Search results for ""Author Dave Bracegirdle""

For over a decade Luke Fletcher has been a firm fan favourite at Trent Bridge. This 6'6" gentle giant never gives less than 100 per cent for Nottinghamshire, but a laugh and a joke are never far from his lips. Within the space of a week in 2017 he went from the highs of winning a Lord's cup final to suffering a serious injury. As with most events in his life, the incidents provided scope for his infectious humour, much of it self-deprecating. An uncanny ability to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and his on-off relationship with the strength and conditioning gurus has often landed him in hot water, providing ammunition for witty comebacks. But although a clever quip is never far away, the broad-beamed paceman has earned the respect of everyone in the game. He has played against - and got the better of - virtually every opponent he has faced and has a career record to be proud of. In Tales from the Front Line, 'Fletch' serves up laughs aplenty as he takes us on an anecdotal journey through our summer game.

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One of cricket's great characters, Franklyn Stephenson was branded a 'rebel' for touring in apartheid South Africa with a West Indian XI. As a black sportsman, he knew his actions went against the wishes of the authorities and that there would be consequences, yet he overcame the character slurs and subsequent bans from both his beloved Barbados and the West Indian Test selectors. Recognised as the first fast bowler to develop a cunning slower ball, Stephenson became one of the world's top all-rounders. The beaming Barbadian achieved cricketing immortality in 1988 by completing the domestic Double of scoring 1,000 runs and taking 100 wickets during an English summer - a feat that is unlikely to be repeated. Read about encounters, on and off the field, with household names such as Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Clive Lloyd and Desmond Haynes - and a lifelong friendship with Sir Garfield Sobers. From a childhood full of dramatic life experiences to the heights of one-day finals at Lord's, here is the story of an amiable cricketing giant.

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