Cricket Books

[neville cardus]

Really, he shouldn't be allowed to get away with claiming that you quoted him out of context, or that you misrepresented his findings. If he wants to make that charge, he should furnish examples. If he can't, he should be made to retract it.

 

[chasingthedon]

Really, he shouldn't be allowed to get away with claiming that you quoted him out of context, or that you misrepresented his findings. If he wants to make that charge, he should furnish examples. If he can't, he should be made to retract it.

The "out of context" allegation is really aimed at all reviews and reviewers, though I suppose that tars me with the same brush. However the one point I made where he was correct he chose to state that I disagreed with him

 

[fredfertang]

Its certainly not a book I intend to add to my collection, and there's not many cricket books that can be said of

 

[neville cardus]

Nor me. I'm put off by the way he uses his "right of response" as a vulgar advertisement, and as a chance to pretend that he's read Henry Miller. (He'd know, had he opened The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, that the line runs thus: "The new always carries with it the sense of violation, of sacrilege.") If I ever do buy his book, I'll make sure it's second hand.

 

[Howe_zat]

Bit of an odd cookie.

There is, as neville alludes to, an argument there to be made based on what a cricketer literally did in absolute terms. King Cricket outlined it quite well

Different conditions

Don Bradman played Test matches in England and Australia and nowhere else. Sachin Tendulkar has played Tests in 10 countries. Only in Zimbabwe has he not scored a hundred – he has only had seven innings there and still averages 40. Tendulkar’s figures in each nation are not all exceptional, but they do stand up to scrutiny. Pace, turn, swing, seam – Tendulkar has succeeded against it all.

Different formats

Bradman excelled in every format he played – first-class cricket and Tests. Tendulkar has succeeded in every format he has played – Tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20. Defiant rearguards and hell-for-leather flaying, Tendulkar can do both and everything in between.

So Tendulkar is better than Bradman was?

We chose our title carefully. Tendulkar has been better than Bradman, because to us batting is about encountering different match situations in different conditions and succeeding. The best batsmen aren’t simply those with the highest averages, but those with the broadest range.

When comparing Bradman and Tendulkar, the latter has benefited from circumstance. We believe that Bradman would have excelled at one-day cricket and Twenty20 as well, were he around now.

But he hasn’t actually done it – Tendulkar has.

But it's ultimately an argument that shuts down discussion as it means a more modern player is always better, so you can't sustain a book on it.

 

[neville cardus]

Exactly. It makes no sense to dismiss someone's ability to do something that he hasn't had the opportunity to do. The absence of the relevant data in Bradman's case is a shortcoming or limitation of the analysis, not of Bradman. He shouldn't suffer for it.

 

[chasingthedon]

Nor me. I'm put off by the way he uses his "right of response" as a vulgar advertisement, and as a chance to pretend that he's read Henry Miller. (He'd know, had he opened The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, that the line runs thus: "The new always carries with it the sense of violation, of sacrilege.") If I ever do buy his book, I'll make sure it's second hand.

Yes, as I say he does neither himself nor Tendulkar any great service at all. Odd, as in our email correspondence he's been a perfect gentleman, and very grateful to be given the chance to respond. Possibly he has been soured by the number of bad reviews by non-readers. Still doesn't excuse the dismissiveness of his reply though.

 

[bagapath]

the small glimpse of this book provided in the review and the quality of the author's arguments sampled from his correspondence have given me an upset stomach.

 

[Pratters]

Finally added a few books to my collection.

Twirlymen - got it off a second hand book store in near new condition and paid 30% of the cover price.
RG Book of Test Cricket Records - My copy was used a lot, so wanted a fresh copy. The one I found was addressed to Rajan Bala by Suresh Menon. Quite a find. Lead to this interesting exchange of tweets.
Wisden 1984 - Always look for hardback Wisdens and good prices, so was happy to add another one.
Indian Cricket 1992

 

[Isura]

First time in London (coming from US). Got to pick up a few of the recommendations in the thread. Also got 3 great big coffee table style books. "When cricket was cricket" has some great rare photos. The guy at Waterstone's in Piccadilly had a strange grin doing my checkout. The Cardus books I found at Foyle's.

