‘Steve Smith’s Men’ wins Wisden Book of the Year 2019

In the UK, Geoff Lemon’s Steve Smith’s Men (Hardie Grant) has won the Wisden Book of the Year award.

Lemon’s book is an on-the-ground account of the Test cricket cheating scandal by the Australian men’s team in South Africa in 2018.

‘The emotional power of this book lingers long after the last page,’ said Wisden’s Tanya Aldred. ‘Cricketers who wilted under the pressure of succeeding, suits who became immune to right and wrong, and—something that appears time after time in this year’s books—a true unpleasantness at the heart of international cricket.’

Hardie Grant publisher Pam Brewster said Lemon is ‘receiving well deserved recognition’. ‘His writing is intelligent, fearless and he is a refreshing new voice in cricket writing.’

Now in its 156th edition, the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack began the Book of the Year award in 2003 to highlight what its editors saw as the best new cricket book published during the year.

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