Whether you're a weekend cricketer or aspiring armchair expert, Cricket For Dummies helps you make sense of this fascinating sport. Not just a jargon busting guide to cricket's laws, techniques and tactics, it also contains advice on kitting yourself out and provides lessons on playing the game and improving your batting, bowling and fielding skills. For the budding fan, there's a guide to the greatest players, the memorable matches, and a tour through the cricketing scene - both domestic and international - giving you the knowledge you need to fully appreciate this special game.

This book has been updated for the Ashes 2009, featuring revised information on new players, the Indian premier league, Stanford 20:20 and the latest coverage of past and future competitions.

Julian Knight is a BBC journalist, writer, and cricket enthusiast. He is a former youth coach and captain, and has been a club cricketer for over 20 years.
Consultant Editor Gary Palmer played first class cricket for ten years with Somerset before becoming a professional coach.