Big hitting is the great thrill of cricket’s shorter formats, so who is the longest striker of a cricket ball of them all? In this feature Martin looks at the life and times of Charles Thornton a man who, on the face of matters at least, still has a claim to that title
It is more than seventy years since Don Bradman played his last Test innings, and approaching twenty years since his passing, but the interest in his remarkable batting record shows no sign of diminishing. This week Martin reviews the latest in a very long line of books published on the subject of ‘The Don’
He had a surgeon to thank for being able to celebrate his 29th birthday, yet more than half a century later Nari Contractor is alive and well and, occasionally, still available for comment
In the last few years Durham have been a troubled county, and this week Martin reviews a new book that tells the story of what has gone wrong
A new review being posted other than on a Sunday? A book has to be a very special publication indeed to get that sort of treatment
As the 2019 edition draws ever closer Martin reviews a slice of World Cup nostalgia from the pen of Jonathan Northall
This week Martin reviews a recent offering from the ACS, and one which he seems to have thoroughly enjoyed
Somerset’s Henry Stanley was a product of cricket’s ‘Golden Age’, albeit one some way from the front rank of amateur batsmen. Barry Phillips’ book painstakingly reconstructs his life, and tells a very Victorian story
After his previous features on Geoff and John Martin looks at the Edrich family for a third time, on this occasion profiling Bill, of Middlesex and England
This one is an unusual and perhaps even off the wall look at links between Australian cricket and the wool industry, but the author is Gideon Haigh, so it works very well