Cricket books

[Arachibutyrophobic]

I love a good cricket book on holiday, biography or other. What would people recommend? I'm a Notts fan so anything connected to them would be of particular interest.

 

[tony p]

I would recommend the 2009 "William Hill sports book of the year", Harold Larwood by Duncan Hamilton.
It's nearly 400 pages(HB), goes through his entire career (50 pages on Bodyline alone), his Notts career and him moving to Australia to live.

I actually bought my copy for 3 pounds at a charity store in Harrow-on-the-hill a few years ago when I was in England.

It's a fine book.

 

[Arachibutyrophobic]

I would recommend the 2009 "William Hill sports book of the year", Harold Larwood by Duncan Hamilton.
It's nearly 400 pages(HB), goes through his entire career (50 pages on Bodyline alone), his Notts career and him moving to Australia to live.

I actually bought my copy for 3 pounds at a charity store in Harrow-on-the-hill a few years ago when I was in England.

It's a fine book.

An excellent recommendation. Unfortunately that was a couple of holidays ago! It is astonishing how badly he was treated by the authorities. Life under Arthur Carr did sound like fun though. I've also read the biography of Douglas Jardine - Never Surrender which is good.

 

[fredfertang]

Check out our book review section - a veritable treasure trove of information and recommendations

 

[wpdavid]

Have you heard of Brunell Jones? Or read any of his books? He wrote a series of accounts of tours to the Caribbean in the 1970s, and I suspect they'd be fascinating.

 

[fredfertang]

Have you heard of Brunell Jones? Or read any of his books? He wrote a series of accounts of tours to the Caribbean in the 1970s, and I suspect they'd be fascinating.

Some of them are quite tricky to find, but over the years I've managed to acquire them all - they are certainly interesting, although the production standards are underwhelming, but then perhaps that adds to their charm?

 

[wpdavid]

Some of them are quite tricky to find, but over the years I've managed to acquire them all - they are certainly interesting, although the production standards are underwhelming, but then perhaps that adds to their charm?

I'd love to read his account of the 1977 series against Pakistan, but it's not available on Amazon. I've always found that a fascinating series because the arrival of Garner and Croft really did mean that, when everyone was fit, they had four world class quicks available. Not that Holding was fit in that series, tbf. Jones' take on the matter would be interesting because his earlier books covered series like the NZ tour circa 1971 when the WI attack was very different. The one book of his that is available on Amazon is his account of WI vs England tests from the start of time up to 1974. But the asking price of £46 is a bit more than I'd care to spend. However, there is a very good cricket book shop not far from me, so i might pop in over the weekend.

 

[fredfertang]

"What a Tour!" is probably the hardest to find, and one you rarely see - £46 is well over the top for the England one, or indeed any of the others - £20-£25 nearer the mark imo

 

[jcas0167]

Have you heard of Brunell Jones? Or read any of his books? He wrote a series of accounts of tours to the Caribbean in the 1970s, and I suspect they'd be fascinating.

Speaking of the tours the Carribbean, Frances Edmonds (at the time wife of Phil Edmonds) wrote an entertaining account of the 1986 England tour. Roland Fishman's Calypso Cricket covering the 1991 Australian tour is also good.

 

[wpdavid]

Yes, I bought Frances Edmonds' book many years ago and enjoyed it.

 

[wpdavid]

"What a Tour!" is probably the hardest to find, and one you rarely see - £46 is well over the top for the England one, or indeed any of the others - £20-£25 nearer the mark imo

The exciting news is that my local cricket book shop had a copy of "What a tour!" going for £24 this morning, which I thought was fair enough. So we'll see what I make of the book.

If you're interested in seeing their catalogue, this is their website.
www.mckenzie-cricket.co.uk

 

[JBMAC]

Read an interesting one just the other day........"Cooper Not Out"--Julian Smith. Very tongue in cheek but entertaining