Far From The MCC

~ Est. in 1998 ~

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Mike Atherton - Opening Up Publisher: Coronet books Date of publication: 2003 RRP: Paperback £7.99 Reviewer: Titanick

Excellent autobiography of what I had believed to be one of the most boring men in cricket. Not for the first time – I was completely wrong. Atherton writes as flamboyantly as he never attacked. Trapped in age of English hopelessness where his own wicket would often signify a spectacular collapse, he held firm, held his nerve and bit his tongue. As an occasional opener, I found his views on this unique position insightful and his account of that battle at Centurion exhilarating. He was also run out on 99 – there Spam, the comparison ends. Read it – it’s great.

Marcus Berkmann - Rain Men Publisher – Abacus Date of publication – 1995 RRP – Paperback £7.99 Reviewer: Titanick

Who is Markus Berkmann? No, never played for South Africa, never on a Packer tour and no relation to Ingrid (at least as far as I know). This is exactly the point of this book, Marcus is you, me and all the rest of us who don the whites each week for fun. Rain Men is a hilarious insight into grass roots, pub/village cricket and why we do it. Berkmann was a member of the infamous Captain Scott’s XI whose presence on the pitches of Oxfordshire could have been a forerunner for the adventures of FFMCC. By far the funniest cricket book I have ever read – if your career batting average is less than 10 and you’ve dropped many more than you’ve ever caught but still keep coming back for more (tea that is, not cricket) then this is the book for you. In a class of it’s own.

Mike Brearley - Art of Captaincy Publisher: Channel 4 Books Date of publication: 2001 (new edition) RRP: Paperback £6.49 Reviewer: Cloughie

Mike Brearley was not one of England’s greatest cricketers, but he will always be thought of as one of England’s greatest captains. He was England captain during a roller coaster time contending with big personalities such as Botham, Willis and Gatting. He shows captaincy as an essential skill, to be learned along with batting, bowling or fielding. It’s good to see that captains at all levels experience the same sort of problems, such as keeping players happy and getting all eleven of them on the pitch at the same time. The book highlights what makes the life of a captain difficult, so if you want to be a good team player or a pain in the arse, there’s some valuable advice. I would recommend this book to anyone who has captained, thought about captaining or been captained.

Robert Eastaway - What is a Googly? Publisher: Robert Books Ltd Date of publication: 1998 RRP – n/a Reviewer: Cloughie

Girlfriends^*, Americans, I give you ‘What is a Googly?’ by Robert Eastaway. If you’ve ever been asked ‘who’s winning?’, ‘is that the end of your go?’, ‘what are those stick things for?’ then this book would make the ideal Christmas / birthday / Valentine’s day gift. It covers all the essential elements of cricket including the laws, jargon, when to clap, how to score, what to take to a match etc. A valiant attempt is made at explaining LBW is less than a chapter and there’s a useful diagram of fielding positions which even regular players may benefit from. There’s also a section on recommended reading material, which no good book / website associated with cricket should be without. ^*Not all girlfriends obviously. Many, indeed most are extremely knowledgable on the subject of crictet and so many other things.

Frances Edmonds - Another Bloody Tour Publisher: Fontana Press Date of publication: 1987 RRP: n/a Reviewer: Cloughie

Any discussion of Phil Edmunds (51 tests, 875 runs, 125 wickets) is usually accompanied by the line ‘didn’t his wife write that book’. Well this is ‘that’ book. It describes the 1986 England tour of the West Indies. A tour on which, part of Mike Gatting’s nose became a permanent feature in a ball from Malcolm Marshall and WAGs hadn’t been invented. Mrs Edmunds provides a unique and often fascinating behinds the scenes view on the trials and tribulations during the 5-0 ‘blackwash’. She provides some obvious (Viv Richards really really doesn’t like losing, Mike Gatting is overweight) and some not so obvious insights. All in all a thoroughly entertaining description of one of the most interesting periods of English cricket. Sadly the book’s out of print now, but can be found ‘used’ at good virtual bookstores.

