Australian fast bowler Brett Lee has stitched his name to the cover of a new children's book series about the wacky time-travel adventures of a "magic cricket almanack". Spike can't help but wonder, was Lee 12th man on the writing team?
The first of three books, written by Victorian maths teacher and author Michael Panckridge "with Brett Lee", is out next month. In addition to writing the foreword, Lee contributed to the writing process with his "enthusiasm" and "input into the cricketing commentary", a breathless press release from HarperCollins said.
The books follow Toby Jones and his cricket-mad friends as they use the almanack to transport themselves back in time to famous cricket matches. One stop is the 1999 World Cup semi-final between Australia and South Africa, played several months before Lee's Australian debut. He took time out from performing with his band Six & Out yesterday to say: "It's nice to be able to offer some advice and tips about the game." No doubt future books featuring Lee's name will benefit from his unique insider knowledge of cricket matches he didn't appear in. HarperCollins publicist Aleta Moriarty told Spike that Lee and Panckridge had corresponded by email. "They don't sit down and write it together." But we're not sure who's responsible for the character described as the "evil presence who wants Toby to do the unthinkable and alter the past". Sounds like Warney wants another shot at getting his life right.
- Edited by ANDREW HORNERY with PETER MUNRO