Chris Gayle is the only man to have ever hit a six off the first ball of a Test match. But then producing the impossible is an everyday act for the West Indies legend: the first man to smash an international T20 century, the first to hit a World Cup 200, the fastest century in the history of the game. Off the pitch he is even more flamboyant: he plays late, parties later, demolishes a king-size pile of pancakes and then strolls out to mangle another hapless bowling attack. But do we really know him? Do we know what took a shy, skinny kid from a cramped tin-roofed shack in the dusty back streets of Kingston to the very top of the cricket world - without losing himself along the way? A story not just of sporting genius but of battling prejudice, this unputdowneable memoir will leave you reeling. Welcome to the world of the Six Machine.

Chris Gayle was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, the second youngest of seven children. Growing up where cricket was both the great obsession and the only escape, he was scoring centuries against adults from the age of 14 and made his West Indies 'A' team debut while still at school.
A devastating opener, cunning spin bowler and tactical fanatic, he has made more international one-day centuries than Brian Lara, played more Test matches than Ian Botham and taken more Test catches than Clive Lloyd. Captaining the West Indies from 2007 to 2010, he is one of only four players in history to score two triple centuries at Test level.
In the thrilling T20 game he is the great pioneer - highest score, highest average, most runs and, of course, twice as many sixes as anyone else. Nicknamed #World Boss, he has played for 16 teams in nine countries across five continents and is the most in-demand cricketer of the modern era.