 

[Days of Grace]

Good stuff. I'll be in London in late August and will also be hitting the bookshops. Let me know which stores have really good selections.

 

[G.I.Joe]

First time in London (coming from US). Got to pick up a few of the recommendations in the thread. Also got 3 great big coffee table style books. "When cricket was cricket" has some great rare photos. The guy at Waterstone's in Piccadilly had a strange grin doing my checkout. The Cardus books I found at Foyle's.

View attachment 22230

Excellent finds, mate. But why those random titles below the Peppa books?

 

[Isura]

Good stuff. I'll be in London in late August and will also be hitting the bookshops. Let me know which stores have really good selections.

Waterstone's on Piccadilly is huge (5 floors). I think the biggest book store in Europe. Foyle's on Charing Cross is pretty good. Smaller selection but different stuff. For really rare stuff you would need to go outside London at J W McKenzie Cricket Books. Might also get lucky on random used book stores around London, but that takes some hunting.

 

[Days of Grace]

Cheers, mate! I'll be there next weekend. Dedicating a whole day to book stores :-)

 

[neville cardus]

Whereas I'm off to Melbourne and Adelaide next month, and would very much appreciate a few tips on the second-hand market over there. Archie?

 

[fredfertang]

Roger Page is the only name you need to know Rodney

 

[neville cardus]

Thanks, Martin. Wasn't aware he was based in Melbourne. Will be on it!

 

[Days of Grace]

Whilst in London I went to the JW McKenzie bookstore. What a haven for the cricket book lover. I was greeted warmly (I was the only customer) and given a cup of coffee. I then spent the next two hours browsing around and just being in awe on the collection. The Wisdens before the war (he has the first one) were upstairs so I didn't get to look at them. He's a nice guy and I told him I would give him a plug on here.

Directions in case you are ever in London: take the train from Waterloo to Stoneleigh (about 30 minutes). Head down Stoneleigh park road towards Kingston road. About a five minute walk from the station.



I ended up buying these two collections for 15 pounds.

 

[54321]

Although not exactly books per se, i have a copy of a March 1976 edition of "The Cricketer" which includes a page and 2 of edited coaching notes by S.F Barnes by L.Duckworth. I became aware of this from one of the references used in the SF Barnes chapter in "The Bowlers Art" and managed to find a copy of the edition. Its only really 2 pages long but some insightful stuff on the tactics he used. I don't know if I'm allowed to post pictures but i will if i can.

The other is separate pages of an article by The Demon Spofforth. About 8 pages and i think the article itself was in that big book by Bedlam and CB Fry. There's a few photos on his grip for the "swerver", leg-break and off-break, really great stuff overall. Again, I'd post pictures if i could.

Also! i'm hunting for a booklet on SF Barnes by Wilfred S.White, i've already missed out on an opportunity to buy a copy off Ebay . From a small excerpt, there is a photo of his off-break grip which is so much clearer than all other photos we have seen.

 

[fredfertang]

Although not exactly books per se, i have a copy of a March 1976 edition of "The Cricketer" which includes a page and 2 of edited coaching notes by S.F Barnes by L.Duckworth. I became aware of this from one of the references used in the SF Barnes chapter in "The Bowlers Art" and managed to find a copy of the edition. Its only really 2 pages long but some insightful stuff on the tactics he used. I don't know if I'm allowed to post pictures but i will if i can.

The other is separate pages of an article by The Demon Spofforth. About 8 pages and i think the article itself was in that big book by Bedlam and CB Fry. There's a few photos on his grip for the "swerver", leg-break and off-break, really great stuff overall. Again, I'd post pictures if i could.

Also! i'm hunting for a booklet on SF Barnes by Wilfred S.White, i've already missed out on an opportunity to buy a copy off Ebay . From a small excerpt, there is a photo of his off-break grip which is so much clearer than all other photos we have seen.

The White booklet crops up surprisingly frequently - don't pay too much for it