Sticky Dogs and Stardust

The golden age of this type of story has now passed. The reasons are obvious. Chief among them is the earning power of top players, both from central contracts and on the franchise Twenty20 circuit, as well as the fact that international and franchise schedules increasingly impinge upon the UK summer. These stories are not entirely obsolete, however, although they will most often involve players taking their first steps on the road to superstardom, future stars before they became household names. Then there are players in the twilight of their careers, if not former stars then certainly with their highest peaks behind them. And between the springtime baby steps and the autumnal last knockings, there are a clutch of chapters involving cricketers in their high-summer pomp, living legends treading the league cricket boards. These magical stories are unique to cricket. And yet no one has collected them in one place. Until now.

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