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Cricket Books

D

Dan

Hall of Fame Member
I really need to stop buying cricket books..

Picked up a pack of 5 for $25 today - 'As It Was' by Fred Trueman, 'The Art of Captaincy', The Picador Book of Cricket, Woodcock's '100 Greatest Cricketers' and Boycott's autobiography. Picked it up on the strength of Brearley alone, so hopefully the others are pretty decent as well.

I also grabbed 'Bat & Pad: Writings on Australian Cricket 1804-2001', featuring the likes of Cardus, Arlott, Fingleton and Robinson. Should be an interesting read.
 
SJS

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
rvd619323 said:
I really need to stop buying cricket books..

Picked up a pack of 5 for $25 today - 'As It Was' by Fred Trueman, 'The Art of Captaincy', The Picador Book of Cricket, Woodcock's '100 Greatest Cricketers' and Boycott's autobiography. Picked it up on the strength of Brearley alone, so hopefully the others are pretty decent as well.

I also grabbed 'Bat & Pad: Writings on Australian Cricket 1804-2001', featuring the likes of Cardus, Arlott, Fingleton and Robinson. Should be an interesting read.
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Both the anthologies are very good with the Picador Book of Cricket being one of my favorites. Trueman and Boycott's Autobiographies are definitely worth a read. Brearley's book is one of cricket's finest bits of writing ever. So you have a really good set at a bargain price even without considering Woodcock's book which is so-so.
 
BoyBrumby

BoyBrumby

Englishman
LongHopCassidy said:
An Amazon review of Atherton's book:

Atherton has the qualities required on an opening batsman, he is single minded and extremely boring. Which is great news if you are scoring 189 against South Africa and batting for 3 days, but perhaps not the sort of chap you want writing an interesting book. Mind you, "Athers" never forgets to remind us how great he thought he was throughout the book, with plenty of gripping text such as "I was only 3 days old, but as I gripped hard onto my soother, I knew how great I was and how one day, I would be England Captain". And "I was batting for Manchester Grammar against Scumtown Boys Academy for Under-Privileged Skangers and had no qualms about teaching them a lesson by batting all day for a gritty seven not out, despite the fact that these oiks had to practice on a football pitch covered in dog turds, I had to because one day I was destined to be England Captain". Don't be expecting to see a lot of "knob gags" or hilarious accounts of how Jack Russell once got a Weetabix stuck up his bum, but if you are into gaining an insight into how great Mike Atherton thinks he is, then this is the book for you.
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I'm currently reading Opening Up, actually.

Whilst yer Amazonian chum is exaggerating for comedic effect, there is the odd sentence that does rather jar the reader, like (paraphase) "I continued my great form and had established myself as a world class opener".

Seems a bit, well, un-English in the pumping of one's own tyres.

Could've probably benefitted from a ghost too as the prose is, at best, workmanlike.
 
archie mac

archie mac

International Coach
rvd619323 said:
I really need to stop buying cricket books..

Picked up a pack of 5 for $25 today - 'As It Was' by Fred Trueman, 'The Art of Captaincy', The Picador Book of Cricket, Woodcock's '100 Greatest Cricketers' and Boycott's autobiography. Picked it up on the strength of Brearley alone, so hopefully the others are pretty decent as well.

I also grabbed 'Bat & Pad: Writings on Australian Cricket 1804-2001', featuring the likes of Cardus, Arlott, Fingleton and Robinson. Should be an interesting read.
Click to expand...
SJS said:
Both the anthologies are very good with the Picador Book of Cricket being one of my favorites. Trueman and Boycott's Autobiographies are definitely worth a read. Brearley's book is one of cricket's finest bits of writing ever. So you have a really good set at a bargain price even without considering Woodcock's book which is so-so.
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Agree with all that, B&P is quite a good read too:)
 
M

Midwinter

State Captain
SJS said:
Brearley's book is one of cricket's finest bits of writing ever. .
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Picked this up on the above advice. Better be right, I paid good money for it.

$1

If SJS is right, it will go down as one of my best book bargains ever., along with the Complete works of Shakespeare for $3.99
 
SJS

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
Midwinter said:
Picked this up on the above advice. Better be right, I paid good money for it.

$1

If SJS is right, it will go down as one of my best book bargains ever., along with the Complete works of Shakespeare for $3.99
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Just remember one thing though . . . the title of that Brearley book - The Art of Captaincy. If captaincy and what goes into it with all the nuances and insights of one of the best does not interest you then you have a problem.

But then I presume the title makes it clear what it is about :)

Its a fabulous read trust me.

I have all the books there but I would buy the pack for five $ for it is bargain and I cant think of a present for that much of money that is worth so much more.
 
the big bambino

the big bambino

International Captain
Not a book but an article where Frith shredded Roland Perry's book on Keith Miller. It was a long overdue and much deserved powdering of poser Perry.
 
archie mac

archie mac

International Coach
the big bambino said:
Not a book but an article where Frith shredded Roland Perry's book on Keith Miller. It was a long overdue and much deserved powdering of poser Perry.
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I met Roland Perry once was a very nice fellow and signed all my books for me:cool: However I know DF and Haigh are not fans and by the sounds of things we can add TBB:D
 
D

Dan

Hall of Fame Member
I was reading Perry at age 8. By 12 I recognised how terrible a writer he really is compared to the other guys around who cover cricket.
 
archie mac

archie mac

International Coach
rvd619323 said:
I was reading Perry at age 8. By 12 I recognised how terrible a writer he really is compared to the other guys around who cover cricket.
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I don't find him a bad writer, quite a good one imo. The fact he does not credit his souces and some of his conclusions are not always well thought out are certainly concerns
 
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