Pre-publication offer, £26.00 - £4.00 discount

Publication date: Friday, 11 December 2026

Front cover illustration: “Ye A.B.s”, taken from the photograph album of the 1898 tour. Back: LCV Bathurst and WN Fletcher. Front: PF Warner, T Westray, and HR Bromley-Davenport.

Westray in Portugal

Cricket and England’s Oldest Ally

Stephen Musk with K. Martin Tebay

(i-iv), 5-92pp, illustrated.

In addition to the regular Ashes trips, the last years of the 19th century saw many other international cricket tours organised by prominent English players. Most visited other parts of the British Empire, but the USA was also a popular destination. Quite a few of these tours are well known today but there were two groundbreaking trips to mainland Europe which have been almost completely forgotten. Taking place in 1895 and 1898, both were to Portugal, where the organiser and skipper, Tom Westray, had significant business interests. Making use of contemporary sources, this book tells the fascinating story of these tours, the narrative being enhanced by previously unpublished photographs taken during the second visit. Rounded off with a brief account of subsequent tours in Portugal, this story contains such famous cricketers as Plum Warner, Henry Leveson Gower, and Percy Fender.

Pre-publication offer, £14.00 - £4.00 discount

Publication date: Friday, 11 December 2026

Front cover illustration: “Ye A.B.s”, taken from the photograph album of the 1898 tour. Back: LCV Bathurst and WN Fletcher. Front: PF Warner, T Westray, and HR Bromley-Davenport.

Westray in Portugal

Cricket and England’s Oldest Ally

Stephen Musk with K. Martin Tebay

Original A5 pictorial wrappers.

(i-iv), 5-92pp, illustrated.

In addition to the regular Ashes trips, the last years of the 19th century saw many other international cricket tours organised by prominent English players. Most visited other parts of the British Empire, but the USA was also a popular destination. Quite a few of these tours are well known today but there were two groundbreaking trips to mainland Europe which have been almost completely forgotten. Taking place in 1895 and 1898, both were to Portugal, where the organiser and skipper, Tom Westray, had significant business interests. Making use of contemporary sources, this book tells the fascinating story of these tours, the narrative being enhanced by previously unpublished photographs taken during the second visit. Rounded off with a brief account of subsequent tours in Portugal, this story contains such famous cricketers as Plum Warner, Henry Leveson Gower, and Percy Fender.

The Vitality Cricket Media Club 80th Anniversary Awards 2026: the book has been shortlisted for the Derek Hodgson Cricket Book of the Year.

Father Marriott’s Summer Holidays

The forgotten story of England’s great leg-spinner

Max Bonnell

Original pictorial wrappers.

(i-iv), 5-168pp, illustrated.

Minor wear, very slight, to spine, otherwise a near fine copy; scans form part of the description.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, when July drew to a close, Charles Marriott set aside his schoolbooks, cleaned off his cricket boots, and went out to wreak havoc upon the best batsmen in England. If Marriott is remembered at all today, it’s usually as a statistical quirk - he remains the only cricketer ever to take 11 wickets in his single Test match. But there was much more to him than that: he recovered from his traumatic experiences in the Great War to become a bowler of rare and sustained skill, while a shared love of cricket and literature drew him into a close friendship with two of England's best-known poets. Father Marriott's Summer Holidays tells the extraordinary story of how this mild-mannered, scholarly, part-time cricketer became one of the greatest leg-spin bowlers England has ever produced.

BOOK REVIEW: https://www.cricketweb.net/books/fmsh/

Max Bonnell has on three occasions won the Jack Pollard Trophy, awarded annually to the best book on Australian cricket. This is his 4th publication for Red Rose Books.

Publication date: Friday, 17 July 2026

Hand in Glove

George Patterson and Cricket in Philadelphia

Stephen Musk

Published on 3 July 2026 by Red Rose Books

Original pictorial wrappers, new. £15.00

(i-iv), 5-139pp, illustrated.

