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Shaun Goater was signed by Alex Ferguson almost as a political pawn after a Manchester United tour of Bermuda went disastrously wrong. He never made it with United and instead moved on to Rotherham. Undeterred by homesickness and the Yorkshire weather, he became a huge favourite at Millmoor before moving to Bristol City, where his goalscoring exploits endeared him to the fans and caught the eye of Man City manager Joe Royle. He won over the skeptical City following, who had seen him only as a journeyman striker bought to plug a gap. Within a year, he’d become a cult figure and his knack of poaching goals soon gave rise to one of the best modern-day terrace chants ‘Feed the Goat and he will score’. Season after season, the bond between player and supporters grew and his name was etched into City folklore. He was captain for their last match at Maine Road before joining Reading. His career stalled with the Royals when manager Alan Pardew left a few weeks after Goater’s arrival and Steve Coppell took over. He went out on loan to Coventry before Southend United rescued him at the start of their highly successful 2005/06 season. Feed the Goat is the inspirational tale of a universally respected player who refused to give up on his dream.

‘Terrorism, match-fixing and financial malpractices are not topics that a cricket writer might think of as his bread and butter, but cricket has suffered a traumatic period of late. Many of the pieces here are an examination of the game and where it is heading, and under whose control, as it faces up to the challenge of retaining its traditions in a rapidly changing market place.

In a world dominated by Twitter, where the rush to judgement is so overpowering, the ability to step back from the fray, and to be able to take at least a short time to organize thoughts and opinions, make some calls and hopefully find out a little more, is important’