Kim Hughes - Golden Boy: Kim Hughes and the Bad Old Days of Australian Cricket Publisher: Christian Ryan, Allen & Unwin Date of publication: 2009 RRP: Paperback £7.36 Reviewer: THE Ant

Like many Australians of my generation, my single enduring memory of Kim Hughes is of his tearful resignation from the Australian captaincy in front of the world’s media at Brisbane in 1984. Though he continued to play for Western Australia, and subsequently led a rebel tour to South Africa, that decision by Hughes, during the Second Test against the all-conquering West Indies, effectively marked the end phase of his cricket career, ushering in the reign of Alan Border and the (eventual) resurgence of the Australian team. But what led to Hughes’ resignation and the manner in which it happened? The belief – commonly held – that Hughes was simply weak-minded and pathetic – an enduring symbol of un-Australianness – is comprehensively banished by Christian Ryan in his book, Golden Boy – Kim Hughes and the Bad Old Days of Australian Cricket. Though Hughes comes across as cavalier in his approach to both batting and the captaincy – a player who, if he had let his head rule his off-drive, could have achieved so much more than a Test average of 37.41 and only four victories as Test skipper – there were other, greater influences which conspired to lead to his demise. It is telling that of the five main figures in the story, only one – Greg Chappell – agreed to talk to Ryan. Kim Hughes himself has never spoken or written about his career, and as for the other three – Rod Marsh, Dennis Lillee and Ian Chappell – it is sad that their actions speak louder than whatever words they might have spoken. There are, however, plenty of interviews with other major Australian cricket figures more than happy to speak out – Mike Whitney, Geoff Lawson and Graeme Wood among them – most of whom corroborate the thesis which Ryan advances. In simple yet evocative prose, Ryan tells the often disturbing story of the systematic undermining of the captaincy of Kim Hughes by these giants of the game. The era of Lillee and Marsh and the Chappells was drawing to a close – Chappell Senior had already retired, and his brother Greg was taking on the captaincy of the Australian side as and when he saw fit – but for whatever reason, these four senior players chose to make life as hard for Hughes as they possible could while they were still around. Bowling ninety mile per hour bouncers at him in the nets, ignoring his decisions on the field, goading him in pitch-side pre-game interviews, insulting him in the books they brought out – there seem to be no depths to which this coterie of legendary Aussie stars would not sink to bring down the man they despised. And why was he so despised? Because he wasn’t one of the boys. Hughes never fitted into the tried and true mould of rough and ready Aussie cricketers who played hard and drank even harder, who gave no quarter and were renowned and often despised for their competitive edge. And because he was not one of the lads, the lads decided to destroy his career. This is a fascinating read, ideal for anyone who likes a dose of reality and welcomes having their illusions destroyed. Set against the backdrop of Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket (in which Hughes never played) and dealing in detail with the often overlooked subject of the fate of the journeyman cricketer, in the team one day and out the next, it is the sad but compelling story of the Aussie captain who could have been so much more, and the ‘heroes’ of the game who didn’t want him to be.

Dennis Lillee - Menace (The Autobiography) Publisher: Headline Date of publication: 2003 RRP: Paperback £6.99 Reviewer: Spam

When I was growing up, my dad, a fine fast bowler himself, used to bang on about the great and fiery Dennis Lillee. The Aussie certainly looked the part on our cheap fuzzy tv, but I also remember Botham spanking him to all corners of Headingley (apparently when Lillee was well past his best). The book does touch on a bet that Lillee and Marsh placed at 500-1 on England winning that remarkable test in ‘81, and it is a fine example of Lillee refusing to whitewash any areas of his past. The book isn’t a spectacular read, but it’s extremely enlightening. It perhaps surprises you with it’s thoughtful takes on events and circumstances which formed the background to one of cricket’s more colourful and tastier careers. Highlights would include his clash with Javed Miandad, his use of an aluminium bat, the eccentric Doug Walters (almost worth a book on it’s own), and of course Rod Marsh’s attempt to break the boozing record on a transatlantic flight. Dennis doesn’t dwell on his statistics with the ball, and instead chooses to chronicle his ups and downs whilst giving plenty of insights into the Aussie sporting mentality. It is a surprisingly reserved read (coming from Lillee), but one I would heartily recommend to everyone bar the ubiquitous pie-chucker amongst us.

