Cricket Books

[chasingthedon]

Sportsmans Book Club

I recall my Dad has a load of these books, on all sports, but the cricket books I recall for sure are the 1961 Ashes, 1960-1 West Indies in Australia and A Typhoon Called Tyson. I keep bugging him to get them out of the loft, but being as I now live in California I can't exert too much pressure.

 

[zaremba]

Rain Men

What a book!

 

[Krishna_j]

Is there any Series book on Windies acrimonious tour of NZ in 1980

would also like to know if anyone recommends the Geoff Howarth's Shaken But Not Stirred - written I think many years after he retired in 1985.

 

[fredfertang]

Is there any Series book on Windies acrimonious tour of NZ in 1980

I'm afraid not - you'd have to rely on biographies/autobiographies of the participants - there is a chapter on the first test in Lynn McConnell's book about NZ victories - and Wisden of course

 

[fredfertang]

would also like to know if anyone recommends the Geoff Howarth's Shaken But Not Stirred - written I think many years after he retired in 1985.

Just to catch you out it's called "Stirred but not Shaken" and the main writing credit goes to Ian Hepenstall. It was published in 1998 so he'd have been free of any contractual difficulties but I can't claim to have actually read more than a couple of chapters, which, as nothing springs to mind, can't have been too memorable

 

[Krishna_j]

just one more question - why is it that many kiwi autobographies have these quirky titles ?

Is it to catch attention or to highlight the laid back attitude ?



ian smith , Danny Morrison , Martin smith , John wright , Martin Sneddon , Geoff Howarth et al


I've read Rhythm and Swing and Playing Mantis and found them to be among the best - Out on a Limb was pretty disappointing

Which are the good ones ?

 

[SJS]

Impossible to chose really. There are so many.

I dont mind trying to list my favourite books without a number in mind :0 I will take them author-wise.

Neville Cardus

• Good Days
• The Summer Game
• A Cricketer's Book
• Days In The Sun

Having said that, pick up any book by Cardus and you will love it. I do

Coming to another prolific writer I enjoy

Thomson AA

• Cricketers of My Time
• Pavillioned in Spendour
• Cricket : The Golden Ages
• Cricket : My Pleasure

Books by other prolific writers who deserve more than one of their works to be considered . . .

- EV Lucas : The Hambledon Men
- Gideon Haigh : The Summer Game
- David Frith : Walter hammond : The Reason Why
- RC Robertson Glasgow : Rain Stopped Play
- Fingleton : Brightly Fades The Don
- Ray Robinson : Between Wickets
- Denzyl Batchelor : Days Without Sunset​

If I really have to name just Ten books and am allowed to leave out the prolific writers who will tend to crowd out others by quantity as well as quality I will probably chose (may change the next time I do this). I have tried to cover different subjects viz, coaching, tours, history, anthologies etc . . .

1. The Great Batsmen : Their Methods at a Glance - by Fry and Beldam - for the fabulous, priceless and extremely rare action pictures of the players of a hundred years ago. No amount of written words could have shown me how Grace, Trumper, Ranji and Maclaren batted as well as I got to know from this fantastic collection. Anyone who can afford it should buy it. If you cant afford it today, make a note of it to remember to buy it as soon as you can

2. A History of Cricket (2 volumes) Harry Altham and Swanton - Easily the best book on the subject. Wish someone would write a third volume covering the period from 1960 till date.

3. Turn of The Wheel by PGH Fender The finest tour book by the finest captain never to lead his country and it shows in the book.

4. The Players by Ric Sisson - a poignant account of the plight of the professional cricketr in England at the turn of the last century.

5. The Art of Captaincy by Brearley - The best book by a massive margin on the subject.

6. The Art of Cricket by Bradman - The finest book on cricket technique/coaching that you can find.

7. Beyond A Boundary by CLR James - widely acclaimed the greatest cricket book. Even if you dont agree, just read it and you will know why it is rated so high.

