BOOKS / In the lists

ONLY one author appears three times in this week's lists: Christopher Martin-Jenkins, who is at No 6 in Hardbacks as well as 4 and 10 in Sport. Always one of the longest names in sports literature, he's quietly become one of the biggest, too. He used to be a broadcaster who did a bit of writing (notably The Complete Who's Who of Test Cricketers) and editing (The Cricketer monthly). Since 1991 he has been mainly a writer, as chief cricket correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, the paper the man in the MCC tie carries under his arm. But CMJ remains a fixture in the Test Match Special commentary box, and is now, following Brian Johnston's death, the senior member of the team. He is also much in demand as an after-dinner speaker - behind the schoolmasterly exterior lurks a lethal mimic - and he always has a new book out, or two. This year it's Summers Will Never Be the Same, a speedy compilation of tributes to Johnston, which takes its name from perhaps the only resonant remark John Major has ever uttered; and The Spirit of Cricket, an anthology of writing on the most literary of games. This is a book for the beach cricketer: when not being read, it's hefty enough to act as a wicket.