“I love the rare occasions when I manage to clear the sea of papers on my desk in order to be able to spread out both pages of The Art of Cricket diary, thereby to get full enjoyment from the rich variety of pictures.

“Very few, if any, artists have conveyed as vividly as Christina Pierce the colour, the passion and the moments of urgent action that are so typical of cricket. Her impressions of the professional game, all the more effective for being painted in oil, have a wonderful feel for the intensity and athleticism of the performers. There is a life and movement in these paintings that could only be achieved by someone with both a mastery of her craft and a real feel for the game. The movement bursts from a static canvas, motionless in truth but instant in the imagination.

“This is no mere reproduction of photographs yet her images of the likes of Brian Lara, Viv Richards and Kevin Pietersen are instantly recognisable, capturing the character of each man.

“When she turns to the amateur game she manages to illustrate both the charm and keeness of the game as played by the young. She does so thanks in part to the fact that she has a talented and enthusiastic cricketing son. It is a serious game even for schoolboys but the sheer fun of the matches they play, often at about twice the speed of adults when it comes to getting on with the next ball, is infectious. Again this yearbook is full of examples of the impetuous spirit of young cricketers.” Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Journalist, Times Cricket Correspondent