Cover Drive?

By Ged Ladd
April 11 2009

As the curtain goes up on the 2009 season, Ged Ladd reviews an excellent book of miscellany for those cricket lovers who like to do their cricket reading in season. And while Cricket Lovely Cricket? isn't exactly busrting with new revelations, it should entertain and amuse almost anyone who cares to dip into it. Or indeed those who, like Ged, read it from cover to cover.   

Lawrence Booth is the infant terrible of cricket journalism at the moment.  He instigated the highly original column and e-shot “The Spin” in the Guardian, as well as the innovative on-line ball-by-ball commentary.

His latest book, Cricket Lovely Cricket?  Came out in time for the Christmas market, but my review copy did not arrive soon enough for me to review it before Christmas.  It seemed sensible, therefore, to save the review until the start of the season,  when many addicts restock their cricket book shelves.  And this is a book for addicts.  Indeed, the subtitle is “an addict’s guide to the world’s most exasperating game”.

The book is basically a quirky miscellany, written in Lawrence Booth’s signature, witty style.  The book is divided into themed chapters:

·         The Players

·         The Teams

·         The Tactics

·         The Passion

·         The Shame

·         The Umpires

·         The Fans

·         The Media

·         The Language

·         The Future

In “The Players”, we learn that our heroes are not always as heroic as we’d like to believe.  There’s also plenty of room for adages (some of them classics) about players’ pranks.   Or wizard wheezes, as the old school might put it.  The inner child in me especially likes the idea of Ian Botham putting Nasser Hussein’s shoes in the deep freeze while Nasser was taking a nap.  But you can take your pick.  I also like the story about Lawrence himself facing a bored Freddie Flintoff bowling at 50% effort.

The Teams concentrates on each of the test-playing nations.  As is often his way, in his efforts to send up cricketing clichés and stereotypes, Lawrence Booth recycles much of the material he maligns.  But as always, there are some great yarns along the way and some wonderful off-beat descriptions.   I particularly like the description of Arjuna Ranatunga as Mr Toad from Wind in the Willows.  Classic.

Similarly, The Tactics has some excellent anecdotes, several of which I had heard before but some I had not.  New to me was Gubby Allen’s non-sledge that perhaps broke the concentration of The Don in the bodyline series.

The Passion is essentially about The Ashes and why it matters.  The Shame is essentially about cricket’s darker corners, where fair play isn’t always entirely.....um....fair.  The Umpires uncovers some more of those more awkward stories – I suspect there is nothing new for me to learn about Mike Gatting and Shakoor Rana, but I still enjoyed reading the story from Lawrence Booth’s angle.

The discussion steps back from the core game a bit when he talks about the fans (not looked after enough) and the media (home turf for our boy).  In “The Language” he returns partially to the territory he covered in the excellent book Arm Ball To Zooter.  Lawrence Booth’s take on the future is optimistic, as you might hope or expect from a younger journalist.  It is also reasonably predictable; India and Twenty20 to increase in significance.

This certainly is not the most original cricket book ever, but it was a most enjoyable read.  For those of you who like to whet your appetite with some gentle cricket reading at the start of the season, it should be ideal.  Anyone who read Arm Ball To Zooter and wants some more should be very pleased with this book.  And for those who haven’t read Arm Ball To Zooter, I’d recommend reading both.  

Cricket Lovely Cricket is available in all good outlets and also through Amazon (price correct at time of publishing, but please check price e before buying):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cricket-Lovely-Addicts-Worlds-Exasperating/dp/022407914X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239366257&sr=1-1

Cricket, Lovely Cricket?: An Addict's Guide to the World's Most Exasperating Game (Paperback)

by Lawrence Booth (Author)  

Product details

·         Paperback: 272 pages

·         Publisher: Yellow Jersey Press (21 Aug 2008)

·         Language English

·         ISBN-10: 022407914X

·         ISBN-13: 978-0224079143

·         Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.4 x 2.4 cm   

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