Atherton has the qualities required on an opening batsman, he is single minded and extremely boring. Which is great news if you are scoring 189 against South Africa and batting for 3 days, but perhaps not the sort of chap you want writing an interesting book. Mind you, "Athers" never forgets to remind us how great he thought he was throughout the book, with plenty of gripping text such as "I was only 3 days old, but as I gripped hard onto my soother, I knew how great I was and how one day, I would be England Captain". And "I was batting for Manchester Grammar against Scumtown Boys Academy for Under-Privileged Skangers and had no qualms about teaching them a lesson by batting all day for a gritty seven not out, despite the fact that these oiks had to practice on a football pitch covered in dog turds, I had to because one day I was destined to be England Captain". Don't be expecting to see a lot of "knob gags" or hilarious accounts of how Jack Russell once got a Weetabix stuck up his bum, but if you are into gaining an insight into how great Mike Atherton thinks he is, then this is the book for you.
