Cricket Books

[Snippie27]

Good stuff, would you consider writing a full review for CW?

Hey archie, well I've never written a formal review in my life. But if you guys are prepared to edit the **** out of it, especially seeing English is my second language, I'll try my hand at it

 

[archie mac]

Hey archie, well I've never written a formal review in my life. But if you guys are prepared to edit the **** out of it, especially seeing English is my second language, I'll try my hand at it

That would be great. Post here when you're ready and we will work out how to send it through.

 

[smash84]

I finished the Peter Kirsten (In the nick of time) book in basically one session today.

As a first foray into Cricketing bio's and Cricket books in general it was a very interesting read.

It spent a lot of time on his formative years at Selborne, SACS and later finding his feet for WP.

Enjoyed his take on the County scene, the five years he spent at Derbyshire and how he went from wide-eyed wonder, to feeling rudderless and unsure of his place in a cricketing landscape that still didn't offer him everything he wanted and felt he (rightly) deserved - National status - this was towards the end of SA's isolation.

I really enjoyed reading about the moment that made him a bit of a pariah in SA cricket for a while - running out Paddy Clift on a virtually dead ball, and then the interesting karma of being run out in similar circumstances by Kapil Dev a number of years later.

His move to Border right before his selection for the National squad, was well described and his reasoning makes a lot more sense on looking at it through the more intimate knowledge of everything that came before.

His description of the moment that our 92 dreams came to a crashing, rain-soaked halt is very real, and re-awakened the disbelief I remember feeling as a young 6-year old, that couldn't understand the intecracies of what exactly had happened on that fateful day... His experience shone through in the words he spoke that day to the team led by Kepler Wessels: "come on, guys. We've had a great tournament and done really well. Let's go out and say thanks to the crowd."

I do have some criticisms and complaints - some of the chapters' weren't that well structured, jumping back and forth through different events without clear focus, causing the reader to have to reread certain parts to be certain which game/match is being described.

I also felt more time could have been spent on the political ramifications of the rebel tours (in which he captained the SA team a number of times).

That being said it was an insightful read on a cricketer I had heard about from time to time, but mostly only in relation to the younger, more famous, Kirsten. From all accounts an interesting man that unfortunately, along with Pollock, Richardson, etc received a bad deal due to the political environment of their time...

Nice review dude. You are pretty good at your second language it seems.

 

[Snippie27]

Nice review dude. You are pretty good at your second language it seems.

Thank you, really appreciate it! I'll try to write the full review this week. Just making some notes and marking important bits right now.

I have another question on some books, but this time before I buy. I still have some cash available, but not that much, and am looking this time around to buy books that are both worth the read, and could be seen as an investment as well.

So far I have found the following that's piqued my interest, the Smith and Greig one I can buy together if I don't buy the others. The other two will probably have to be single buys.

Graeme Smith, Captain's diary. 2007-2009. Signed by Smith. 1st edition, but softcover.

Tony Greig, My Story, 1st edition, HC. Signed by Greig.

Both of these are selling for under $10 each.

Then there is Bouncers and Boundaries. Graeme and Peter Pollock. Signed by both Pollocks. HC. 1st edition.

Finally, I'm considering - The jubilee book of Cricket. 4th edition. 1897. Not signed


These last two are being sold for around $20 each.

What would you guys suggest as the best prospect. First priority for me is that it should be an interesting read, but investment potential is also a consideration.

 

[fredfertang]

Ranji's book is dire, and copies turn up on ebay in the UK and don't sell with a 99p start price - avoid at all costs is my advice

Greig's book is ok, but if you can get a signed copy for that go for it as that's a good price - if your priority is to read about the great man you'd be better off with David Tossell's bio

The Pollock book is similar - not a great read and published before they whitewashed Australia - but I'd buy it signed by both at that price for sure.

Graeme Smith's is probably a decent buy at $10, but only 'cos he's signed it

You should also bear in find that for collectors condition is everything so modern books really need to be in good nick with undamaged dust jackets - the Pollock one's jacket wasn't laminated so you can get away with that a bit more, but even signed it wouldn't be worth much with a scruffy jacket, and next to nothing without one at all

 

[jan]

Don't read the Walsh book, Heart of a lion is one of the worst cricket bios I have read

Thanks for warning, archie. Sadly it seems to be the only one on Walsh. To stay at fastbowling which one about Hadlee is worth buying?

 

[fredfertang]

Thanks for warning, archie. Sadly it seems to be the only one on Walsh. To stay at fastbowling which one about Hadlee is worth buying?

You've got a choice of Hadlee from 1981, At the Double from 1987, Rhythm and Swing from 1989 and Changing Pace from 2003 - the third one is the bulkiest, but tbh although all four are sat on my shelves I've not read any of them, but if I was going to I'd start with the last one

 

[Snippie27]

Ranji's book is dire, and copies turn up on ebay in the UK and don't sell with a 99p start price - avoid at all costs is my advice

Greig's book is ok, but if you can get a signed copy for that go for it as that's a good price - if your priority is to read about the great man you'd be better off with David Tossell's bio

The Pollock book is similar - not a great read and published before they whitewashed Australia - but I'd buy it signed by both at that price for sure.

Graeme Smith's is probably a decent buy at $10, but only 'cos he's signed it

You should also bear in find that for collectors condition is everything so modern books really need to be in good nick with undamaged dust jackets - the Pollock one's jacket wasn't laminated so you can get away with that a bit more, but even signed it wouldn't be worth much with a scruffy jacket, and next to nothing without one at all

Thank you very much for the input! First feeling was to go with the Smith and Greig books. Think I'll go with those this month, and if the Pollocks' book is still available, will buy that one next.

