Book Review #29 - Stuart Broad Bowled Over: An Ashes Celebration - My Side of the Story by Stuart Broad

Stuart Broad's magnificent spell of 5 wickets for 37 runs in the decisive final test against Australia at The Oval won him the man-of-the-match award and played a major part in helping England to capture the 2009 Ashes.

This fully illustrated book is devoted to the thrilling success of Andrew Strauss's fiercely determined England team in overcoming a fine Australian side - captained by Ricky Ponting, one of the greatest batsmen of recent years, who within weeks of the Ashes series led Australia to victory in the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa.

Stuart was England's leading wicket-taker in an Ashes series that had also shown him to be an increasingly effective batsman. His all-round ability was further underlined by the spectacular catch he took at Lord's. By the end of the summer he had become one of a handful of instant heroes.

Stuart's outstanding achievements, allied to his competitive character and acute cricket brain, have quickly made him a hugely popular figure with the cricket public and it is clear that he is destined to play a significant role in England's cricket future.

The son of Chris Broad, also a member of an Ashes-winning England team, Stuart has clearly inherited his father's natural ability and in Bowled Over - An Ashes Celebration he describes his astonishing progress to frontline Test bowler.

Now every true England cricket fan can take great pleasure in reading the inside story of his first Ashes campaign - a series of remarkable highs and lows that ended in a famous English victory.

My Rating: 4.5/5

First of all I have to say it only took me a few hours to read this book cover to cover. I loved the way it was set out with all the pictures amongst the text.  It made the writing more free flowing.

I loved the writing. You could feel the emotions of playing in an Ashes series through the language that he chose.

This is one of the best autobiographies (not just cricket) that I have read so far.

I think that you wouldn't have to be a cricket tragic like me to like this book nor would you have to know the laws of cricket to understand it. It is very much just a book based on Stuart Broad's experiences throughout that entire series.

Reading this book brought back all the memories of the 2009 Ashes series, and so now hopefully another player will write a book about the 2010/11 Ashes Series because that would be really interesting.