A SPORTS writer and literary award winner has completed an account of his 25-year career as his 49th title.

Chris Harte, 54, sports editor of the National Sports Reporting Agency, recently wrote a book on his experience of moving from The South to Menston.

Now Mr Harte, of Elmete Grange, has written of his exploits reporting on

international rugby, football and cricket, in his latest book, The Reminiscences of a Sportswriter.

Most of his previous titles - penned over a 35-year period - have been on sports related topics, ranging from

histories of sporting achievements, to accounts of sports personalities.

But he hopes his latest title will

reveal some largely unknown facts about top-level sport - many of them about boardroom politics and corruption.

He said: "I've been sports writing for 25 years now, and for a lot of the stories I wrote for newspapers and magazines, a lot of detail has been spiked.

The thing is, there is now all the fuss about the problems in cricket, and I wanted to fill some of the gaps.

"I've always argued, much to the amazement of my contemporaries, that cricket is one of the most corrupt of sports."

Mr Harte, who describes himself as 'middle-aged, overweight and addicted to cappuccino', has twice won literary awards, and has been short-listed for awards on nine other occasions, in

several countries.

He begins the tale with his family background and his early introductions to the sporting world.

His landmark first football match came in 1948, when he went to see Huddersfield Town play Charlton Athletic - although he believes he slept through the whole affair in his

carrycot.

His enthusiasm for Charlton Athletic grew to such an extent that he was

reprimanded by a schoolmaster for

writing all his essays about the club.

In his latest book, Mr Harte runs through the significant events of his life - many of them connected to sport. He spent time living and working in Australia, writing about Australian Rules Football, cricket, Rugby League and Rugby Union.

Mr Harte recounts how his work has taken him all over the world, and to all kinds of memorable moments in the sporting world, from on-the-field

victories and failures, to off-the-field

politics.

He got to know South Africa while covering sports events, and met many household names on his travels -

including a pre-famous Kylie Minogue.

He founded the National Sports Reporting Agency - then known as the London Sports Reporting Agency - in the early 1990s, and after several years of getting used to being back in the country, decided to move North.

Mr Harte also describes his experience of moving back to Britain, and trying to get used to a world where

customs, habits and even the sport is

different.

The book is due to go on sale in major bookshops tomorrow.