8. The Best of Cricket Fiction (2 Volumes) by Leslie Frewin - again the best collection of cricket fiction which is something not talked of much and many cricket fans are deprived of a great source of entertainment.

9. Picador Book of Cricket (Edited by Ramchandra Guha) - There are so many cricket anthologies and its difficult to chose one. Here is an anthology that I suspect has been compiled from different anthologies (apologies to Guha if thats not the case) which makes it a very fine collection and it has the articles very well categorised. My favourite book out of India even if it is just an anthology.

10. Harold Gimblett : Tormented Genius by David Foot - probably he best biography one has read from the hundreds available.​

 

[Pratters]

9. Picador Book of Cricket (Edited by Ramchandra Guha) - There are so many cricket anthologies and its difficult to chose one. Here is an anthology that I suspect has been compiled from different anthologies (apologies to Guha if thats not the case) which makes it a very fine collection and it has the articles very well categorised. My favourite book out of India even if it is just an anthology.

There is an Indian anthology edited by Guha and another writer which is also quite good though slimmer.

 

[Pratters]

I am looking at buying ten more cricket books in the coming couple of months. Which books do you consider are must haves in a cricket book collection? Kindly suggest.

 

[Pratters]

What a book!

I regretfully couldn't get this book as my brother failed to order it. Will do so the next time for sure. Which one do you suggest among Zimmerman and Penguins Stopped Play or should I read both of them after reading Rain Men.

 

[Pratters]

Andrews, Bill. The Hand that Bowled Bradman. Memories of a professional cricketer.

Cardus, Neville. Days in the Sun. A cricketer's journal. London,1924

Cashman, Richard. The "Demon" Spofforth. Kensington, (New South Wales), 1990

Fingleton, J.H. Batting From Memory. An autobiography.

Foot, David. Wally Hammond. The Reasons Why. A biography.

Hughes, Simon. A Lot of Hard Yakka.

Piesse, Ken. The Taylor Years. Australian Cricket 1994-99

Thomson, A.A. Cricketers of My Times

Low, Robert. W.G. A Life of W.G.Grace. 1st 1997

Simon Rae - WG

In Quest of the Ashes - Jardine

Cricinfo Guide to Int cricket 2009 (I always find this book useful while watching games)

Cricket's strangest Matches

Hansie Cronje - Authorised Biography

Fast Men - Frith

These are the books I finally managed to purchase last time. I am reading W.G. by Robert Low which has been suggested by Archie to be the better biography on Grace among those available. It has been very good so far.

 

[Pratters]

2. A History of Cricket (2 volumes) Harry Altham and Swanton - Easily the best book on the subject. Wish someone would write a third volume covering the period from 1960 till date.

I will get the two volumes next time for sure as I am deeply interested in the subject. My knowings have been through John Major's More Than a Game which is a pretty good book covering cricket history at a basic level.

 

[Pratters]

On another note, which are the best books on stadiums to buy? I am looking at Lord's and other possible venues which have created very good books.

 

[Pratters]

Impossible to chose really. There are so many.

I dont mind trying to list my favourite books without a number in mind :0 I will take them author-wise.

Neville Cardus

• Good Days
• The Summer Game
• A Cricketer's Book
• Days In The Sun

Having said that, pick up any book by Cardus and you will love it. I do

Coming to another prolific writer I enjoy

Thomson AA

• Cricketers of My Time
• Pavillioned in Spendour
• Cricket : The Golden Ages
• Cricket : My Pleasure

Are these in ranking order? I have bought Cricketers of My Time and Days in the Sun. How would you people rank Cardus and Thomson's books?

 

[SJS]

Are these in ranking order? I have bought Cricketers of My Time and Days in the Sun. How would you people rank Cardus and Thomson's books?

No they are not ranked.

Thomson is very good but he is no Cardus

 

[a massive zebra]

Thomson was a very competent writer who clearly loved his subject matter but for me his books often suffered from hagiography which resulted in him failing to provide a balanced view.

