Andy Nash

Cricket is a game that has always attracted mavericks and characters. Cantankerous batsmen, lethal bowlers, criminal wicket keepers and philandering fielders feature as The Middle Stump looks at the good, the bad and the potentially dangerous of the cricket world. Dan has interviewed some of the biggest names in the game and those sitting on the knolls in the sun, and has spoken to everyone who is anyone in the cricket world. Now, based on years of cricket fandom and limited ability, he has collected the portraits of the most interesting players from recent years. Written in the same tongue-in-cheek and honest style that we have all come to love from The Middle Stump, this is a great read for all cricket fans.

Written from the unique point of view of the club chairman, A Year in the Life of Somerset County Cricket Club is the story of the highs and lows of county cricket. Somerset County Cricket Club was founded in 1875 and since then has provided its many members and supporters with countless memories. In recent years the Club has established itself as one of the leading clubs in England, closely competing for honours every season and developing many young players through its age-group and Academy system. The Club has simultaneously transformed its fortunes off the pitch, managing to redevelop the County Ground in Taunton without freighting itself with large debts. In October last year the ECB granted Somerset Provisional Category B status, meaning it can now progress towards hosting England ODIs and T20 fixtures, which will bring many benefits to the West Country. This book provides a captivating insight into the daily workings in and around the Club throughout 2012 as it meets numerous challenges and prepares future plans. All royalties from sales of this book have been kindly donated by the author to the Clowance charity that promotes youth cricket.

This book is aimed at prospective and existing managers of a Management Buy-Out or Management Buy-In. MBO / MBIs are inherently risky with failure rate being relatively high. This book can increase your chances of success, by describing some common elephant traps, bad practices and risks, and how best to avoid them. Management Buy-Outs and Management Buy-Ins are a hi-octane part of the business world. It is a high risk: high reward arena. Metaphorically an MBO/MBI is like fitting an 8 litre V12 engine into an aged VW Beetle and expecting it to perform much better than before, or as someone more colourfully put it: 'a venture capitalist would expect that if you made love nine times in a night, the baby will arrive in 4 weeks'. Since 1991 I have experienced 8 such deals. They vary greatly: staggering success to the verge of financial oblivion - and fortunately back again. The deals have ranged across very different markets; from the highfalutin world of global drug discovery in mythical Tintagel to heavy metal bashing (Dustcarts) in the West Midlands. The deals have been backed by many different Venture Capitalists and financed by UK and international banks. I have carried out a variety of roles across these deals: Chairman, Executive Director, Non-Executive director and as a personal Coach to a Managing Director. I have been very fortunate to have seen many MBO / MBIs through the prism of management since 1991. I have also attempted to make, what can be a serious and turgid subject easy-reading and on occasions perhaps almost entertaining!