The recent surge in interest in Philadelphian cricket has not been particularly kind to George Patterson. The spotlight has remained largely fixed upon Bart King, the only player from the city unarguably of world-beating class. But King did not play in a vacuum - in Philadelphia he had teammates and opponents. And some of them were extremely good cricketers in their own right. Patterson was one of the very best of these. At the first-class level he was possibly the best bat ever to play for the Gentlemen of Philadelphia. And his figures in the Halifax Cup, the senior domestic competition, were every bit as impressive as those of King, both with the bat and the ball. He was also a well-respected captain and a deep thinker on the game. Making extensive use of articles by and about Patterson in the contemporary press, this biography aims to return him to centre-stage, where he belongs, and, whilst doing so, casting fresh light on the development of cricket in Philadelphia.

SPECIAL OFFER - Three Max Bonnell cricket biographies

First and Foremost a Cricketer: The Life of Dr Leslie Poidevin

Original A5 pictorial card covers, new. (2021)

(iv) + 96 pages, illustrated.

Published by Red Rose Books

Limited edition of 125 copies

Leslie Poidevin’s life was frustratingly full of near misses. He would have been - but for injury - a Test cricketer and he would have been - but for an administrative bungle - an Olympian. But his achievements were substantial enough - he appeared in Davis Cup tennis and a Wimbledon semi-final, won the Sheffield Shield with New South Wales and the County Championship with Lancashire, besides qualifying as a doctor and becoming an influential journalist. ‘First and Foremost a Cricketer’ tells the story of a full, yet strangely restless, life.

Three Days at Aigburth. Tom McKibbin's Match

Published by Red Rose Books

Original pictorial wrappers, new. (2024)

(iv) + 80 pages, illustrated.

In August 1896, the visiting Australian cricketers played the last of their matches with the English counties against Lancashire, in the unusual setting of Aigburth, in Liverpool. It rained, and rained and rained. But between the showers, one player seized the opportunity to prove that he’d developed into one of the deadliest attacking bowlers in world cricket. Three Days at Aigburth tells the story of Tom McKibbin’s match, interwoven with an account of the cricketing and personal life of the New South Wales and Australian Test cricketer.

Father Marriott’s Summer Holidays

The forgotten story of England’s great leg-spinner

Original pictorial wrappers, new. (2025)

(i-iv), 5-168pp, illustrated.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, when July drew to a close, Charles Marriott set aside his schoolbooks, cleaned off his cricket boots, and went out to wreak havoc upon the best batsmen in England. If Marriott is remembered at all today, it’s usually as a statistical quirk - he remains the only cricketer ever to take 11 wickets in his single Test match. But there was much more to him than that: he recovered from his traumatic experiences in the Great War to become a bowler of rare and sustained skill, while a shared love of cricket and literature drew him into a close friendship with two of England's best-known poets. Father Marriott's Summer Holidays tells the extraordinary story of how this mild-mannered, scholarly, part-time cricketer became one of the greatest leg-spin bowlers England has ever produced.

UK post free only; overseas customers please contact RRB for airmail prices

Monographs on North American cricket: No. 11

Dr Cameron’s Casebook

Globetrotting Allrounders and Black Captains in Early West Indian Cricket

Stephen Musk

Original A5 card wrappers.

(iv) + 16pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 30 copies, signed and numbered by Stephen Musk

John Joseph Cameron was a black West Indian studying medicine in Toronto when he was selected to represent Canada in their annual match against the USA. His bowling was largely responsible for his side’s overwhelming victory. He subsequently took part in the West Indians’ tour in Britain in 1906 before returning home to Jamaica. A well-respected figure, he became one of the very first black captains to skipper a colony. Two of his sons were also notable cricketers. John Hemsley Cameron, the only black player to win a Blue at Cambridge between the wars, was appointed vice-captain of the West Indians’ trip to Britain in 1939. His tour was ended by injury but, had it had been skipper Rolph Grant who had been forced to stand down instead, Cameron would presumably have captained a Test match. And Jimmy Cameron toured India with the West Indies in 1948/49, playing in all five Tests, and later represented Canada when they visited Britain in 1954. This is the remarkable story of the Camerons, globetrotting allrounders and trailblazing black West Indian cricketers.

