Valericain Press

It’s the start of a new season for professional women’s cricket team The Scorpions. 

Batter Ellie, 32, is returning to the game after a long injury, determined to regain her form in the twilight of her career. The dream of playing a Test Match at Lord’s will only happen if she can make the England squad again.

Cricket fan Adam, 34, an artist and photographer, has followed Ellie and the team through highs and lows. He’s drawn to her talent, athleticism and public persona—but couldn’t imagine being anything more to her than a face in the crowd.

When events on and off the pitch bring Ellie and Adam together, an easy, open friendship blossoms. It also drives their careers upwards. 

Yet, with romance in the air, Ellie loses focus on her game, jeopardising her dream.

What’s more important for them both—love, or cricket?

"I have never been able to understand cricket, and I certainly didn’t imagine that I was someone who would be able to find a description of a match (not even watching a match, but reading about it) exciting, and yet you have managed to give me that experience.

Ellie is a brilliant protagonist – I have talked before about how nice it is to see a confident, together, mostly happy woman who has some demons in her past but is overcoming them on her own terms, and I don’t think there’s a single point in the book where I’m not wishing for good things for Ellie.

She’s partly looking ahead to what happens when she can no longer play, but she is also fiercely focused on her return to the game and making the England team again. You pull this off, and I think it’s fascinating." - Editor