Released before the 2015 World Cup, Mark Browning and James Grapsas have not only provided a comprehensive record of every World Cup encounter but produced an outstanding book, which is also beautifully laid out. The rich text is both authoritative and affectionate.

A Complete History of World Cup Cricket, covering all ten editions of the World Cup, also provides a preview of the 2015 World Cup. This superb publication should be updated with similar reports and scorecards for all the fixtures from the 2015 Competition. Apart from the front and back covers, the next edition should have a few colour photographs as well apart from the balls faced by batsmen in the scorecards.

Chronicling every single fixture, apart from providing equal footage, in the World Cup history is a herculean task. The writers deserve full marks for exhaustive reports besides the controversies and anecdotes from each tournament, presenting a definitive account of the competition. The changes in the rules and formats have also been suitably covered.

Such reference books can realistically provide statistics but the match reports by Mark Browning and James Grapsas undoubtedly add much to the enjoyment of the book.

Even with the emergence of the shorter T20 game, the World Cup remains the World's premier international cricket competition.

A Complete History of World Cup Cricket will not only prove to be an invaluable reference book for all cricket enthusiasts but also a most enjoyable read.