Since 2003 the Wisden Cricketer has run a monthly feature called 'Eyewitnesses'. Each article takes a seminal moment in the history of cricket and invites the key protagonists to reminisce about it, relive it and reflect. Now the very best of 'Eyewitness' has been collected in one volume.

Whether re-awakening memories of past glories, or opening old wounds, the revised and updated edition of Flying Stumps and Metal Bats is a unique oral history and the perfect gift for any fan of the endlessly unpredictable, ever controversial game that is cricket.

Here is everything from David Steele’s remarkable Test summer of 1975 to Brian Lara’s awe-inspiring first season with Warwickshire; from the Packer Revolution to Michael Holding kicking down John Parker’s stumps during West Indies’ ill-tempered 1979 tour of New Zealand; from the day the incongruous clang of Dennis Lillee’s aluminium bat first rang out across a cricket field to Essex bowling Surrey out for 14 and ‘weak Victorian’ Dean Jones being hospitalised after his 210 slog in the 40° heat of Madras.

Above all, every story is told in the words of the cricketers, reporters and bystanders who witnessed them. Like Graham Gooch reliving his magnificent triple century against India. Or Lancashire all-rounder David Hughes describing darkness falling over Old Trafford as he plundered 24 off John Mortimore at the end of an astonishing 1971 Gillette Cup semi-final.

One of the most fascinating chapters deals with nail-biting finishes. Besides there are chapters on Upsets, Extreme Conditions, Great Occasions, Politics (On and Off the Pitch), Bad Behaviour, Great Performances and Oddities and Innovations.

This richly filled edition holds many pleasures to be savoured and maintains the exemplary standards of a publication of high repute. It is an essential purchase for any cricket enthusiast.