String Fellows - Colin Bateman

STRING FELLOWS - A CYCLING ODYSSEY INTO CRICKET'S HEARTLAND

Colin Bateman, Daily Express cricket correspondent, has written a hilarious account of what happens when he and a disparate group of friends aged 19-71 set off for a 1100 mile charity bike ride around all 18 of the cricket counties of England and Wales. String Fellows reveals the tensions that build up when the six good friends are taken out of their comfort zone for 16 days of pain and pleasure in the saddle.

They had no idea what perils lay in wait around the next bend. And neither did the guest riders who joined them for a day here and there - guest riders who included former England cricketers Angus Fraser and Steve James, both of whom contribute to this tale of two wheels.

The story takes us around the by-ways of Britain, exploring its curious folk and folklore. It tells very personal tales of each county cricket club and what exactly makes Britain 'grate' when viewed from the saddle on another backbreaking climb into a cruel head-wind.

AUTHOR DETAILS

Colin Bateman has spent virtually all of his working life pushing a pen. Having grown up in Somerset, he joined a local weekly newspaper as a 19-year-old trainee journalist. He moved on to a daily provincial paper in Bristol and then chased the bright lights and drinking dens of Fleet Street. As a freelance casual, he worked as a sub-editor at The Sun, The People, and The London Evening Standard before joining the Daily Express. He became the paper's cricket correspondent in 1987, a job he still does.

PUBLICATION DETAILS

Published: 5th July 2010
Price: £12.00