JT Tyldesley in Australia

The Heart and Hope of England

Ric Sissons

Published by Red Rose Books, Blackpool, 2023

Original pictorial hard cloth.

8vo (iv) + 58pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 62 hardback copies, signed by Ric Sissons.

John Tommy Tyldesley was England’s best professional batsman of the so-called Golden Age. Tyldesley toured Australia in 1901-02 and 1903-04. Expectations were high and he did not disappoint. In the Second Test in January 1904 in Melbourne, Tyldesley played his greatest ever innings in Australia. On a difficult, sticky wicket, John Tommy made 62 in England’s total of 103. England won the Test and eventually the series. Albert Knight wrote in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph that Tyldesley’s ‘batting in this match overshadowed that of Trumper’. Rare praise indeed. Before 1914, Tyldesley and Trumper were the two best batsmen on wet wickets. No wonder Knight describes Tyldesley as the ‘heart and hope’ of the side. Tyldesley was a player who knew his worth. With Len Braund, he tried to get more money from the MCC for the 1903-04 tour. They failed. The hard-headed Tyldesley would not be fooled again.

Monographs on North American cricket: Stephen Musk

Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

A False Dawn in Nicetown. The Philadelphians Defeat Ned Sanders’ XI, 17, 18, 19 September, 1885, Nicetown, Philadelphia (2024)

A Mismatch at Haverford. Bart King’s First Ten-Wicket Haul. The Gentlemen of Philadelphia v F Mitchell’s XI, 27, 28, 30 September, 1895, Haverford, Philadelphia (2025) [this is the only copy of No. 2 left in stock]

Harry Brown’s Match. His Lordship Humbled. The Gentlemen of Philadelphia v Lord Hawke’s XI, 25, 26, 28 September, 1891, Manheim, Philadelphia (2025)

Carnage at Twilight. The Philadelphians Beat Warner’s XI. The Gentlemen of Philadelphia v PF Warner’s XI, 24, 25, 27 September, 1897, Elmwood, Philadelphia (2025)

Their Finest Hour. The Gentlemen of Philadelphia Defeat Surrey. Surrey v The Gentlemen of Philadelphia, 6, 7, 8 August, 1903, The Oval, Kennington (2025)

The A-One Bumper and the Beautiful Man. The Very Different Lives of Eddie and Laird Cregar (2025)

“The Evergreen A.M.” Arthur Wood, the English Professional Who Captained the Gentlemen of Philadelphia (2025)

Rage Against the Dying of the Light. Germantown Ambush the Australians (2026)

Fowler’s Tour. The Free Foresters Tour in North America, 1923 (2026)

Johnny Lester. Philadelphia’s Renaissance Man (2026)

Published by Red Rose Books

All A5 card wrappers, new.

All limited edition of 30 copies, signed and numbered by Stephen Musk

Scans form part of the description.

Published by Red Rose Books on 26 July 2024

"Noddy" A biography of Geoff Pullar Derek Ross

Original A5 pictorial wrappers.

(iv) + 72 pages, illustrated.

Geoff “Noddy” Pullar was born in Oldham in 1935. He was talented at several sports but his passion for cricket led him to a long career at Lancashire, initially as a middle order batsman. However, in England’s hour of need he was transformed into a very successful England opening bat, a role he never wanted to take, regularly holding down that position in the England team with a succession of opening partners from his Test debut against India in 1959 until the tour of Australia in 1962/63 when a serious knee injury finished his international career at the age of 27. He continued to be a reliable and productive player for Lancashire until he left the club in somewhat acrimonious circumstances in 1968. He then played one and a half seasons for Gloucestershire until his continuing knee problems forced him to retire from first-class cricket in 1970. Derek Ross traces Pullar’s life and career based on research of contemporaneous reports, recorded interviews with Pullar, and conversations with his family and cricketing colleagues and teammates.

