The Revised & Expanded Sledger's Handbook

by Liam McCann

Sledging is the art of verbally intimidating a batsman so that he loses concentration and gets himself out. It is also known as the art of initiating mental disintegration. The fielding side may use a variety of tactics to do this, including the witty welcome, the chirp or behind-the-back shout, the unexpected question, observation, sarcastic dig or rant about the batsman’s technique, and the send off, where the humiliated batsman is sent back to the pavilion with a volley of abuse ringing in his ears.

If you thought cricket was a game for gentlemen then think again. This book lists the best and worst insults from some of the world's finest players and underhand sledgers. From WG Grace to Shane Warne, from Ian Botham to Sachin Tendulkar, if you're a fan of general abuse, this book is a must-have.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction

125 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 2, 2006

About the author

Liam was born in Guildford, England, in 1973 and has a BA in Sports Physiology & Psychology. He was Sussex county champion in three of the athletics field events and swam to a national standard. He formed Shooter in 1996, a rock band that toured Europe for four years, and The Legend of Dan McCann, an acoustic combo, in 2009.

Liam started writing novels and sports books in 2003 and has since edited / proofread more than thirty titles, including the Discarded Science series for John Grant. He also works as a freelance editor / copywriter / proofreader for The Daily Telegraph, Artists’ & Photographers’ Press, Murray Books, Vivays Publishing and UK International Press, and as a part-time cricket pundit for Sky Sports.

Published Books

By Facts, Figures & Fun, an imprint of Artists’ and Photographers’ Press Ltd:

The Olympics Facts, Figures & Fun (2004)
Rugby Facts, Figures & Fun (2006)
The Sledger’s Handbook: How to Deliver the Perfect Cricketing Insult (2006) – reprinted four times
Cricket Facts, Figures & Fun (2007)
Born to Dribble (2007)
London’s Bridges (2008) – Ghost-written for Ian Pay
The Revised & Updated Sledger’s Handbook (2012)

The Battle of Boxhill (2012): This is a 50,000-word older children’s adventure story, whose central characters are birds. The book has been optioned by Bulat Galimgereyev, producer of the Oscar-nominated film Mongol (2008), and Kevin Foo, co-founder of Helix Films Inc, who intend to adapt the story for a feature-length animation in 2013-14. Liam is already planning a sequel.

By Murray Books:

The UFO Files (2012)

By G2 Entertainment:

The Little Book of Ark Royal (2012)
The Little Book of Survival (2012)
The Little Book of the Universe (2012)
The Little book of the Liners (2012)

Self-published Books:

The Little English Boy: This is the incredible true story of one man’s crusade to help the allied war effort against the Nazis by escaping occupied France with a set of top-secret gun sight drawings.

Unpublished Books:

When the Messenger meets the King, In the Lap of the Gods, The Devil’s Breath and Rolling Thunder: a science-fiction / adventure series set in the near future. The books run to between 150,000 and 200,000 words. A minimum of two more books are planned for the series.

To view his books, please visit: http://amzn.to/hdcDGY

Reviews

[Steve Marley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was only going to give this book 1 star but I did laugh once. But generally disjointed and poor

[Ian moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing, witty or offensive. Just got to laugh.

Funny, truthful and real. A good read for an old cricket fan. The language can be bad in places but it is as it is said.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book - anything to do with cricket is always a certain favourite.

There are many sledging anecdotes in here with the inclusion of the many well-known ones which, I fell, are repeated again simply to pad the book out [the book therefoe loses stars here].

However, the book is a simple and pleasurable read, although it does, necessarily, contain a fair degree of profanity.

The great thing about this type of book is that there will be a constant supply of additional material to add as time goes by.

I cannot wait to try some of the ideas when I next play!

[Batsap · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing can beat the lines:
"Why are you so fat?"
"Because every time I f-ck your wife, she gives me a biscuit."

I've probably ruined the book for potential readers now, because that's the best sledge in the book, but there are others that made me laugh. Some just come across as sulky and sarky, others are just streams of profanity, but the gems are classics. Also has some history of cricketers, matches and controversy in the game so it's a good read for any one interested in cricket.
Also has a chapter at the back with sledges from other sports.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best book on sledging I've read, and I've read a few.