A new pictorial book on cricket employs the effective device of placing players and incidents of yesteryear directly against he modern game to compare similar moments. Thus, author Ian Valentine has placed West Indian wicket keeper Sammy Guillen’s running out of Australian skipper Lindsay Hassett in 1952 against the outstanding Aussie Adam Gilchrist diving for a ball against India in 2008. Kevin Pietersen writes in the foreword: ‘I simultaneously saw how much the sport has changed and actually remains the same as it ever was.’

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Cricket Yesterday & Today should solve the Christmas present dilemma for any father/ uncle/godson/nephew.

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