Books by Mike Brearley

Ex-England cricket captain Mike Brearley examines the 'Spirit of Cricket' and how the notion of a 'good spirit' can be applied more broadly than simply in cricket or sport.

Insightful and humorous, On Cricket is an intelligent exposition of the game's idiosyncratic culture and its enduring appeal by Mike Brearley, one of England's finest cricket captains.

From English first-class cricketer turned psychoanalyst Mike Brearley, comes a thought-provoking look at being 'on form'. This book will help people in all walks of life reflect on the kinds of conditions that can obstruct or free us.

'The best book on captaincy, written by an expert' - Mike AthertonMike Brearley is one of the most successful cricket captains of all time, and, in 1981, he captained the England team to the momentous Ashes series victory against Australia. In The Art of Captaincy, his study on leadership and motivation, he draws directly on his experience of man-managing a team, which included a pugnacious Ian Botham and Geoffrey Boycott, to explain what it takes to be a leader on and off the field. Giving an insight into both his tactical understanding of the game, as well as how to get a group of individuals playing as a team in order to get the best out of them, The Art of Captaincy is a classic handbook on how to generate, nurture and inspire success. With a foreword by former England player and BBC commentator Ed Smith, to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of its first publication, and an afterword by director Sam Mendes, The Art of Captaincy remains urgently relevant for cricket fans and business leaders alike. Covering the ability to use intuition, resourcefulness, clear-headedness and the importance of empathy as a means of achieving shared goals, Brearley's seminal account of captaincy is both the ultimate blueprint for creating a winning mind set, but also shows how the lessons in the sporting arena can be applied to any walk of personal and professional life.