Cricket Society & MCC Book of the Year Award 2024

The Cricket Society has been running a competition since 1970, in partnership with MCC since 2009, for books nominated by MCC and Cricket Society Members. This competition is highly regarded by writers and publishers.

The shortlist includes books about England's white-ball cricket revolution, a biography of Frank Worrell, and, for the first time, a cricketing play by Shomit Dutta. The list is completed with a history of England's tours and a review of international stars playing league cricket.

All six books and authors will be celebrated, and the winner will be announced at the annual awards evening at Lord's on Tuesday 9 April.

Additionally, the Stephen Fay Award 2024 will be presented posthumously to Tony Cozier for his services to cricket, and it will be accepted on his behalf by Clive Lloyd.

An Island’s Eleven, The Story of Sri Lankan Cricket by Nicholas Brookes was the winner of 2023.

The six books shortlisted for 2024 are:

Son of Grace, Frank Worrell A Biography, Vaneisa Baksh, Fairfield Books

Bazball, The Inside Story of a Test Cricket Revolution, Lawrence Booth and Nick Hoult, Bloomsbury

Stumped, Shomit Dutta, Concord Theatricals

Sticky Dogs and Stardust, When the Legends Played in the Leagues, Scott Oliver, Fairfield Books

White Hot, The Inside Story of England Cricket’s Double World Champions, Tim Wigmore and Matt Roller, Bloomsbury

The Tour: The Story of the England Cricket Team Overseas 1877-2022, Simon Wilde, Simon and Schuster

Longlist:

How to be a Cricket Fan: A Life in 50 Artefacts from WG to Wisden, Matthew Appleby, Pitch

Disappearing World, Our 18 First-Class Cricket Counties, Scyld Berry, Pitch

Turning Over the Pebbles, Mike Brearley, Constable

Broadly Speaking, Stuart Broad, Hodder and Stoughton

Legacy, My Autobiography, Nick Compton, Allen and Unwin

From Darkness into Light, John Broom and Anthony Condon, Pitch

Footprints, David Foot’s Lifetime of Writing, Stephen Chalke, Charlcombe Books/ Fairfield Books

Balls to Fly, Ricky Ellcock, An Autobiography, Fairfield Books

Cambridge Sport in Fenner’s Hands, Nigel Fenner, self-published by Cambridge Sports Tours

Ashes 2023, A Cricket Classic, Gideon Haigh, Scribe Publications

All-India and Down Under, Peace, Partition and the Game of Cricket, Richard Knott, Pitch

No Picnic, The Historic First MCC Tour of India and Ceylon 1926-27, Jeremy Lonsdale, ACS Publications

Gilly: The Turbulent Life of Roy Gilchrist, Mark Peel, Pitch

Yorkshire Grit: The Life of Ray Illingworth, Mark Peel, Pitch

David Warner, Daring to be Different, Ken Piesse, Wilkinson Publishing

The Last Corinthian, The Cricketing Life of MJK Smith, Mike Thompson, Pitch

One Day at a Time, The History of Limited Overs Cricket in 25 Matches, David Tossell, Fairfield Books