 

[a massive zebra]

1. The Great Batsmen : Their Methods at a Glance - by Fry and Beldam - for the fabulous, priceless and extremely rare action pictures of the players of a hundred years ago. No amount of written words could have shown me how Grace, Trumper, Ranji and Maclaren batted as well as I got to know from this fantastic collection. Anyone who can afford it should buy it. If you cant afford it today, make a note of it to remember to buy it as soon as you can

2. A History of Cricket (2 volumes) Harry Altham and Swanton - Easily the best book on the subject. Wish someone would write a third volume covering the period from 1960 till date.

3. Turn of The Wheel by PGH Fender The finest tour book by the finest captain never to lead his country and it shows in the book.

4. The Players by Ric Sisson - a poignant account of the plight of the professional cricketr in England at the turn of the last century.

5. The Art of Captaincy by Brearley - The best book by a massive margin on the subject.

6. The Art of Cricket by Bradman - The finest book on cricket technique/coaching that you can find.

7. Beyond A Boundary by CLR James - widely acclaimed the greatest cricket book. Even if you dont agree, just read it and you will know why it is rated so high.

8. The Best of Cricket Fiction (2 Volumes) by Leslie Frewin - again the best collection of cricket fiction which is something not talked of much and many cricket fans are deprived of a great source of entertainment.

9. Picador Book of Cricket (Edited by Ramchandra Guha) - There are so many cricket anthologies and its difficult to chose one. Here is an anthology that I suspect has been compiled from different anthologies (apologies to Guha if thats not the case) which makes it a very fine collection and it has the articles very well categorised. My favourite book out of India even if it is just an anthology.

10. Harold Gimblett : Tormented Genius by David Foot - probably he best biography one has read from the hundreds available.​

[/SIZE]

That's a very well considered top 10 with great breadth and profundity. It actually includes 6 of the books in my own personal top 10 and I have not read The Turn of The Wheel, The Players or The Best of Cricket Fiction - will have to look out for them.

Have you read Old Ebor's Talks With Old English Cricketers. It contains rare, rich, rewarding and yet sometimes shocking interviews with many of England's top cricketers of the third quarter of the 19th century, many of whom were struggling to make ends meet by the time the interviews were conducted at the end of the century. I would really recommend getting this if you haven't yet done so, the interviews with Emmett, Pooley and Ulyett really are wonderful.

 

[SJS]

That's a very well considered top 10 with great breadth and profundity. It actually includes 6 of the books in my own personal top 10 and I have not read The Turn of The Wheel, The Players or The Best of Cricket Fiction - will have to look out for them.

Have you read Old Ebor's Talks With Old English Cricketers. It contains rare, rich, rewarding and yet sometimes shocking interviews with many of England's top cricketers of the third quarter of the 19th century, many of whom were struggling to make ends meet by the time the interviews were conducted at the end of the century. I would really recommend getting this if you haven't yet done so, the interviews with Emmett, Pooley and Ulyett really are wonderful.

Yes I have. I have both his books - this one and "Talks with Old Yorkshire Cricketers"

 

[archie mac]

That's a very well considered top 10 with great breadth and profundity. It actually includes 6 of the books in my own personal top 10 and I have not read The Turn of The Wheel, The Players or The Best of Cricket Fiction - will have to look out for them.

Have you read Old Ebor's Talks With Old English Cricketers. It contains rare, rich, rewarding and yet sometimes shocking interviews with many of England's top cricketers of the third quarter of the 19th century, many of whom were struggling to make ends meet by the time the interviews were conducted at the end of the century. I would really recommend getting this if you haven't yet done so, the interviews with Emmett, Pooley and Ulyett really are wonderful.

Review on the site

 

[fredfertang]

Pullin also wrote one of the first full length biographies of a cricketer, of Alfred Shaw in 1902.