GREAT ASHES BATTLES FROM MELBOURNE 1877 TO TRENT BRIDGE 2005.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn thus. [First published in Australia under title of 'Test Eleven: Great Ashes Battles',by Wakefield Press,1994.This UK title/edn was first published by Andre Deutsch(LONDON) in 1995. This listing has been reprinted and updated in 2005 by the same publisher.Co-author,Nigel Hart died in 1997.] FINE/FINE-. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean, glossy,wrap-around colour wood grain effect pictorial background with illustration/photograph of colour cricket cards,cricket ball and Ashes urn to front of dw/dj with capitalised,black-lettered title and author's names; a lightly sunned/faded spine/backstrip with similarly coloured+lettered title+author name as front,thumbnail colour photograph of cricket ball as front,to head ofspine and publisher's capitalised,black-lettered+illustrated colophon to foot,rear panel with a blacl-lettered Wisden quote and black-lettered synopsis.Negligible shelf-wear, bumping,creasing to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present and minimal,minor,superficial scoring/ indents to either panel,but without penetration to boards beneath.Top+fore-edges bright,crisp,clean with a faint,single tiny blemish to each and without foxing or spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread apart from my own collation. Publisher's bright,crisp,unblemished,sharp-cornered, original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettering,and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,vii-xpp+1-309pp [paginated] includes a Preface,a Preface to 2nd edn,13 test Matches, contemporary b/w illustration reproductions,contemporary b/w photographs and scoresheets/cards interspersed throughout the textan Afterword anda Select bibliography; plus [unpaginated] half-title with potted biographies of authors,a title page,and a Contents list/table. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and even internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its near twenty-year-old age. It is only the exterior faults that prevents a slightly higher grading.Despite them,it really is still an exceptional,exemplary example for its cleanliness, brightness and lack of major detracting faults. Few rivalries in sport can match the Ashes.During colonial times,the initial Australia-England match,the first-ever test match,took place in Melbourne in 1877 and the home side won by 45 runs,with Charles Bannerman scoring the original test century. Since those early,heady days and the creation of the Ashes in 1882,competition has become more and more intense with audiences growing into the millions thanks to the magic of TV and sledging adding heat to the mix. The history of the Ashes has thrown up many individual battles - Bradman v. Hammond and Larwood, Botham v. Lillee,Warne v. Flintoff - but it is the great matches that endure in the mind's eye.'Great Ashes Battles' re-evaluates some of the most dramatic test matches between England and Australia,all close0run games featuring epic performances and remarkable turnarounds,which reveal cricket in all its intricate glory. Melbourne 1877: The first test match. Sydney 1894: Were Australia robbed? Manchester 1902: A century by Victor Trumper before lunch on the first day. Adelaide 1929: Featuring the genius of Wally Hammond and the tragic Archie Jackson. Leeds 1938: Don Bradman and Bill O'Reilly destroy the old enemy. Sydney 1954: England re-establish themselves as the world's premier cricketing power. Lord's 1961: 'The Battle of the Ridge'. Sydny 1971:A sea change for cricket. Melbourne 1977: The Centenary Test lives up to its billing. Leeds 1981: The 'Botham Test'. Nottingham 1993: Controversies over English selection form the background to a tight match. Edgbaston 2005: England win by two runs,the closest run margin in Ashes history. Trent Bridge 2005: England dominates the game but its win is less emphatic than it would have liked.
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