I was delighted to be sent this book and even more so to meet and have the book signed at the Cheltenham Festival recently by the legendary Pakistani and Gloucestershire player .

Zaheer, or Zed as he became known, was renowned as one of the most graceful players that the game has known. Known as the Asian Bradman, he is the only Asian player to reach the coveted century of centuries and, like Sir Geoffrey Boycott, achieved the milestone in a Test. As Zaheer said to the assembled throng at Cheltenham, his was a double hundred... Sir Geoffrey had to settle for 191.

This is a very nice, compact book and is written in a humble way. Somehow, I might have expected it to be longer from someone who achieved so much in the game both as a player and an administrator but it is all there and most interesting.

Matt Thacker has written a very interesting and astute foreword to the book.

Zaheer loved batting and explains his preparation and thoughts, all of which are very interesting to read. This comes from a reviewer whose own ambition in cricket, unfulfilled, was to go a whole season without batting. Maybe I would have been grateful to have read this book earlier!

County cricket features prominently in the book and the gratitude he has for it and the following it also had in Pakistan when he was playing. It is easy to forget how many world-class and legendary names were playing in county cricket in the 1970s and 1980s. It is also unlikely that the feat of a player reaching a century of centuries will be repeated.

Written with humility and modesty, From A to Zed is a fine book to have and we should be grateful to have this fantastic player's own account.