Cricket Books

[SJS]

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Fair point SJS - I tend to be blinkered by my frustration at not being able to acquire a handful of not particularly costly books published on the sub-continent which I fondly assume (no doubt quite wrongly) are readily available from every purveyor of books in India - this means that I tend to overlook the enormous difficulties that must apply when you are based in India and want to acquire books published elsewhere - presumably there are no specialist cricket book dealers in India? - perhaps there is a business opportunity there - I am given to understand by a couple of UK dealers that their client bases in India are growing rapidly

Must not be for cricket books.

 

[fredfertang]

Apparently so - on the basis of what I am told certainly two full sets of Wisden have left these shore in the last 12 months for the subcontinent

 

[nightprowler10]

Very good read Lets us know what you think

Will do, though ordered Pakistani Legends with it as well and am already reading two other books, so might be a while.

 

[Tapioca]

I think it is possible to buy mostly good books with a bit of discretion.

Of the 130 books reviewed on CW I have only 52. BUT - I have all five of the five-stars, all but 4 of the 21 four-and-a-half stars, and half of the 38 four stars.

More importantly, I have just one of those rated less than 3 stars. That too is a gift from a dear Australian friend who keeps on sending me books on Bradman

Cricket books are expensive, particularly when new, and there is a lot of very bad work along with some great stuff. If one is not taken in by the celebrity-value of the author or the attraction of the book title, one can make very good choices and spend money very wisely.

SJS - merely expensive for Aussies and English, but impossibly expensive for those in India. I'll quote the prices from a mail received from Marine Sports over their most recent books - Glenn McGrath : Line & Length, HB, 428 pages, Rs 2120; One of a kind : Doug Walters Story, Pb, 331 pages, Rs. 1560 and a couple of such others. I don't know how many typical cricket followers could afford to spend such amounts for a single book. I usually set my cut-off at somewhere around 500 rupees.

Would like your advice for those of us here and with lesser budgets - like where to look for second hand books and so on. The main problem that we have is that there are hardly any established second hand bookshops.

 

[SJS]

SJS - merely expensive for Aussies and English, but impossibly expensive for those in India. I'll quote the prices from a mail received from Marine Sports over their most recent books - Glenn McGrath : Line & Length, HB, 428 pages, Rs 2120; One of a kind : Doug Walters Story, Pb, 331 pages, Rs. 1560 and a couple of such others. I don't know how many typical cricket followers could afford to spend such amounts for a single book. I usually set my cut-off at somewhere around 500 rupees.

Would like your advice for those of us here and with lesser budgets - like where to look for second hand books and so on. The main problem that we have is that there are hardly any established second hand bookshops.

I know that. I met the Marine Sports guy outside the stadium when England played India last in Bombay (they were selling their books at a stall) and told him their prices were ridiculous for second hand books.

If you have any chance of going to UK, its your best opportunity. Some stores keep thousands of books, If you browse their site for cricket books and sort them in "Lowest Price First" you will be amazed at how many books are available for just one pound. You could actually start a library with every book from that category.

The 150 books I bought from them cost me just over 600 pounds - thats well under your budget. Remember I did not look only for cheaper books. The problem is shipping cost, I put them in cartons to be shipped to India by surface. That really brings down the cost. Otherwise, the shipping would have been more than the book cost. If you buy fewer books than I did and are travelling lighter than I was, youi could bring them back as luggage. Its really cheap.

For those who do not have an opportunity to travel outside, I would say, buy the cheaper books and look for stores that charge lower shipping. The shipping charges are extremely variable. For books I have bought on the net (and they are many) I have paid an average of 9 USD per book for shipping but that is because for some of the books the freight was as high as 20 USD. There are many who charge under 6-7 USD as freight. For books which are cheaper, it invariably means that there is lot of availability so you can spend some time and lok at those where freight is lower.

Another thing that brings up cost is the binding of the book, the presence of a dust cover, the edition and the overall condition.

I try to get a book in good condition and only hardcover if available (particularly if I know the book is good) but I would not pay too much extra for a dust cover and for me reprints are an absolutely God-sent blessing since they are much cheaper. Unfortunately for a lot of the classics, reprints are not available. I am fortunate that I can afford it so I have first editions of priceless works of Pycroft, Daft, Lucas, Frederic Gale etc. But I too couldn't afford them when I was younger

 

[SJS]

Tapi, can you e mail me please.
swaranjs@gmail.com

 

[fredfertang]

The main problem that we have is that there are hardly any established second hand bookshops.

That's a disappointment!! For the first time in my life someone I know well is going to Mumbai shortly and is happy to try and root out a few books for me in what we both assumed would be a large number of second hand bookshops - back to the drawing board I suppose.

I really didn't realise it was that tough to get books in India and, consequently, how fortunate we are here in England - if anyone out there needs any help with books just let me know

 

[SJS]

That's a disappointment!! For the first time in my life someone I know well is going to Mumbai shortly and is happy to try and root out a few books for me in what we both assumed would be a large number of second hand bookshops - back to the drawing board I suppose.

I really didn't realise it was that tough to get books in India and, consequently, how fortunate we are here in England - if anyone out there needs any help with books just let me know

I do.

