{"product_id":"9781781312742","title":"Mystery Spinner: The Life and Death of an Extraordinary Cricketer","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIt is no mystery that today Jack Iverson is virtually unknown. An unexceptional estate agent who died in obscurity, by his own hand, he was a clumsy fielder and a hopeless batsman. But for four years he was the best spin bowler in the world.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIverson took up cricket, at the advanced age of 31, as capriciously as he left it – joining a club 3rd XI in Melbourne one day, and instantly announcing himself as the most prodigious and improbably spinner of a cricket ball. Using a technique that he appears to have perfected with a ping-pong ball, he doubled back his middle finger and found he could bowl leg breaks, top spinners and googlies, every one dropped on a perfect length and impossible to pick.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWithin four years he was bowling the Australian Test side to victory over England in the Ashes series of 1950-51. Then, in his moment of triumph, he retired from international cricket, and was never the same bowler again.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGideon Haigh's quest for the truth about this enigmatic, elusive man, with the strangest grip any spinner had ever used, is not just a story of a forgotten hero, but an attempt to solve the enduring riddle of Iverson's life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShortlisted for the \u003ci\u003eWilliam Hill Sports Book of the Year\u003c\/i\u003e, and voted \u003ci\u003eCricket Book of the Year\u003c\/i\u003e, with the judges commending a 'stunning and most moving book',\u003ci\u003eMystery Spinner\u003c\/i\u003e is a truly compelling study of how, at the highest level of sport, skill is only half the battle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Aurum Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47051205214448,"sku":"9781781312742","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781781312742_p0.jpg?v=1763716438","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781781312742","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}