Thanks also for the warning on the Ranji one, will definitely be skipping that one!

 

[smash84]

Thank you, really appreciate it! I'll try to write the full review this week. Just making some notes and marking important bits right now.

I have another question on some books, but this time before I buy. I still have some cash available, but not that much, and am looking this time around to buy books that are both worth the read, and could be seen as an investment as well.

So far I have found the following that's piqued my interest, the Smith and Greig one I can buy together if I don't buy the others. The other two will probably have to be single buys.

Graeme Smith, Captain's diary. 2007-2009. Signed by Smith. 1st edition, but softcover.

Tony Greig, My Story, 1st edition, HC. Signed by Greig.

Both of these are selling for under $10 each.

Then there is Bouncers and Boundaries. Graeme and Peter Pollock. Signed by both Pollocks. HC. 1st edition.

Finally, I'm considering - The jubilee book of Cricket. 4th edition. 1897. Not signed


These last two are being sold for around $20 each.

What would you guys suggest as the best prospect. First priority for me is that it should be an interesting read, but investment potential is also a consideration.

If you want to read a really good cricket book (and yes I am biased) written by a cricketer then I would recommend getting All Round View by Imran Khan. Fred or Archie have read many more books so I'll defer to their judgment but I thought it was a really good book.

 

[Snippie27]

Ranji's book is dire, and copies turn up on ebay in the UK and don't sell with a 99p start price - avoid at all costs is my advice

Greig's book is ok, but if you can get a signed copy for that go for it as that's a good price - if your priority is to read about the great man you'd be better off with David Tossell's bio

The Pollock book is similar - not a great read and published before they whitewashed Australia - but I'd buy it signed by both at that price for sure.

Graeme Smith's is probably a decent buy at $10, but only 'cos he's signed it

You should also bear in find that for collectors condition is everything so modern books really need to be in good nick with undamaged dust jackets - the Pollock one's jacket wasn't laminated so you can get away with that a bit more, but even signed it wouldn't be worth much with a scruffy jacket, and next to nothing without one at all

If you want to read a really good cricket book (and yes I am biased) written by a cricketer then I would recommend getting All Round View by Imran Khan. Fred or Archie have read many more books so I'll defer to their judgment but I thought it was a really good book.

Thanks! I actually saw that one being sold for under $5 during my search for new books. Will see if it's still available, and buy it asap

 

[smash84]

that would be great....do let me know what you think of it when you get a chance to read it

 

[Coronis]

Does anyone know of any good encyclopedia style books on cricket? With player biographies etc. I remember reading such a book in my younger days and it was just amazing for me.

 

[fredfertang]

Does anyone know of any good encyclopedia style books on cricket? With player biographies etc. I remember reading such a book in my younger days and it was just amazing for me.

You're probably thinking of Barclay's World of Cricket which was a big coffee table book, the last edition of which appeared in the 1980s - I don't think anyone has or indeed could attempt anything similar now

 

[Coronis]

You're probably thinking of Barclay's World of Cricket which was a big coffee table book, the last edition of which appeared in the 1980s - I don't think anyone has or indeed could attempt anything similar now

Name rings a bell, sounds like the book. Thanks Fred!

 

[chasingthedon]

You've got a choice of Hadlee from 1981, At the Double from 1987, Rhythm and Swing from 1989 and Changing Pace from 2003 - the third one is the bulkiest, but tbh although all four are sat on my shelves I've not read any of them, but if I was going to I'd start with the last one

So, pertinent (or possibly impertinent) question, roughly how many of your 4000 or so cricket literary works have you read, Martin? Appreciate you're saving some for your long and happy retirement.

 

[davidmutton]

You're probably thinking of Barclay's World of Cricket which was a big coffee table book, the last edition of which appeared in the 1980s - I don't think anyone has or indeed could attempt anything similar now

Barclay's World of Cricket is delightfully pointless (it was fairly pointless back in the day, now it is totally pointless). Yet I love it, for all its anachronisms. I even wrote about a while ago (mainly because I had a great title: The Silly Mid Off: E.W. Swanton and the joy of text)

 

[fredfertang]

So, pertinent (or possibly impertinent) question, roughly how many of your 4000 or so cricket literary works have you read, Martin? Appreciate you're saving some for your long and happy retirement.

From cover to cover not that many - 15% ish, which, when there was a Mrs Fertang, made it difficult to justify carrying on buying them, but one of the positives from writing features for CW is that I use them more and I must have consulted at some point or other about 75% of them now, so I can now satisfy myself that they are a necessary expenditure - of course the problem is that the ****ing bitch has all the cash now so I have to be careful, but hey ho such is life, and at least I don't have to put up with her evil scowl anymore, and I have managed to set aside sufficient funds to have a good day at Hove next Sunday where there is to be a gathering of cricket book dealers selling their wares at the County Ground

 

[smash84]

from Hove it reminds me. Get some Imran memorabilia

 

[archie mac]

Thanks for warning, archie. Sadly it seems to be the only one on Walsh. To stay at fastbowling which one about Hadlee is worth buying?

I have only read R&S - and that was a few years ago. Remember it being OK but would go with Fred's advice and read his latest one

 

[TheGreatest]

Has anyone read Malcolm Marshall's autobiography "Marshall Arts" is it worth....was thinking about buying it from ebay.

Besides Marshall are there any good books from other West Indian quickies like Holdings, Garner, Roberts, Wes Hall, have read " No Holding Back" found it disappointing.

Would appreciate if anyone can recommend good ones related to the West Indian domination of late 70's & 80's.