'a wonderful tale' - David 'Bumble' Lloyd

'one of cricket's most distinctive writers' - Andy Zaltzman

Colourful cricket history meets expert analysis in this richly researched exploration of the art of batting.

Most batters just do their best, yet the top players create art. It is physically impossible to face an 80mph delivery and track it with your eyes, yet the greatest batters do more than just watch the ball, they can see into the future.

This book is about the batters who see what mortals don't. Javed Miandad purposefully makes errors to manipulate the field, Sachin Tendulkar dug up a pitch to take on Warne, Shivnarine Chanderpaul practised non-stop on a beach with tennis balls until he mastered technique and Joe Root's great play against spin is known to be a confluence of three random events. Others, such as Smith, Pietersen and Richards, carried on the work of a man 100 years before their time, and Ranji changed cricket with a bucket.

Their methods and stories are different, but their currency is the same: runs. Through interviews with cricketing greats such as David 'Bumble' Lloyd, Nasser Hussain, Rahul Dravid and Brian Lara, this book shows you the science, skill and culture that made the 50 greatest batters of all time - and, ultimately, how they conquered leather with willow.

Jarrod Kimber is a Melbournian writer, commentator and analyst based in London who has had almost every job in cricket, except for playing it. Jarrod became ESPNcricinfo's global writer and is the former editor of SPIN Magazine. He has won several Sports Journalism Awards, including one for his film Death of a Gentleman. He has also made TV programs, hosted radio shows, written several books and built his own media network, Good Areas. If there is a cricket match on, he is probably watching it.