Everyone wanted a full-length interview with DIMITRI MASCARENHAS - but the other media outlets were left with the scraps as SPIN pinned down the only IPL Englishman for a 90-minute interview and photo shoot. Does the IPL mean the end of his England career? How exactly do you hit that many sixes? And did he put Shane Warne up to talking him into the England team or what? It's a must-read interview with the man at the very heart of the new cricket revolution.
(Want more IPL coverage? Our April issue carries interviews with everyone who's anyone plus a team-by-team run through.)
We trace the inside story of ANDREW FLINTOFF's comeback, travel to Dubai to see five counties battle it out in the desert - and present our full guide to the 2008 season, with big names including Chris Adams, Graeme Hick and Bob Willis leading our coverage.
GRAHAM THORPE runs the rule over England's big opponents this summer, South Africa (go on, NZ fans, write in), DERMOT REEVE tells us why the England selectors are rather good, actually, our exclusive HAWKEYE graphics compare and contrast Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson (who do you think comes out best, readers?) and there's plenty more.
Expert cricket journalism from real fans: that's the SPIN formula. Subscribe this month and get a FREE Playfair Cricket Annual - the essential statistical guide to the new season, edited by don of the Test Match Special box, Bill Frindall. That's not bad, is it?
Any questions? Email the editor: editors@spincricket.com
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There's a lot more but the whole point of SPIN is that you can't get much of our stuff on the web. Sure, we do plenty of ace content for Stickcricket.com - why not drop by for our live coverage of England and Australia matches? - but, unlike other publications, we don't recycle out-of-date web fare in the mag. So you have to get the magazine. Original stories, big-name interviews, star columnists, great photography, so-so comedy - and strictly no nostalgia: that's the SPIN formula. Subscribe for a year and get a FREE copy of the Playfair Cricket Annual 2008, packed with all the need-to-know info on this year's county and international teams
SPIN magazine's contributors are led by GRAHAM THORPE. Graham played 100 Test for England between 1993 and 2005 and is now the assistant coach of New South Wales. Plain-speaking, recently retired and with inside knowledge of both English and Australian cricket, Thorpey is the ideal pundit: read his views exclusively in SPIN magazine every month. Our chief writer is ROB SMYTH, until recently the cornerstone of the Guardian newspaper's over-by-over coverage. He is the main author of Is It Cowardly to Pray for Rain, the over-by-over account of the 2005 Ashes and is regarded as one of the most knowledgeable (and funny) cricket writers around. The editor is DUNCAN STEER. Formely editor of the ECB's official Test match programme and a contributor to The Guardian and The Independent, Duncan launched SPIN in 2005 because he felt existing cricket titles were stricken by nostalgia and did not offer the modern, in-depth coverage that fans craved. The Birmingham Post's GEORGE DOBELL's column has appeared in every issue of SPIN, and offers a frank-speaking, provocative insight into English county cricket. Other regular contributors have included DERMOT REEVE, IMRAN KHAN and TONY GREIG.
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK.COM: there's a SPIN World Cricket Monthly Group on www.facebook.com, where you can give us your feedback on the magazine, plus the Third Umpire, Rob Smyth and Alex Kemp's own meticulously/occasionally updated personal pages.
Big-name columnists, behind-the-scenes access, the best photography, so-so attempted comedy, exclusive Hawkeye graphics and data - and strictly no nostalgia. If you're a cricket fan, you need to get inside the SPIN tent quick-sharp.
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Direct from Wetherspoons, we bring you the SPIN Podcast with clips from recent star interviews and cricket-themed chat. You can play it through your browser, or download it from iTunes...