Michael Simkins - Fatty Batter Publisher: Fontana Press Date of publication: 1987 RRP: n/a Reviewer: Mincer

Fatty Batter presents the story of one man's life and how cricket has 'made his life and then ruined it'. Michael Simkins the author, is the son of a Brighton sweetshop owner, whose idea of stock taking was more taking the stock and eating it rather than counting it. A child blessed with little or no sporting ability and a significant waistline had largely been excluded from sport. However on a grainy TV screen in the back of his dad's shop he is introduced to the batting exploits of a 20 stone biffer by the name of Colin Milburn, someone with whom Simkins immediately associates and hero worships. He realises that his Body Mass Index need not prevent him from his dream of becoming an international level sportsman and a deep love of the game is born. As with Rain Men and Penguins (reviewed above) after years of failure and rejection, Simkins realises the only way to realise his dreams is to create his own team 'The Harry Baldwin's Occasionals'. The book focuses on the fortunes of the team, but also  on how the game has really got under his skin; just as an alcoholic will find any excuse for a drink, Simkins will find any excuse to watch or play the game. There is a degree of hazy reminiscence, but it is never overdone and I think the book is as much about being British as it is about cricket. I bought the book on recommendation of a friend and I read it in two sessions whilst sitting on the pavilion steps waiting for the rain to end. Heartily recommended despite the initial chapters being a little slow, but they really set the scene for the rest of the book.

Harry Thompson - Penguins Stopped Play (Eleven Village Cricketers Take on the World) Publisher: John Murray Date of publication: 2007 RRP: Paperback £6.99 Reviewer: Mincer

Another book spawned by the Captain Scott's XI featured in Rain Men by Marcus Berkmann. The main concept of the book is around the most illogical, improbable of cricket tours i.e. to play a game on all continents as part of the tour. The book, as befits one of the original writers of Have I Got News for You, is sharply written, hilarious and ultimately touching. The book is part travel, part cricket, part farce all tied together quite brilliantly by Thompson. If you are looking for an amusing book that presents caricatures who we have all met during our cricketing lives, that doesn't require a great deal of thought, then this is the book for you and moreover you want a good laugh, then this is the book for you. Having read both Rain Men and Penguins, I would rate this one on a par if not better.

Marcus Trescothick - Coming back to me (The Autobiography) Publisher: HarperSport Date of publication: 2008 RRP: Paperback £8.99 Reviewer: Del Boy

Ah, Trescothick. Perennial England opener, magnificent slip catcher, 2005 Ashes Winner, OBE, and if the tabloids are to be believed, mad as a fish. Widely believed to be the best batsman in England still, Mr Very Scothick puts the record straight in the absorbing, funny and soulful autobiography. Thankfully the childhood and early career is kept to a minimum, giving the reader just enough to understand how "Banger" came to be selected for England, and then pow, we're off into the world of match after match, tour after tour, panic attack after panic attack. Trescothick tackles the issues of his "stress-related illness" straight on and is remarkably candid about how this physical illness affected him both on and off the field, and even the most hardened reader would find it difficult to be unmoved by the account. Add to this a clear and concise commentary of the ups and downs of the England dressing room and back room staff and you have a mighty compelling read, and there's not a hint of the ghost writer - you really get a sense that this is all from the horses mouth. A definite 5 “funnel” book this one, as it truly does have it all - battles, demons, triumphs, runs, one test wicket, but and above all, guts and determination. And he's still the finest batsman in England.

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