Balls to Fly

Description

*** Available for UK delivery only ***

The autobiography of Ricky Ellcock tells the story of a Barbadian schoolboy who left his family behind to move overseas and follow his sporting dreams. With a burgeoning reputation as one of the fastest bowlers in the country, Ellcock’s hopes of playing Test cricket for England were cruelly thwarted by injury. Plunged into depression and forced to pursue another career, a childhood interest in aviation was to be his salvation. Ellcock relocated to the USA and qualified as a commercial airline pilot, becoming the first black captain with Virgin Atlantic.

Ellcock’s autobiography is unsparing and hard-hitting, revealing as it does a lifetime spent overcoming biases, prejudices and racism, not to mention being saved from death by receiving four life-saving brain operations in the space of eight weeks. Balls to Fly charts one man’s extraordinary story of determination, endeavour and resilience.

The book is a fascinating journey through the ups and downs of Ellcock’s singular story, describing
• How he used to be driven to school by the Prime Minister of Barbados
• How he went from bowling to his friends to earning a scholarship at one the UK’s most prestigious public schools at just 15 years of age
• The reaction of county team-mates when he turned up to make his first-class cricket debut wearing school uniform
• The cruellest of luck with injury sabotaged his hopes of playing Test cricket for England
• The dedication involved in retraining as an airline pilot and the pride in becoming Virgin Atlantic’s
first black captain, as well as being in US airspace just before the 9/11 terrorist attacks
• How he was saved from death by four brain operations within eight weeks
• How he faced biases, prejudices and racism throughout his two careers.

About the author:
Ricky Ellcock became an airline pilot after his career as a fast bowler for Worcestershire and Middlesex was prematurely ended by recurrent injuries.

Praise for Balls to Fly

He tells his story with admirable equanimity in Balls to Fly… His is a genuinely inspiring story of human resilience.

Anthony McGowan, Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack

A moving autobiography, delightfully written by Ricky Ellcock himself. He has an inspiring story to tell, and his terrific recall of detail brings it to life superbly. The chapter on his experiences of racism is all the more telling for being so gently matter-of-fact.

Stephen Chalke

Ellcock is a consummate storyteller. With an eye for the telling if occasionally bizarre detail, his descriptions can be brilliant.

Derek Pringle, The Cricketer