All So Enjoyable 

Archie Mac | 9:17am GMT 25 January 2026

Published: 2023
Pages: 71
Author: Auger, Trevor
Publisher: The Cricket Publishing Company
Rating: 3.5 stars

After all these years, unless it’s about 20/20, it’s rare that I know little to nothing about the subject of a book I read. All So Enjoyable is one such book, being the biography of John Sparling – a New Zealand Test cricketer who played 11 Tests during the 1950s and ‘60s. Some of the blame for Sparling being unknown to a lot of Aussie fans is due to the shabby treatment of our Kiwi neighbours by those in charge of Australian cricket at the time. New Zealand, despite being the closest ICC country to Australia, was not invited to tour for a Test series until the 1970s.

The book starts with a forward by Ronald Cardwell, who is also listed as an editor, so we know we are in good hands. Cardwell was billeted with Sparling in 1968, when a member of the NSW schoolboy team that toured New Zealand.  Over 50 years later the two remain in contact.

All So Enjoyable, begins Sparling’s story with his sporting achievements at school, which have the ring of a Boy’s Own Annual. Sparling was dominant at athletic events, a decent hockey player, as well as captaining the school Rugby Union team. In fact, Sparling preferred the ‘muddy oafs’ game before a dislocated shoulder ended his dreams. He was always a fine cricketer, captain of his school team and dominating both the batting and bowling averages. Sparling was also a prefect and a fine scholar as befitted a future lawyer.

At age 19, Sparling was in the early stages of his cricket career and was as surprised as anyone to be selected for the 1958 England tour. Unfortunately for the tourists they encountered one of the wettest summers and on uncovered pitches were cannon fodder for the spin twins, Messrs Jim Laker and Tony Lock. The former had coached Sparling as a junior. Despite the weather, Sparling impressed the celebrated radio cricket commentator John Arlott with both his defensive lower order batting and well flighted off-spin.

After a promising beginning, Sparling was a walk up start for New Zealand’s next tour to South Africa. For the Kiwis it was a stellar result as they won their first Test away from home, and eventually shared their first overseas series.  Personally this was not a good series for Sparling after he struggled with being regularly shuffled in the batting order. To make matters worse, the legendary New Zealand captain, John Reid, normally a medium pacer, changed to off-spin due to a knee injury, which further reduced Sparling’s chances to contribute to the team. The Australian cricket author R.S. Whitington*, who was living in South Africa at the time, wrote a book on the tour and in it proffers the opinion that due to the lack of a big score early, Sparling fell into bad habits outside the off stump. Whitington praised him as one of the best cover fieldsmen in world cricket.

In his mid 20s with seemingly a bright future, and despite a first class career that would last years, Sparling’s Test career was over. I won’t spoil it here and divulge how that came about.

This is the first book I have read by author Trevor Auger, but I hope it won’t be the last. He writes with clarity and has an economical style which makes reading his prose a pleasure. This book, being from one of CricketWeb’s favourite publishers has all the hallmarks the cricket book reader could want; a full index, statistical appendix, and bibliography, as well as being printed on quality paper.

*I actually have a copy of John Reid’s Kiwis. It’s the only cricket book written by ‘Dick’ Whitington I have not read. I have overlooked it mainly because I always thought this series was a nil all draw. Now I know it was a 2-2 finish, I will have to dust it off and review it for CricketWeb.