Tony Cottey is one of Britain's most accomplished, and unrecognized, sportsmen. He played professional football with Ray Kennedy, Bob Latchford and Leighton James at John Toshack's Swansea City, and professional cricket with Viv Richards, Waqar Younis and Robert Croft in championship-winning Glamorgan teams, before going on to similar success as an influential member of Peter Moores's side at Sussex. But his autobiography is not a series of name-drops and egotistical anecdotes. It is not the conventional portrait of professional sport as a glamorous world of high-profile achievement and celebrity. It is the tale of a trier. It is the story of young man who has to grit his teeth and get his hands dirty, to sweat and strain, to fight to forge his career. He tells of the petty and malicious rivalries of the dressing room, and of the psychological and physical intimidation of opponents. And he reminds us that 'work hard, play hard' remains one of the most characteristic mottos of sportsmen everywhere. Above all, it is an honest and inspirational account. A true reflection of its subject. Which is why it is also so full of fun and humour.
