Matt Oldfield grew up in Southampton, playing football with his brother Tom. The two brothers are the authors of the bestselling Ultimate Football Heroes series - fun football biographies that tell the exciting life stories of superstars like Gareth Bale, Lionel Messi and Mo Salah, from the playground through to the pitch. The Johnny Ball books are Matt's first fiction series.
Tanya Aldred joined Wisden Cricket Monthly in 1997 and stayed long enough to see Andrew Flintoff's first Test century. Her 2005 book The Freddie Flintoff Story was also hugely successful. A well-respected and influential journalist in the sport, she has covered cricket in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Australia and India and now freelances, mostly for The Guardian, writing about all sorts of sports.
Alessandro Valdrighi studied in Florence and graduated with a Bachelor's degree from prestigious Accademia delle Belle Arti as a set designer. Before going to university, when he was a child, Alessandro started drawing by copying comics and illustrations from books. He believes that's the main reason he is able to tackle multiple styles and enjoys a challenge each respective style brings. He worked as a cartoonist, illustrator and concept artist (his favourite), with traditional and digital media. Alessandro also won a prize for his comic called Lagrimas en la lluvia, featured as the best comic book publication published in Spain.