Holding and Burrow shortlisted for William Hill Sports Book of the Year

Michael Holding and Rob Burrow feature in the shortlist for this year's £30,000 prize for William Hill Sports Book of the Year.

The award is the world’s oldest and richest sports literary prize and none of the finalists this year has won the award before. It is also the second successive shortlist not featuring any football-related titles.

This year's shortlist was whittled down from 143 entries. Chair of judges Alyson Rudd said: “We have a splendidly diverse shortlist that encompasses brain trauma and racism, two of the problems sport is grappling with right now, an iconic moment in rugby, the pull of Everest, an unsung female hero and the fight against adversity. The six excellent titles offer fine writing, compelling narratives, pull at the heart strings and, most importantly, ask questions of their readership.”

Rob Burrow’s Too Many Reasons to Live (Pan Macmillan) is an "inspirational memoir", documenting the Rugby League star’s battle with motor neurone disease and the courage and resilience he has shown to keep fighting to the very end. Rugby is a continued theme this year, with Rugby Union also featured with authors Tom English and Peter Burns and This is Your Everest (Polaris Publishing) telling the story of the 1997 British Lions tour of South Africa.

Jamaican commentator and former cricketer Michael Holding also makes the shortlist with Why We Kneel, How We Rise (Simon & Schuster) focusing on racism and discrimination in sport. The book provides a look at the history of racism through the prism of sport, showing how we can change things through education and understanding.

Boxing writer turned author Tris Dixon uncovers the difficult truths of boxing and chronic traumatic encephalopathy in his book Damage (Hamilcar Publications) and chronicles the lives of fighters affected by it. He interviews some of the sport's biggest names, some lesser-known journeymen, and highly respected trainers calling for the sport to address the issue.

Sasha Abramsky’s Little Wonder (Birlinn General) is a biography of an unsung female sporting hero, Lottie Dod – a Victorian champion tennis player, golfer, hockey player, mountaineer and archer. Abramsky brings Lottie's pioneering achievements back into the public eye.

Ed Caesar’s tale of little-known First World War veteran Maurice Wilson completes the shortlist with The Moth and The Mountain (Penguin). Maurice had no knowledge of climbing and barely knew how to fly, but conceived a plan to fly a Gipsy Moth aeroplane from England to Everest alone. The book tells the story of his vision to become the first man to stand on top of the world.

The official awards ceremony will be held on 2nd December. The winning author will take home the £30,000 cash prize and trophy, while shortlisted authors will each receive £3,000 and a leather-bound copy of their book.

Last year’s grand prize-winner was Grigory Rodchenkov for his memoir The Rodchenkov Affair: How I Brought Down Putin’s Secret Doping Empire (W H Allen).