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Cricket Books

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
How are you finding Grovel?

I've only been able to manage a few pages a day so far and have only reached the point where they've selected the team for the Second Test. It's fairly dull so far and not all that well written, it's quite disjointed with the way it suddenly attempts to incorporate background information in amongst current events.
 

archie mac

International Coach
I've only been able to manage a few pages a day so far and have only reached the point where they've selected the team for the Second Test. It's fairly dull so far and not all that well written, it's quite disjointed with the way it suddenly attempts to incorporate background information in amongst current events.
:-O I gave it 4.5 stars:laugh:
 

Tapioca

State Vice-Captain
From 'donninsh' I presume you mean 'scohool masterly'. If so, you are correct. Thats Guha's nature. I don't particularly like the chap. He is too full of himself and seems to have a very high opinion of himself (not difficult to to have such an attitude when you come across millions with such shallow knowledge of the game compared to yourself and yet behaving like pundits).

I too avoided his books for similar reasons once but starting with the anthology, I moved to this one and find it a good history though a heavy read.
I find his writing to be very prejudiced. Read CofFF six years ago and can't remember a great deal. It felt as if he started the book with certain theories and then found facts to fit them and not the other way round. For the most part, the book had clearly defined heroes and villains, guys who do only right and those who do only bad stuff, and well-defined rights and wrongs. It was very difficult to take a history book with such black and white characters seriously.

I do enjoy his lighter writings even though he "is too full of himself ".
 

Tapioca

State Vice-Captain
From 'donninsh' I presume you mean 'scohool masterly'. If so, you are correct. Thats Guha's nature. I don't particularly like the chap. He is too full of himself and seems to have a very high opinion of himself (not difficult to to have such an attitude when you come across millions with such shallow knowledge of the game compared to yourself and yet behaving like pundits).

I too avoided his books for similar reasons once but starting with the anthology, I moved to this one and find it a good history though a heavy read.
SJS - have you read Richard Cashman's Patrons, Players and the Crowd ? It was published in 1980 but is available online (Orient Longman, Indiaplaza etc) for the original prize of < 200. The casual and non-Indian readers would find the subject heavy, but you should like it.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
That was a low blow:-O
The book just doesn't evoke the period. There needs to be a DVD release of this series with a full length documentary featuring all the surviving players. They waited 50 years to do a decent Bodyline documentary. Two of the players have already passed away and others are in their seventies, most of the England players are over sixty.
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Perhaps it's an age dependent thing - I was 16 in 1976 and the way the book reawakened long forgotten memories of mine is one of its great strengths - if I'd been 6 or 26 it may have been different.

Anyway it's a good job we don't all like the same things - for what it's worth I'm with Archie on the 4.5 stars
 

archie mac

International Coach
Perhaps it's an age dependent thing - I was 16 in 1976 and the way the book reawakened long forgotten memories of mine is one of its great strengths - if I'd been 6 or 26 it may have been different.

Anyway it's a good job we don't all like the same things - for what it's worth I'm with Archie on the 4.5 stars
A discerning man:cool:

It was high enough to go completely over my head.
:D I like that
 

neville cardus

International Debutant
Guh?

That (as nearly everyone has said at some time or another) is it. Sleep deprivation's obviously taking its toll. I am off to bed.
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
SJS - have you read Richard Cashman's Patrons, Players and the Crowd ? It was published in 1980 but is available online (Orient Longman, Indiaplaza etc) for the original prize of < 200. The casual and non-Indian readers would find the subject heavy, but you should like it.
No. I haven't (hadn't even heard of it) and am surprised that this guy has written a book on Indian cricket which is historical in nature.

I have The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket which is edited by him but I didn't even notice his name on it, frank;y.

On seeing your post I checked and found that he has written a book on Lokmanya Tilak, an Indian political leader of the 19th century as well as co-authored a book on Spofforth with Arlott. Quite a varied list that.
 

Tapioca

State Vice-Captain
No. I haven't (hadn't even heard of it) and am surprised that this guy has written a book on Indian cricket which is historical in nature.

I have The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket which is edited by him but I didn't even notice his name on it, frank;y.

On seeing your post I checked and found that he has written a book on Lokmanya Tilak, an Indian political leader of the 19th century as well as co-authored a book on Spofforth with Arlott. Quite a varied list that.
SJS, if you want to sample it, please send a mail to general.tapioca@gmail.com I have the scanned pdfs of a couple of chapters.
 

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