The award for the best rugby book published in 2014 will be handed over tomorrow evening at the CROSS British Sports Book Awards in London.
Six books were short-listed by a judging panel of rugby writers, including Rugby World’s Alan Pearey and Katie Field. The contenders are Brian O’Driscoll‘s autobiography, The Test; Gareth Thomas‘s autobiography, Proud; Beyond the Horizon, by Richard Parks, an account of Parks’ journey from Welsh rugby international to extreme sports athlete; The Secret Life of Twickenham by Chris Jones; Undefeated: The Story of the 1974 Lions by Rhodri Davies and Behind the Rose: Playing Rugby for England by Stephen Jones and Nick Cain.
Gareth Thomas’s Proud is also shortlisted for the CROSS Autobiography of the Year.
The winners of both awards, and eight other category winners, will be announced at a star-studded ceremony being held at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, on Wednesday, 3rd June, hosted by Jonathan Agnew. The ceremony is being filmed for broadcast as a one hour Highlights Programme which will be screened on SkySports at these times:
Saturday, 6 June: 10am on Sky Sports 4 and 1pm on Sky Sports 2
Sunday, 7 June: 11.30am on Sky Sports 2 and 7pm on Sky Sports 5
Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio will attend the awards ceremony as his charity, The Dallaglio Foundation, is the highlighted charity for this year’s CROSS British Sports Book Awards.
Founded in 2009 by Dallaglio, the Foundation exists to nurture and develop the essential skills of disengaged young people. Its RugbyWorks programme uses the game to engage the hardest to reach 14-16 year-olds over a two-year period to develop the essential skills to help them become more employable.
Royal approval: Dallaglio with Prince Harry (right) after a Dallaglio Foundation fund-raising rides. (Photo: Getty Images)
After Wednesday evening’s CROSS British Sports Book Awards ceremony, the individual category winners will be entered into an online public vote to determine the Overall CROSS British Sports Book of the Year. The public vote sponsored by National Book Tokens will held on the official website – www.britishsportsbookawards.co.uk with a prize draw of £100 National Book Tokens.