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Best Tour Diary?

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
"Fox on the Run" by Graeme Fowler is 50% tour diary (England in India plus various one-day tournaments in 1984-5), 50% county season diary.
The mighty Foxy, one of my favourite cricketers ever - his autobiography 'Absolutely Foxed' that was published last year was excellent
 

TheGreatest

U19 Cricketer
The mighty Foxy, one of my favourite cricketers ever - his autobiography 'Absolutely Foxed' that was published last year was excellent
Yes, 'Absolutely Foxed' was brilliant. I hope if I can get any copy of his mentioned tour diary on ebay or abebooks. I have always admired Boycott, will try to get hold on this '81 tour book as soon as possible.

Thanks everyone!:D
 

TheGreatest

U19 Cricketer
While searching on ebay I came across a G.Gooch '81 diary titled: "GRAHAM GOOCH MY CRICKET DIARY '81- The West indies, Australia, India"

Has anyone read it?
 

AndrewB

International Vice-Captain
The mighty Foxy, one of my favourite cricketers ever - his autobiography 'Absolutely Foxed' that was published last year was excellent
This is going to sound pretty stupid when discussing a book which is partly about the author talking about his experiences with depression (which was very interesting)... but I was less keen on that because (in other parts) he came across as such a grumpy old git at times. Playing for Lancs, he gets told off when he breaks the dress code - "their priorities are all wrong - why does how I dress matter, when I'm scoring runs?". Playing for England in the 83 World Cup, they don't have a uniform - "this is stupid, we look like a shambles - they obviously don't care about this tournament." Other times as a player, he finds the rules a bit strict or petty, but when he's coaching at Durham University it's "Right, if you're a minute late for the bus you'll be left behind." I'm being harsh here, it's a good read, but I found him less likeable in it than I did in "Fox on the Run".
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
This is going to sound pretty stupid when discussing a book which is partly about the author talking about his experiences with depression (which was very interesting)... but I was less keen on that because (in other parts) he came across as such a grumpy old git at times. Playing for Lancs, he gets told off when he breaks the dress code - "their priorities are all wrong - why does how I dress matter, when I'm scoring runs?". Playing for England in the 83 World Cup, they don't have a uniform - "this is stupid, we look like a shambles - they obviously don't care about this tournament." Other times as a player, he finds the rules a bit strict or petty, but when he's coaching at Durham University it's "Right, if you're a minute late for the bus you'll be left behind." I'm being harsh here, it's a good read, but I found him less likeable in it than I did in "Fox on the Run".
I don't know if you read the result, but I got to interview Foxy for the site after the book was published - now granted I was a tad in awe, but he was hugely entertaining to talk to and was quite happy to natter away for as long as I wanted - one of the things I learnt was that the former Mrs Foxy seems to have been much like the last Mrs Fertang, so he has my sympathy to go with my undying admiration. One point along the lines of what you say did crop up though when I sent him a draft of what I was going to publish - he was happy with all of it except one bit which he asked me to remove, essentially because it contained the f word, which I found amusing because it was probably the only bit of the piece where I had actually quoted him verbatim
 

AndrewB

International Vice-Captain
Yes, I had read that - again, he comes across really well there.

To put it in some sort of context: if "Slightly Foxed" had been by pretty much any other cricketer, I'd doubtless just have thought "This is a great book". But as a young Lancs fan in the early 80s - no't a particularly glorious time for us - Foxy and Paul Allott getting into the England side at least gave us something to cheer, so he was basically my first cricketing hero; plus I really enjoyed "Fox on the Run", and he always came across really well on the radio - so (especially having read your review and interview :)) I had very high expectations. As it was, I was left thinking "This is a great book - but (at times) I wish he'd get over himself".
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
Some of Warwick's best.

"The match was a good one, marred by only one unfortunate incident (or two, if you count the fact we lost). It involved myself and a rather abusive English spectator who lunged at me as I was leaving the field. Instinctively I raised my bat, more out of self defence than any desire to hit him and, to my surprise, I hit him. Not only was I acting in self defence, if you look closely at the photos you'll see I was actually off the playing field when the altercation took place, therefore removing it from ICC jurisdiction and making it a private matter between me and the deceased".


"Whenever I'm dismissed I always make a point of either cursing loudly, knocking over the stumps, glaring at the umpire or tossing my bat. Sometimes all at once. Frankly, I think you owe it too the kids watching. That said, expressing disappointment at getting out can sometimes land you in hot water. A match against South Africa at the SCG last year springs to mind. I was given out in pretty dubious circumstances and as I was heading off the field, I kicked one of the South African's helmets about 10 metres in the air. Result: a $10 000 match fine. And I was forced to apologise to Adam Bacher, who was wearing the helmet at the time. So you've gotta take care".


"I knew this would be a valuable chance for me to show some form leading up to the next test... I'm pleased to say I wielded the willow today with power, aggression and timing. I'm not so pleased to say pretty much all of this wielding took place in the Aussie dressing room after I was given out lbw for 5".
"Facing the possibility of being dropped is every cricketer's worst nightmare (that, and having a tax audit)... Then came the announcement that was to change my life.
"Swampy began by saying he and the other selectors still believed in me and that there was definitely a place for me in the team. Same speech they once gave Dean Jones... Apparently I'm seen as a disruptive influence. That really hurt".


Of course, that was not the last we would be seeing of Toddy. Before long, he was asked if he was prepared to pull on the pads again and represent Australia. He said yes, and after a tour of India was selected for the Commonwealth Games squad. Australia ended up with silver, but as Todd recalls, the real dramas did not begin till later that night:
"Well, I won't dwell on the details. Most of them are a bit of a blur anyway. But we blew it. We came that close to a gold medal and then let it slip through our fingers.
"After the official medal ceremony was over we quickly regrouped and decided to head downtown to drown our sorrows with a few cleansing ales. However, back at the Games village word was out that there had been some political unrest in the capital and all athletes were being advised to stay well away. But we figured there couldn't be too much harm in visiting a few pubs so we grabbed a fleet of taxis and headed off for a quiet night on the town".
 

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