Shouts from the Outfield: The ArtsEtc Cricket Anthology

Edited by award-winning, Barbadian-based writers Linda M. Deane and Robert Edison Sandiford, this anthology is a showcase of some of the finest contemporary writing on cricket--and is a tribute to the spirit of the game as played in the Caribbean.

The collection represents a literary landmark in Barbados. In a country where cricket is talked about at length and with great passion, Deane and Sandiford have assembled a first-class team of scholars, sportswriters, storytellers, diehard fanatics, and other keen observers who, between them, offer 22 evocative commentaries, or "shouts," on the game and its significance to Caribbean life.

In addition to insightful essays on cricket as a socio-political phenomenon, and analyses of the game's history and current state of play, cricket's multi-faceted appeal is also engagingly witnessed through memoir and personal narrative, poetry, humour, and fiction. The contributions of icons like Sir Gary Sobers and Brian Lara are, meanwhile, given forensic treatment. And although the anthology features a distinctly Bajan batting lineup, the "selectors" were pleased to be able to include writers from further afield--Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Canada, and India.