on Sunday 'Explains what it's like to play sport for a living - the joy it can bring to others and the deep soul-searching it can cause in oneself' Time Out 'Fascinating. Smith skilfully articulates what goes on in a batsman's head' Spectator '

Christopher Martin-Jenkins, The Times
An exceptional book: lucid, thought-provoking, informaive and fair. Outstanding.

Michael Brearley
A refreshingly thoughtful book...with a great deal of humour and commonsense. This is one of the best books on sport I've read.