Winner of the Wisden Book of the Year and Telegraph Sports Book of the Year awards in 2020
Cricket 2.0 tells the story of how an old, traditional game was transformed by Twenty20 and how this format moved from being a gimmick to the face of modern cricket
The iconic captain Brendon McCullum, England's T20 visionaries Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler and Trinidad's Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine, who rose to become among the first T20 millionaires, explain how they shaped T20 - and how it shaped them. Test greats Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting recount what a sea-change T20 represented and decode T20 strategy. AB de Villiers explores the limits of modern batting. The Afghan phenomenon Rashid Khan shows that T20 superstars can now come from anywhere. Venky Mysore, the cricket revolutionary you have never heard of, reveals how the game is changing off the field.
Told through compelling human-interest stories and featuring interviews with more than fifty players and coaches, Tim Wigmore and Freddie Wilde examine how a cocktail of globalisation, new aggressive tactics and huge investment are changing the sport faster than ever before, while analysing the myriad ways in which a traditional game has been revolutionised forever, both on and off the pitch. This is the extraordinary and previously misunderstood story of Twenty20 cricket - told by two people who have chronicled the revolution.
About the Author :
Tim Wigmore is a journalist for The Daily Telegraph, ESPNCricinfo, The New York Times and The Economist, specialising in cricket, sports analytics and the business of sport. He is also a weekly columnist for the i paper. Tim is a former winner of the CMJ Young Cricket Journalist of the Year, and runner-up for the Ian Woodbridge Young Sports Writer of the Year award. His first book, Second XI: Cricket in its Outposts, was named one of The Guardian’s sports books of the year for 2015.
Freddie Wilde works as an analyst and is on the editorial team at the cricket data analytics company CricViz who provide services to broadcasters, professional teams and players. Freddie is also a freelance journalist, specialising in T20 cricket. He has written for ESPNcricinfo, The Cricket Monthly, All Out Cricket, CricBuzz, Wisden India and others.
Review :
'the first essential study of the T20 game, studded with analysis and big-name interviewees'
'Wigmore and Wilde take us on an absorbing ride . . . well written, some of their revelations come with the startling force of unexpected thunder on a still night'
'A lucid and thoughtful guide to the T20 phenomenon'
'Cricket 2.0 is the definitive book for those looking to understand the T20 format – both on and off the pitch'
'Cricket 2.0 takes about as long to read as the average T20 game, and might be time better spent than a good many of them, being both breezily engaging, and full of the format’s latest, best and nerdiest thinking'
'A fascinating insight into how the newest format has impacted on the game at every level including Test cricket. Essential reading for T20 fans and traditional followers'
'An invaluable guide by two smart young writers to the story of T20 cricket, to the strategies that underpin it and to the players who have made the format'
'T20 is here to stay and we should celebrate and cherish all the skills involved . . . it is only going to get bigger'
'Tim and Freddie are the torchbearers of tomorrow, we must listen to them'
