Lester and the Deckchair Revolution

The Life and Times of Tony Pigott

Tony Pigott, Andrew Murtagh

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Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Fairfield Books
17 November 2025

Cricket

The best schoolboy rackets player in the country; the Sussex player whose first three first-class wickets were a hat trick of internationals; and yes, he did postpone his wedding to play his only Test for his country on the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll tour of New Zealand; the man who has injected himself as a diabetes sufferer every day for the past 35 years; the figurehead of the deckchair revolution that led to Sussex winning the first County Championship title in their history; the oesophageal cancer sufferer who has overcome the illness. And yes, these are all one man. Anthony Charles Shackleton Pigott. As befits a distant relative of the explorer Ernest Shackleton, it’s one hell of a story. Told with the brutal honesty of a man who knows his cricket never scaled the heights but, after 46 full years in the game as player, coach, chief executive, pitch inspector and match referee, is now on a mission to help other cricketers suffering from cancer.

By: Tony Pigott
With: Andrew Murtagh
Imprint: Fairfield Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781915237682
ISBN 10: 1915237688
Pages: 176
Publication Date: 17 November 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Tony Pigott played first-class for Sussex and later for Surrey, his career plagued by back injuries. He took 672 first-class wickets at marginally under 31 each and scored first-class hundred. After turning to coaching Surrey’s second XI, he returned as chief executive at Sussex following an acrimonious coup. He left the club in 1999 and later served as both an ECB pitch inspector and match referee. Andrew Murtagh played cricket for Hampshire has written several books on cricket and cricketers, including A Remarkable Man on George Chesterton, Touched by Greatness on Tom Graveney, Sundial in the Shade on Barry Richards, Test of Character on John Holder and Gentleman and Player on Colin Cowdrey, and his latest Cricket’s Black Dog, The Story Of Depression Among Cricketers.