The Test: Nathan Leamon

'If all you know is cricket, then cricket will break you . . .'

It is the final Test match of The Ashes. A nation expects, and the rest of the cricketing world is watching.

Fast-paced, humorous and candid, The Test follows the battles on and off the field as stand-in England captain, James McCall, tries to get his exhausted team across the finish line. Along the way, his story becomes one of fatherhood, friendship and trusting yourself when no one else will.

Nathan Leamon's love letter to Test cricket is that rare thing: a novel that captures the feel and flavour of professional sport from the inside - the good, the bad and the simply surreal.

Not since J. L. Carr's classic A Season in Sinji has there been a novel that quite captures the spirit of the game.