I buy most of my books from UK and it costs a packet to ship them to India one at a time.. I could take you up on that

 

[Uppercut]

I'm thinking of buying Silence of the Heart: Cricket Suicides, but the cheapest I can find it at is £30 used. Does anyone know of a place that may sell it for cheaper, and also, is it worth buying?

 

[archie mac]

I'm thinking of buying Silence of the Heart: Cricket Suicides, but the cheapest I can find it at is £30 used. Does anyone know of a place that may sell it for cheaper, and also, is it worth buying?

It is a great book, but 'By HIs Own Hand' is just as good, and you should be able to pick it up much cheaper

 

[Uppercut]

It is a great book, but 'By HIs Own Hand' is just as good, and you should be able to pick it up much cheaper

Thanks

I ended up getting Silence of the Heart for about £16 new, eventually. Strangely, By His Own Hand is even harder to come across. What are the differences between the books, and if they're as similar as you imply, why did he write them both?

 

[archie mac]

Thanks

I ended up getting Silence of the Heart for about £16 new, eventually. Strangely, By His Own Hand is even harder to come across. What are the differences between the books, and if they're as similar as you imply, why did he write them both?

Silence of T'he Heart is an update of By His Own Hand, but I thought the best stories are in the first, and are repeated in the 2nd. Also in the SOTH it has a very tiny font which annoyed me, but that may be because I am getting older

 

[SJS]

I'm thinking of buying Silence of the Heart: Cricket Suicides, but the cheapest I can find it at is £30 used. Does anyone know of a place that may sell it for cheaper, and also, is it worth buying?

Its a great book and you can buy it for exactly one-fifth of that from

Over-Sands Books,
The Old Waiting Room,
The Station,
Grange-over-Sands,
Cumbria, CMA,
United Kingdom,
LA11 6EH


E mail : Over-over-sands.books@virgin.net​

You owe me a beer

 

[Uppercut]

Its a great book and you can buy it for exactly one-fifth of that from

Over-Sands Books,
The Old Waiting Room,
The Station,
Grange-over-Sands,
Cumbria, CMA,
United Kingdom,
LA11 6EH


E mail : Over-over-sands.books@virgin.net​

You owe me a beer

Excellent Thanks very much.

If you ever come to Belfast you can hold me to that.

 

[Perm]

Turns out I can't start buying things off the internet until I'm 18, which is still over a month away. For now I'll settle with the local library, where I picked up a couple of good books today.

Bradman's Best by Roland Perry
100 Greatest Batsmen by John Arlott

 

[SJS]

The English Game
A Cricket Anthology
compiled by Gerald Brodribb​

 

[Tapioca]

Brodribb is one of my top 3 or 4 favourite writers - Next Man In and Hit for Six are in my top-10 books, and I also have Croucher (yet to read), English Game and The Lost Art. I have so far only glanced through the English Game and didn't like it. Can't say what is wrong with that, but something about the selection of random pieces which does not appeal much to me.

My favorite anthology is John Bright-Holmes' The Joy of Cricket. I read it in my late teens and was one of my earliest cricket books. So I was encountering all the great stuff in it - England, their England, Mailey on Trumper, Ross on Bartlett, Keating on Crapp, Francis Thompson, Ray Robinson on McCabe and Sutcliffe etc etc - for the first time, and that too influence my choice.

PS : Mailed you two days back.

 

[SJS]

Brodribb is one of my top 3 or 4 favourite writers - Next Man In and Hit for Six are in my top-10 books, and I also have Croucher (yet to read), English Game and The Lost Art. I have so far only glanced through the English Game and didn't like it. Can't say what is wrong with that, but something about the selection of random pieces which does not appeal much to me.

My favorite anthology is John Bright-Holmes' The Joy of Cricket. I read it in my late teens and was one of my earliest cricket books. So I was encountering all the great stuff in it - England, their England, Mailey on Trumper, Ross on Bartlett, Keating on Crapp, Francis Thompson, Ray Robinson on McCabe, Robertson-Glasgow on Sutcliffe etc etc - for the first time, and that too influence my choice.

PS : Mailed you two days back.

Got your mail. Thanks. I will reply shortly.

Yes Joy of Cricket is a lovely book too. One of my favourites. The English Game is different. It is not all essays on the great cricketers. There is all kind of bits of cricket writing. I too like portraits but that is one type of cricket writing. Cricket poetry, cricket fiction, small essays on village cricket, cricket trivia from times long past have a charm of their own. For me it transports me into another world and to me that is the hallmark of a good read when I am lost to my existing surroundings

 

[stumpski]

Another fan of The Joy of Cricket here. I re-read it earlier this year actually. And not exactly an anthology, more of an encyclopaedia of cricket is Barclays World of Cricket which was published a couple of times in the 1980s. Not an easy book to review, because there's so much in it, but I'll have a stab at some point.

Does anyone else collect the Benson and Hedges/Cheltenham and Gloucester annuals? I've started buying them recently, they're very cheap on ebay, not so much from dealers. They do take up a lot of shelf room though. Again, I can essay a review - perhaps of this year's edition - if it's suitable.

 

[armchairumpire]

Anyone read the new book by Daniel Vettori - think it's called Turning Point