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The Art of Batting

The Craft of Cricket’s Greatest Run Scorers

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The Art of Batting

Written by: Jarrod Kimber
Narrated by: Jarrod Kimber
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents The Art of Batting written and read by Jarrod Kimber

'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.

©2025 Jarrod Kimber (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Cricket History of Sports Sports

Critic Reviews

'I always thought Jarrod was a master of words. I loved how he navigated passages with his vocabulary. And then, I began noticing some very intelligent use of analytics. He now straddles these two worlds with the ease few possess.' (Harsha Bhogle, Indian cricket commentator)

'In The Art of Batting, Jarrod Kimber further cements himself as the world's best cricket writer. He's an astute observer of how the games we play, and how they evolve in concert or opposition with the world, reveal the true nature of a man hiding in plain sight. A raucous stadium, on Boxing Day in his native Australia, in the corner of a foreign field in India, or in the palace of Lord's in London, is only where years and years of private work are realised. Modern sports might look like mass entertainment, but they remain a deeply personal quest to find and nurture each person's artistic soul. That's the world he uncovers and in the nuanced, literary (and delightfully funny) telling of this story Kimber is a man at the peak of his powers.' (Wright Thompson)

'Jarrod Kimber’s writing is as irreverent as it is forensic – a highly entertaining and informative read on the elusive arts of batting and run-making.' (Mark Butcher, former English Test cricketer)

All stars
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Carefully researched, thoughtfully structured, and beautifully narrated. The author’s love for the game is the foundation of this book. He explains with ease, compliments with admiration and only grudgingly criticises albeit with compassion. Must read for all cricket fans. Superb!

Comprehensive, contextual, and meaningfully informative

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Incredible dissection of every apsect of batting and study of the history of the game along the way, up there along with Baseball 100 as the best sports anthology book I've ever read.

Must read for all cricket sickos and hisory afficianados.

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It’s clear that an enormous amount of research went into this. It digs into the evolution of batting itself, unpacking how styles, conditions, and expectations have shifted across the eras and continents. Also has many anecdotes which are pretty interesting and bridge the gap between technique, mindset, culture and legacy. Though the list can never truly be complete and may shift with time, this was a thoroughly enjoyable and insightful experience. Great Storytelling as well.

Batting through time

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the romanticism, narration along with facts and deep research sets this book apart which now wants me to read about cricket as a whole even more.

one of a kind

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It was a wonderful book to understand the greatness and love for batting. Looking forward for an art of bowling.

Not a book but a master class in the Test batting and batting in general.

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