Young Vic

Martin Chandler | 8:56am GMT 16 February 2025

Published: 2025
Pages: 98
Author: Bonnell, Max
Publisher: Red Rose Books
Rating: 5 stars

To regular readers of our reviews it will come as no surprise to see that a new book on the subject of Victor Trumper is about to come our way. Trumper continues to hold the fascination of cricket tragics in a way that not even Donald Bradman seems to be able to do.

The enduring appeal of Trumper is, on the face of it, all the more surprising because of his early death. Just 37* at the time of his passing Trumper had no real opportunity to make a mark in life beyond his playing career.

But despite the regular publication of new research on Trumper it remains very much the case that there is no definitive biography of the great man. There is no shortage of writers who have tried to put such a book together, but the three principal efforts, by Jack Fingleton, Peter Sharpham and Ashley Mallett have all fallen short.

The reason for the collective failings of previous biographers is not difficult to pinpoint, being the paucity of information regarding Trumper’s early life, a problem neatly summed up by Max Bonnell at the close of the first chapter of this one:-

Where does genius come from, and how does it develop? That’s the subject of this book, which explores the first twenty or so years of Trumper’s life and seeks to understand how he became the cricketer he was. Trumper’s early life has been investigated only imperfectly, and there’s a great deal that we’re unlikely ever to know with any certainty. But we do know that an illegitimate child, born into hardship, with no cricket in his family and no material advantages, became the most memorable cricketer of his generation. And perhaps the single most interesting question about Trumper’s life is, how does something like that happen?

And there you have the book in a nutshell. There are really two parts to it, the first being to explain Trumper’s origins, or at least to put forward the limited evidence there is, and the possibilities that stem from that. Max Bonnell is far too good a historian to attempt to come to any conclusion on what he finds, but he gives his reader all the information he has been able to discover.

The second part of the book then looks at Trumper’s early cricket. A pattern quickly emerges from that as well, that being that there really weren’t all that many runs, but nonetheless a huge amount of satisfaction from those who saw the ones he did make, and a great anticipation for a future for his batting that even then was seen as potentially ground breaking.

Despite the praise, and appearances in the Sheffield Shield and against Drewy Stoddart’s 1894/95 tourists at the age of just 17**, in statistical terms at least Trumper flattered to deceive until the 1897/98 season. By the end of that summer a man who had made just one single half century in the previous six years ended his season with the eye watering average of 204.20.

In the next summer Trumper’s First Class career resumed in earnest and no one in Australia exceeded his average of 62.35. He was duly selected for the 1899 team that toured England under Joe Darling and the book ends with a 21*** year old Trumper getting on the boat for England and the observation from Bonnell that everything that happened after that, you know.

Young Vic is a thoroughly worthwhile addition to the available literature on Trumper, albeit there is a tinge of sadness with the realisation that with Bonnell having tasked himself with the research, this account of the origins of a legend, highlighting all the gaps and inconsistencies, is almost certainly the best we are going to get, but then at least we now know.

The book is due to be published on 14 March and there will be two versions. All who want a copy will be able to purchase a perfect bound paperback from the publisher or, in Australia from Roger Page. In addition there is also a signed and numbered limited edition of just 30 copies. Those are available from the same sources and can be pre-ordered – but if any of those remain unsold by publication date I will be most surprised.

*or, once you have read the book, possibly 36,

**16

***and 20.