Father Marriott’s Summer Holidays

Martin Chandler | 9:16am BST 07 September 2025

Published: 2025
Pages: 168
Author: Bonnell, Max
Publisher: Red Rose Books
Rating: 4.5 stars

It is not like Max Bonnell, one of my favourite writers, to leave questions unanswered in his books. He certainly does in this one though, albeit I would have to concede it is hardly an important one. But I am still intrigued as to what persuaded him to write the book in the first place?

Bonnell has written some of the very best cricketing biographies, his subjects include ‘Dainty’ Ironmonger, Les Poidevin, Norman Callaway, Frank O’Keefe, Jack Marsh, ‘Horseshoe’ Collins, Tom Garrett, Sammy Jones, Roland Pope, Reginald Allen and John Kinloch, not to mention a partial biography of the legendary Victor Trumper.

Certain things can be relied on with Bonnell. His subjects are always thoroughly researched, and he always adds much to what the game’s literature already contains about thems. In addition he doesn’t try and fill in the gaps in a story if a fact cannot be found. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t on occasions indulge in a spot of informed speculation, but he always explains his reasoning, and never takes a flyer – which just goes to show that whilst you can take a lawyer out of the law, you can never remove his legal training.

But I digress. The men in that list of Bonnell’s previous subjects have a few things in common. They are all Australian for one. All are long dead for another. None, the iconic Trumper aside, are famous names, and all led interesting lives.

So why then write up the life of Charles (or Charlie if you prefer, as per his birth certificate) Stowell Marriott? After all Marriott is, despite being educated in Ireland, a quintessential English amateur, a schoolmaster who only turned out in the First Class game during the school holidays and has no connection, family or otherwise, with Australia.

I thought there may have been a preface or introduction that explained the answer to that one, but no, so I am forced to try and work out the answer myself and, having done so, I can conceive of three possible explanations.

First of all I wonder whether Bonnell might have an interest in the Great War? He begins the book with an introduction that deals primarily with an incident from that terrible conflict when Marriott, a 21 year old Lieutenant, demonstrated exceptional courage in the face of enemy fire. Was Marriott’s eventful war service, which seems almost certainly to have left him with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the catalyst for Bonnell’s interest?

Having made the suggestion I suspect however that it is unlikely to provide the answer. There is nothing on Bonnell’s Wikipedia page or on his LinkedIn profile to suggest that the history of the Great War is a particular passion for him.

But what about poetry? It turns out that post war Marriott formed a close friendship with Edmund Blunden, and also knew Siegfried Sassoon. Both are noted for their war sonnets and their cricketing interest. The extensive correspondence that Bonnell discovered in Blunden’s archive is fascinating, and sheds a great deal of light on Marriott’s character.

My google search on Bonnell reveals a reference to an interest in Art History, but not poetry, so I suspect that is probably not the answer either. Which leaves just one other possibility. Marriott’s only cricketing ability was his leg spin bowling, and he was certainly a prodigious talent. Over 18 summers he took 711 wickets at just 20.11. Famously he also played for England just once, and had a match haul off 11-96.

With a most unusual bowling action the tall and gangling Marriott would doubtless have played more for England had he not been a modest fielder and a poor batsman. Marriott comfortably took more wickets than he scored runs, that classic measure of a paucity of batting ability, making just 574 runs at 4.41.

So in cricketing terms alone Marriott is an interesting character, and he did write a book, The Complete Leg Break Bowler, albeit it was published in 1968, two years after his death. It is, essentially, a treatise on wrist spin bowling, but that isn’t quite all as there is an introductory chapter that is essentially autobiographical. Bonnell never played First Class cricket but his entry on CricketArchive demonstrates he must have been a decent club cricketer so, perhaps, in his youth he aspired to be the next Richie Benaud and had acquired a copy of Marriott’s book?

In truth of course the reason why Bonnell wrote the book is irrelevant, and the important thing is that he has, and that the book is well up to his usual standard. It is thoroughly researched, well written, contains a decent selection of photographs (including more than one of Marriott’s highly unusual delivery stride), all the important statistics and a decent index. There isn’t very much else to say, other than that this is a fine book, and a copy should be in every cricket lovers library.

There are 30 hardback copies of Father Marriott’s Summer Holidays and an unrestricted number of paperbacks which are available in the UK direct from the publisher, and in Australia from Roger Page.