500 Declared: The Joys of Covering 500 Cricket Tests
Oct 2025 · Bloomsbury Publishing
Ebook
272
Pages
About this ebook
SHORTLISTED FOR THE SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2026 CRICKET BOOK OF THE YEAR
'500 Tests is a mind-boggling number, a testimony to Scyld's commitment and passion for the game' RAVI SHASTRI
'Hell of an effort. All round quality' MICHAEL VAUGHAN
LEGENDARY CRICKET WRITER SCYLD BERRY CELEBRATES HIS REPORTING OF 500 TEST MATCHES IN THIS UNIQUE PORTRAIT OF ENGLISH CRICKET CULTURE
Scyld Berry attended his first Test match in a professional capacity in June 1973, as EW Swanton's 'amanuensis'. Having reached 500 England Tests an achievement never reached by any other greats of the cricket-writing world Berry has watched the sport evolve like no other.
Test cricket is a steady stream: England have had only one winter without Test cricket since 1972, some Test series almost overlap with the next, and players span eras. But the game has changed enormously in the last half-century: helmets, neutral umpires, bigger bats, new shots, data, abolition of rest days, ICC Test Championship, and DRS have transformed this sport on the field. As screens take over, publications shrink and, accelerated by Covid, cricket is increasingly covered remotely, being a newspaper correspondent represents a way of life that is dying out.
500 Declared explores these fundamental changes and developments. From in-depth profiles and explanations to snippets lifted directly from Berry's notebooks, this is a cricket book unlike any other. It is the culmination of a lifetime watching and writing about this fascinating sport.
A BOOK OF THE YEAR NEW STATESMAN
'500 Tests is a mind-boggling number, a testimony to Scyld's commitment and passion for the game' RAVI SHASTRI
'Hell of an effort. All round quality' MICHAEL VAUGHAN
LEGENDARY CRICKET WRITER SCYLD BERRY CELEBRATES HIS REPORTING OF 500 TEST MATCHES IN THIS UNIQUE PORTRAIT OF ENGLISH CRICKET CULTURE
Scyld Berry attended his first Test match in a professional capacity in June 1973, as EW Swanton's 'amanuensis'. Having reached 500 England Tests an achievement never reached by any other greats of the cricket-writing world Berry has watched the sport evolve like no other.
Test cricket is a steady stream: England have had only one winter without Test cricket since 1972, some Test series almost overlap with the next, and players span eras. But the game has changed enormously in the last half-century: helmets, neutral umpires, bigger bats, new shots, data, abolition of rest days, ICC Test Championship, and DRS have transformed this sport on the field. As screens take over, publications shrink and, accelerated by Covid, cricket is increasingly covered remotely, being a newspaper correspondent represents a way of life that is dying out.
500 Declared explores these fundamental changes and developments. From in-depth profiles and explanations to snippets lifted directly from Berry's notebooks, this is a cricket book unlike any other. It is the culmination of a lifetime watching and writing about this fascinating sport.
A BOOK OF THE YEAR NEW STATESMAN
SHORTLISTED FOR THE SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2026 CRICKET BOOK OF THE YEAR
'500 Tests is a mind-boggling number, a testimony to Scyld's commitment and passion for the game' RAVI SHASTRI
'Hell of an effort. All round quality' MICHAEL VAUGHAN
LEGENDARY CRICKET WRITER SCYLD BERRY CELEBRATES HIS R...
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About the author
Scyld Berry joined The Telegraph in 1993 and is currently their Chief Cricket Writer. He was previously the cricket correspondent of The Observer from 1977, and covered England tours from then until 2020. This is his tenth book. He is the author of Cricket Wallah; One Hundred Great Bowlers; Cricket Odyssey; Cricket's Burning Passion with Rupert Peploe, which won the MCC Cricket Book of the Year, and Cricket: The Game of Life, which won the Cricket Writers Club Book of the Year. He is a former editor of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. @scyldberry
Scyld Berry joined The Telegraph in 1993 and is currently their Chief Cricket Writer. He was previously the cricket correspondent of The Observer from 1977, and covered England tours from then until 2020. This is his tenth book. He is the author of Cricket Wallah; One Hundred Great Bowlers; Crick...
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