Bedtime Tales for Cricket Tragics
Martin Chandler |Published: 2025
Pages: 193
Author: Lemon, Geoff and Collins, Adam
Publisher: Fairfield Books
Rating: 3.5 stars
I have to confess to never having listened to The Final Word Podcast, by all accounts an entertaining listen hosted by Lemon and Collins. But after reading through this collection of the tales told by the historical spin off from the main pod perhaps I should, as both men show a great feel for the history of the game, and they can certainly tell a good story.
The publisher’s blurb, and one should always be wary of blurbs, describes the book as perfect for the casual cricket fan and would make an excellent Christmas or birthday gift. For once however I can certainly agree with this one.
Bedtime Tales for Cricket Tragics does not sound like a title for a taxing read, and it isn’t. There is nothing new between its covers, but no one can accuse the authors of not having done their research thoroughly. One of the many stories told in the book is the oft quoted tale of Bobby Peel’s sacking by Yorkshire in 1897, often said erroneously to have been for urinating on the pitch, but Lemon and Collins haven’t fallen for that one.
And that is typical of the stories in the book . Incidents from the history of the game are described in detail. A few are well known and a few obscure. The majority are, for the tragic amongst us, incidents you are aware of but perhaps not familiar with the detail of.
A good example comes in the very first chapter. I was certainly aware of that remarkable match that took place in Pakistan in 1965 when Railways declared their first innings at 910-6 before bowling out Dera Ismail Khan for 32 and 27, but the detail and background as related by Lemon and Collins were certainly new to me.
That there is an Australian flavour to many of the chapters is understandable given that both authors are from down under. From the downing of an England touring side by a team of 22 men of Castlemaine in 1861/62 there are plenty of fine stories, none of them at all recent.
A personal favourite? Possibly the one I knew next to nothing about before picking up the book. That there had in the 1930s been a woman cricketer from Australia named Peggy Antonio I did know, but I had no idea at all just what a remarkable all-rounder she was.
But there are plenty of other cracking subjects featured in Bedtime Tales for Cricket Tragics. There are 22 chapters in all looking at subjects as diverse as Australia’s potential answer to Bodyline, Laurie Nash and the indigenous player of the early twentieth century Jack Marsh.
From England there is the strange case of the single appearance for Sussex in 1919 of war hero Harold Heygate and the story of Frank Ryan, a hard living cricketer who despite some tendencies to excess did much to hold Glamorgan cricket together in the county’s early years.
And just to ensure that I make it clear that the book stretches well beyond the geographical confines of England and Australia there are also chapters on Aftab Baloch, he of the innings of 428, on the legendary Philadelphian swing bowler Bart King and on the Pataudis.
Bedtime Tales for Cricket Tragics is an easy read and an enjoyable one and, as the publishers say, just the sort of book that will tempt anyone who reads it and does not already warrant the description to join the ranks of the tragics amongst us.
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