Lancashire’s last amateur captain

Joe Blackledge and the 1962 cricket season

Roy Cavanagh MBE

Published on 23 May 2025 by Red Rose Books

Original pictorial wrappers, new.

(i-iv) + 5-46pp, illustrated.

This publication features an account of Lancashire County Cricket Club's last ever official amateur captain, Joe Blackledge, and the disastrous summer of 1962. A stalwart of Chorley Cricket Club, he was plucked from the Northern League and surprisingly appointed Lancashire captain at the expense of his fellow amateur Bob Barber. The county club had a lot of problems both on and off the field and bringing in someone with no previous experience in first-class cricket did little to improve matters. In what must have been a difficult environment for the new captain, Lancashire finished the season in 16th position in the County Championship, still their worst ever position. Blackledge, though, seemed popular with his teammates and, whilst it is easy to blame him for the club's sorry decline, it would not be a fair reflection on his efforts over the course of the summer. Hopefully, this book will show how Blackledge accepted the challenge and did the best he could. By the start of the 1963 first-class cricket season in England, the distinction between amateur and professional cricketers had been abolished in the English game. And Lancashire had appointed the Australian-born professional Ken Grieves as captain.

Whisky Galore!

Seagram in England, 1922

Stephen Musk

Published on 1 August 2025 by Red Rose Books

Limited edition of 20 copies, signed by Stephen Musk

Original pictorial hard cloth.

(i-iv), 5-136pp, profusely illustrated, new.

In 1922, a team from Canada undertook a brief tour in England. This venture was bankrolled by Norman Seagram, a member of the wealthy family of whisky distillers of that name. As he also organised the visit, selected the squad, and captained the tour, it is no surprise that the team were known as “Norman Seagram’s Canadians”. The side was composed largely of the skipper’s friends, bolstered by a few promising college players, but was reasonably representative of cricket in Eastern Canada. No first-class matches were arranged but the programme saw the Canadians play against some of the strongest amateur sides in England, including the Incogniti, the Free Foresters and the MCC. Unfortunately, they were often outclassed and failed to win a single match, drawing seven and losing four of their fixtures. Although it was unsuccessful in terms of results on the field, the tour played a highly important role in the strengthening of relations between England and Canada. The various speeches concerning this are reproduced in full and there are scorecards and reports of all the matches. Brief profiles of the tourists are also provided - currently, no career records are available for Canadian cricketers, and a groundbreaking attempt has been made to draw these up for the tourists for the very first time. Finally, the narrative is enhanced by many previously unpublished photographs taken by Archie Mix, one of the visitors.

UK post only

The Forgotten Philadelphians The Pilgrims’ Tour in England, 1921

Stephen Musk

Published by Red Rose Books on 3 May 2024

Original pictorial hard cloth.

(iv) + 112 pages, illustrated.

Limited edition of 20 copies, signed by the author.

In 1921, a side known as the Philadelphia Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic and played 12 fixtures, albeit none of first-class status. If referred to at all, this tour is written off as an irrelevant, alcohol-fuelled jolly made by a bunch of ageing has-beens. This book, which includes match reports and scorecards of all the fixtures, aims to redress the balance. The Pilgrims played against all-amateur sides of a high quality and were successful on the pitch, winning five and losing just two of their matches. An analysis of the tourists’ performances in domestic cricket indicates that the squad was representative of the best Philadelphia had to offer at that time and it is argued that the visit should be considered as a bona fide tour of importance, even though it originated from a part of the world where cricket was on its last legs.

Stephen Musk was the winner of the Brooke-Lambert Award for the Statistician of the Year in 2023 ‘for his substantial contribution to ACS scholarship’. This is his 10th publication for Red Rose Books.

Red Rose Cricket Records: Number four.

Hats Off to Dean!

Lancashire's record bowling figure

K Martin Tebay

Published in 2020 by Red Rose Books, Blackpool, Lancashire

Original A5 card wrappers.

