Chasing Jessop: The Mystery of England Cricket's Oldest Record

'A forensic tour de force' VIC MARKS 'Engrossing ... Illuminating detective work into the astonishing statistics of English cricket's most enduring record' ANDY ZALTZMAN 'A fascinating and definitive account of one of cricket's most fabled innings' JOHN ETHERIDGE A compelling new look at the untold story behind one of English sport's oldest records. In 1902, playing for England against Australia at The Oval, Gilbert Jessop played arguably the greatest innings in the history of cricket, turning what looked like certain defeat into what became an incredible victory, and doing so at such speed that he set a record for the fastest Test century for England that still stands more than 1,000 Test matches later. Even Ben Stokes’s team of Bazballers have been unable to put in the shade a cricketer for whom all-out attack was the only way to play long before T20 cricket was invented. But the precise circumstances of Jessop’s astonishing performance have long been shrouded in mystery. The original scorebooks are missing and the accepted truth that he took 76 balls to reach his century has rarely been scrutinised. Drawing on an array of long-forgotten contemporary sources, Simon Wilde forensically reconstructs one of England’s most famous matches in an attempt to establish what really happened. How many balls did Jessop face? Might he have actually got to his hundred even faster? Jessop’s relentless big hitting and fast scoring were revolutionary for cricket, but chimed with a speed-obsessed era which saw the start of the modern Olympics, the first mile-a-minute trains and the first 100mph cars, and the public adored him. As C.B. Fry said of him: ‘No man has ever made cricket so dramatic an entertainment.’

About the Author :
Simon Wilde has been cricket correspondent of the Sunday Times since 1998 and has reported on around 330 England Test matches and numerous World Cups. He has written twelve books, three of which were shortlisted for the William Hill sports book of the year. His most recent works have been the acclaimed England: The Biography, a history of the men’s national team, and The Tour, which won the MCC/Cricket Society Book of the Year award.

Review :
Simon Wilde superbly recreates the story of one of cricket’s most spectacular innings, played by one of its most exciting players in one of its greatest matches. Chasing Jessop is an engrossing cocktail – the tensions and fluctuations of a classic Test match, a vivid evocation of cricket, England and sports journalism in the early 20th century, and illuminating detective work into the astonishing statistics of English cricket’s most enduring record A forensic tour de force. As ever, Simon Wilde’s book is meticulously researched and his subject is peculiarly relevant since Jessop’s record seems to be under threat almost every time Ben Stokes’s England team embarks upon a Test match A fascinating and definitive account of one of cricket's most fabled innings - with a twist in the tale Gripping Wilde has a pleasing eye for the little details that drive such granular histories, from the travails of the official score-keepers to the slapstick, His Girl Friday-like press room. And he gilds this with archival rigour This Wilde goose chase (see what I did there) is a delight from start to finish: part social history, part statistical mystery, a tale to get lost in as longer nights approach ... Wilde is excellent on both the significance of the match – England’s knife-edge win helped to create and establish the possibilities of the format – and the culture surrounding it