MCC player's new book reveals how cricket helped his 30-year illness battle

Charlie Robards has written of how his love of the sport has allowed him to deal with axial SpA

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

An inspiring new book detailing an MCC player’s 30-year battle with an invisible illness – and the role his beloved cricket has played in helping him.

Charlie Robards was diagnosed with axial SpA, a form of arthritis, while still a teenager but has overcome the challenges it posed to play high-level cricket, including at Lord’s, and counts former England seamer Ryan Sidebottom among his teammates.

Now, he’s hoping to spread awareness of his condition, which affects 220,000 people around the country, and raise funds for charity with his new book, Hitting AS for Six.

"I love cricket, I'm a cricket fanatic,” Robards told The Cricketer.

"My grandad bought be a bat when I was seven or eight and since then, I've been hooked.

"I love the sense of community and the sport."

Chapters in the book touch on his time playing for MCC, where he has served as a match manager, as well as his game with Sidebottom and treading the hallowed turf at Lord’s.

The book also features chapters on sledging and living with the arthritis.

"The book details my long journey with my arthritis but there’s lots of other things," added Robards, who was born in South Africa but has lived for most of his life in Warwickshire.

"Hopefully there's a lot in there for everybody.

"There are two primary goals. One is to raise awareness - 220,000 people in the UK have the disease but it's pretty much unheard of - but also to raise some funds.

"If I can just inspire people to never give up on your dreams, and to keep going no matter how hard things are too."

The book can be bought at www.charlierobards.com, where you can also find more information on axial SpA and the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society, to which profits from the book will be donated.