(iv) + 12pp, illustrated.

Limited edition number 19 of 30 copies, signed and numbered by Martin Tebay.

The fourth in a series of short-run, limited edition monographs recollecting Red Rose cricket records, this publication recalls the match at Aigburth, Liverpool, between Lancashire and Yorkshire on 10, 11, 12 July 1913. The non-championship first class match, arranged to coincide with the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Liverpool, saw Burnley-born Lancashire professional Harry Dean take 17-91, despite him being embarrassingly absent from the ground when play started. They remain Lancashire’s record bowling figures, the best in Roses history and are the best recorded by any bowler against Yorkshire in first-class cricket.

UK post free only; overseas customers please contact RRB for airmail prices

Monographs on North American cricket: No. 10

Johnny Lester Philadelphia’s Renaissance Man

Stephen Musk

Published by Red Rose Books, 2026

Original A5 card wrappers, new.

(iv) + 16pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 30 copies, signed and numbered by Stephen Musk

Born in England, Johnny Lester was educated at Haverford College in Philadelphia, quickly becoming its leading bat. He represented his school on its tour in England in 1896, scoring the huge total of 1186 runs at an average of 79.07, which included a century against the MCC. Unsurprisingly, he was fast-tracked into the representative Philadelphian side. He subsequently participated in the three first-class visits from the city to England, topping the batting averages in 1897 and 1903, and skippering the team in 1903 and 1908. But Lester was much more than just a successful cricketer. He interrupted his sporting career to obtain a doctorate of education and later became a noted teacher and publisher of academic works. But he is best remembered for editing the book A Century of Philadelphia Cricket, which remains the most important work on the sport in his adopted city. Truly a renaissance man, he seemed able to succeed at any task to which he turned his hand.

Red Rose Cricket Records: Number nine.

A Rare Finish to a Great Game

Lancashire's first tied match in first-class cricket

K Martin Tebay

Published by Red Rose Books, Blackpool, Lancashire, 2021

Original A5 card wrappers.

(iv) + 12pp, illustrated.

Limited edition number 12 of 30 copies, signed and numbered by Martin Tebay.

‘A Rare Finish to a Great Game’, the ninth in a series of short-run, limited edition monographs, recalls the match played at Kennington Oval on 16, 17, 18 August 1894. The rain-affected county championship encounter between Surrey and Lancashire ended in one of the more uncommon of cricket results - a tie. It was Lancashire’s first tied match in first class cricket and the county has since been involved in only three more such matches throughout its illustrious first-class cricketing history.

UK post free only; overseas customers please contact RRB for airmail prices

Notable Lancashire victories in 19th-century cricket: No. 5

‘McIntyre well on the spot’

Yorkshire CCC v Lancashire CCC Great Horton Road, Bradford, 10, 11, 12 August 1874

K Martin Tebay

Published by Red Rose Books, 2026

Original A5 card wrappers, new.

8vo (iv) + 12pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 20 copies, signed and numbered by Martin Tebay

The fifth booklet in the series recalls the first time Lancashire secured victory by an innings over their rivals from across the Pennines. The match took place at the ground of Bradford Cricket Club on 10, 11, 12 August 1874. Will McIntyre, the Nottinghamshire-born fast-bowler, a professional at Bolton Cricket Club who was also engaged by the Red Rose county, enjoyed a fine match, recording career-best figures of 13/66.

Red Rose Cricket Records: Number eleven.

Sensational Scoring at Old Trafford

Lancashire's largest victory in first-class cricket

K Martin Tebay

Published by Red Rose Books, Blackpool, Lancashire, 2023

Original A5 card wrappers.

(iv) + 12pp, illustrated.

Limited edition number 20 of 30 copies, signed and numbered by Martin Tebay

'Sensational Scoring at Old Trafford', the eleventh, and final, title in the Red Rose Cricket Records series, recalls the county match between Lancashire and Hampshire that took place on 3, 4 July 1911. Over 600 runs were scored by Lancashire batsmen during the opening day’s play and the visitors were bowled out twice the following afternoon as Lancashire won by an innings and 455 runs, the county’s largest margin of victory in first-class cricket.

Monographs on Lancashire Cricket: Number 10

Ralph Whitehead: Double Sensation in a Single Day

Lancashire CCC v Nottinghamshire CCC 29, 30 June, 1 July 1908 at Old Trafford, Manchester

K Martin Tebay

Published by Red Rose Books, Cumbria, November 2019

Original A5 card wrappers.

(iv) + 36pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 50 copies, signed and numbered by Martin Tebay.

The publication features a fulsome account of the 1908 county championship match in which Lancashire’s 24-year-old all-rounder Ralph Whitehead, following in the footsteps of Jim Ricketts and Archie MacLaren, scored a century on his first-class debut for the county. The first Lancashire cricketer to achieve this rare feat at Old Trafford, his subsequent no balling for “throwing” later in the same match ensured that his was a somewhat dramatic début. The booklet draws extensively on various reports and interviews in contemporary newspapers and cricket periodicals, including comments from the respective captains of the Lancashire and Nottinghamshire elevens and the umpire at the centre of the throwing controversy. Thankfully, Whitehead overcame the unwarranted suspicions regarding the legitimacy of his bowling action and would go on to enjoy seven successful seasons for Lancashire, scoring over 2,500 runs and taking 300 wickets. Whitehead’s lengthy career as a respected cricket professional and coach in leagues in and around the north of England is also recorded.

UK post free

Overseas postage: please e-mail

"Mr. Scorer" Lunt

Samuel Lunt Official scorer, Lancashire CCC 1887 - 1911

K Martin Tebay

Original A5 card wrappers.

(iv) + 12pp, illustrated.

Limited edition of 50 copies, signed and numbered by Martin Tebay.

Samuel Lunt was an unsung hero of Lancashire cricket. His continued presence in the scorebox over a period of 25 years earned him the sobriquet of “Mr. Scorer” and he was verily Lancashire’s own “bearded wonder” (with apologies to the late Bill Frindall). He scored over 600 county matches between 1887 and 1911, never missing a game in that time. He was born in Bolton in 1834 but very little is known about his life outside cricket. My extensive research puts some flesh on the bones of a man who deserves some recognition for his contribution to Lancashire cricket, the scoring of which enabled him not only to see many of the early greats but also see many of them achieve extraordinary performances. I have, therefore, endeavoured to paint a picture of this significant cricketing personality, who died, aged 79, in Moss Side, Manchester.

UK post free

Overseas postage: please e-mail

Overcoming Stigma in Victorian Cricket The Remarkable Story of Francis Terry, Canada’s Mad Vicar

Stephen Musk

Published on 28 July 2022 by Red Rose Books

Original pictorial hard cloth.

(iv) + 64 pages, illustrated.

Limited edition of 15 copies, signed by the author.

Francis Terry was educated at Oxford University, where he failed to impress, either as a scholar or a cricketer. He had more success when playing in 10 first-class matches for Somersetshire between 1882 and 1885, even scoring a century against Hampshire. However, he appeared to have left cricket behind him when he trained to be a minister in the Church of England and seemed to be destined for an unremarkable, if worthy, life. Alas, Terry was unfortunate to succumb to severe mental ill health problems and was obliged to stand down from the ministry. Perhaps in search of a new start, he emigrated to Canada in 1891 and started to play cricket once more. He quickly became established as one of the leading batsmen in North America. And, despite his mental problems being common knowledge, he was often selected to represent Canada against the USA. He was even asked to skipper his adopted country on two occasions. Terry continued to suffer from very poor mental health for the rest of his life but successfully battled, and batted, on. He made his last international appearance in 1907, when at the advanced age of 46, and played club cricket until his old age. Given the tremendous stigma attached to mental illness in the 19th century, his story can be described as one of an inspiring triumph over severe adversity. It is hard to imagine that anyone might follow in his footsteps, even in today’s supposedly more enlightened times.