Botham: My Autobiography by Ian Botham  (7)  £5.99

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Amazon.co.uk Review
In My Autobiography, Aussie leg-spin maestro Shane Warne, perhaps the outstanding cricketer of his generation--and one of the most consistently newsworthy characters in sport--takes stock of a phenomenally successful career, and gives his account of the scandals and controversies that have sent the media into spasms of delighted indignation.

From his days as a frustrated teenage wannabe Aussie Rules star, who decided he might as well try his hand at cricket, Warne has almost single-handedly taken the gentle, studious art of spin-bowling and turned it into a thrilling gladiatorial spectacle--on the way gathering career stats that rank him in company with the game's all-time elite.

Warne crashed into the world spotlight in 1993, when his first-ever ball in Ashes cricket made seasoned England star Mike Gatting look like a floundering buffoon:

In the second or so it took to leave my hand, swerve to pitch outside leg stump, fizz past the batsmen's lunge forward and clip off stump, my life did change ... Ian Botham said he hadn't seen the same look of wide-eyed horror on Gatting's face since somebody had stolen his lunch a few years before.

And he has hardly looked back since--on the pitch at least. Outside the boundary rope it has been a different, though no less sensational story. The media has revelled in tales of extra-marital phone-sex, match-fixing controversies, and bust-ups with the game's authorities and fellow professionals--sparking endless nonsensical speculation as to whether this hard-drinking, smoking "yobbo" was too fat, too loud, too arrogant or just plain too much for cricket to take.

This is a candid chronicle of his side of the story, and along the way there are some wonderful revelations about the mysteries of spin-bowling, the professional art of "sledging", and a fascinating insider account of Australia's rise to world dominance. A frank observer of others; an insightful assessor of his own achievements and motivations--and rarely descending into bland PR-consciousness--The King Of Spin has once again confounded all expectations and served up a peach. --Alex Hankin

The Guardian
Airbrushed with eye-catching images.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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11 Reviews 5 star:  (1) 4 star:  (3) 3 star:  (7) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review (11 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: This book is as good as his bowling!, 29 Aug 2001 By A Customer This book was a fantastic read. I dont read much, but i coudn't put this book down.Warne describes his early days where he wanted to be a Aussie Rules player, and then his times in the world famous Adelade Australian cricket acadamy. He then goes onto explain differnet aspects of todays game such as sledging and bookmaking, and Australias rivaly with Sir Lanka and especially Ranatunga. He describes the Art of Leg-Spin and how different bowlers bowl it. He picks his dream teams, decribes his time at Hampshire and his hopes for the future. A great read strongly recomended. BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!!  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: Noiicce , Shane !, 16 Jan 2006 By  L. Davidson (Belfast, N.Ireland) - See all my reviews       This review is from: Shane Warne: My Autobiography (Paperback) I started to become fascinated with Shane Warne following his remarkable performance in the Ashes this year when he almost retained the trophy for the Aussies single-handedly. Without his devastating leg breaks which repeatedly tortured the England top-order batsmen and his determined batting which frequently spared the blushes of the Australian middle order, I am convinced that England would have won the Series 4-1. Shane Warne's autobiography is interesting but not particularly revealing and it lacks the amount of amusing anecdotes one might have expected from a top sportsman's life story. I would have liked to have found out more about his early life and his married life , but a lot of the book concerned itself with details and statistics about long forgotten Test matches and accounts of his cricketing injuries. The book is at it's best when describing some of the more controversial and unfortunate events in Shane's life such as the Scott Muller incident, saucy extra-marital phone-sex, bag-snatching and sledging. He doesn't seem to have had much luck getting away with doing naughty or silly things over the years. I also enjoyed finding out more about the Australian Cricket team and the personalities and relationships that have made them such a powerful force over the past decade. Unfortunately this book is a little out of date and doesn't include recent scandal about drug-taking, more extra-marital sexual liaisons and the recent break-up of Shane's marriage. The book reveals that although Shane Warne may have made some ill advised choices in his personal life, his knowledge of strategy and tactics in cricket is excellent and it is a pity that non-cricket related matters prevented him from becoming captain of the Australian side. I think that he would have been exciting and imaginative in this role and there are plenty of positive suggestions and good ideas mentioned in the book by Shane . Shane Warne's autobiography is less for a mainstream market and more for a strictly cricket-following audience with its emphasis on match details ,statistics and esoteric remarks such as "In the mid-90's I gave Mushtaq my flipper and he showed me his wrong-un" , which may confuse ,if not startle, the less knowledgeable reader.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: Cricket Fans Only Need Apply!, 22 Jul 2005 By  Paul Johnson - See all my reviews       This review is from: Shane Warne: My Autobiography (Paperback) Though it pains me to say it, what with him being an Aussie, Warne is quite possibly the greatest cricketer of all time and certainly (as Wisden decided) one of the top five. As such, any cricket fan would bound to be interested in his autobiography. It is however a disappointment. Warne has always been colourful both on and off the field and a lot of his off-field antics have gained a great deal of publicity. In the book he attempts to explain away all of the situations he found himself in, whilst always attempting to show that nothing was his fault in any way. Put frankly he comes across as a whiner. The chapters about his early years and going to the accademy are interesting enough, though I would have enjoyed more detail be provided about how he developed his incredible action. The book starts to struggle towards the end and as mentioned previously turns into a torrent of feeble excuses that you would expect a schoolboy to trott out to a teacher.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) › See all 11 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews