PrefaceAcknowledgementsContents of the OverFirst Delivery: LoosenerAnimated inanimate objectA regular Mad Hatter's tea partyWatching cricket on the radioSecond Delivery: Cricket Ball SurveyedIdeal ballReal ballPerfect handfulThird Delivery: Cricket Ball MadeWhat is a cricket ball?Evolution of the rolling globular bodyCoriaceus orbisCentres of excellenceFourth Delivery : Cricket Ball PlayedBowling overarm, not underarm or throwingNew ball, old ball, live ball, dead ball, no-ball, lost ball, swing ball, dot ballBall tamperingFast bowling - pace is nothing without controlLengthLineBodylineSpin bowling - the art of confusionFielding - the art of attentivenessTranscendental ballFifth Delivery: Cricket Ball PainComedy and tragedyPitches, padding and cane handle batsDeath tollPrinces, umpires and pigeonsSixth Delivery: Cricket Ball FameGreat players, stats and performancesBotham rises from the ashes Easeful AtlasThe Gatting BallThe Strauss BallThe Laker BallThe Sobers Six Sixes BallSeventh Delivery: Umpire MiscountingBibliographyIndex

No object encapsulates the subtle, mysterious richness of cricket as much as its most famous character, the cricket ball: the swinging, bouncing, spinning heart of the glorious game. Gary Cox tells us the life story of the ball in its many guises: new ball, old ball, live ball, dead ball, no-ball, lost ball, swing ball and dot ball. He untangles the complexities of spin bowling (with a little help from Shane Warne), the tricks and cheats involved in ball tampering (including a look at the 2018 Australian scandal) and explores the multi-coloured future of a rapidly changing game. A kaleidoscopic look at the ball through the lenses of everything from philosophy and science to history, politics and biography and the myriad facts and figures of the vast cricket universe, Cox brings you a brimming biography of this legendary leathern orb and the heroes, fools and villains it has created along the way.

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