Stiff Upper Lips and Baggy Green Caps: A Sledger's History of the Ashes - Tapa dura

In September 1882, The Sporting Times published a mock obituary for English cricket, and a great sporting rivalry was born. Relations between England and Australia have never been the same since. Every other year, the two teams gather for the traditional frenzy of backbiting, finger-pointing and dubious facial hair. For a list of every Ashes century and five-wicket haul, try Wisden, but if you want to know which Australian captain punched his chairman of selectors on the nose, which England batsman was a martyr to syphilis and which great fast bowler reckoned the Queen had 'nice legs for an old Sheila', then Stiff Upper Lips and Baggy Green Caps is the book for you. Stiff Upper Lips and Baggy Green Caps is a rip-roaring history of 124 years of Ashes cricket between England and Australia. It exposes the seamy side of Ashes cricket - the inside story behind controversies from the Bodyline series of 1932-33 to the Lillee and Thomson blitzkrieg of 1974-75. It profiles great players from W.G. Grace to K.P. Pietersen, and captures choice examples of the dark art of 'sledging'. Embellished with some 75 black-and-white photographs, and incorporating more than 100 of the wittiest and most wounding Ashes quotations, Stiff Upper Lips and Baggy Green Caps is the perfect gift for cricket fans, whether English or Australian.

“All Australians are uneducated, and an unruly mob.” England captain Douglas Jardine. “I couldn't wait to have a crack at 'em. I thought: 'Stuff that stiff upper lip crap - let's see how stiff it is when it's split.'” Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson.

A fast and furious romp through cricket's oldest rivalry, Stiff Upper Lips and Baggy Green Caps reveals what really went on in every era of Ashes history. Includes profiles of the most colourful characters and biggest hitters in Ashes history, from Bradman to Botham, plus vivid accounts of the great Ashes controversies. Offers more than 100 of the best Ashes insults - including dozens of examples of “sledging”. Covers the whole spread of Ashes history, up to and including England's thrilling recapture of the urn in the summer of 2005. Fully illustrated - the perfect gift for cricket fans, whether English or Australian.