It may seem like the wrong time of the year to talk cricket. It's cold, wet, muddy (but still not really snowing in the right places). We've just had the shortest day (and the longest night). The Super 15 is heading into sudden death, the Silver Ferns are off to claim another world title (albiet in the slightly warmer climes of Singapore) and everywhere you look there are adverts for that other winter game's World Cup (the oval ball one). But somewhere in the world, it is summer and people are playing cricket. Long summer days, a gentle breeze and a cold drink. As we head into the coldest wettest part of winter we have just selected a new Black Caps captain and there are plenty of people out there who are hanging out for cricket season again. A colleague in Auckland Central is one of them. So here for your enjoyment is Annie's Top 5 cricket reads.
I don’t like cricket. No. I love it. Ah. Summer. The strains of ‘Dreadlock holiday’ run through my mind. And, I sit back and relax. Watching cricket. Doesn’t really matter whose playing. The secret – especially for test matches – is that you can do something else while it’s on. Look up and see the replays. Go those Ashes. You should have seen the look on the sales assistant’s face when I asked for an AM/FM radio – not a fancy-dancy MP3 / i-thingy... AM completely necessary – how else will I get Radio Sport and cricket commentary while commuting to and from work?
To honour the joy cricket brings, here are my top 5 cricket reads.
To honour the joy cricket brings, here are my top 5 cricket reads.
5. Howzat!: Hadlee's tales from the boundary / Sir Richard Hadlee.
Hadlee spend a lot of time taking wickets, scoring runs, and collecting yarns. If you need a few laughs, then check out this collection of the best yarns. And there are some goodies here.
4. Cricket speak / Justin Brown
Confused by cricket? Then this entertaining volume will help clear things up.
3. NIPS XI / Ruth Starke
Such fun! A real insight into how pervasive cricket is in Australia – and the lives of migrant children.
2. Christmas in Rarotonga / John Wright.
Find out more about the Black Caps’ coach in this entertaining read. Reminisce about the days when New Zealand cricket nearly ruled the world. And the team wore beige. Someone in my family bought it for our dad many many years ago. It now lives at the family bach, and I happily re-read it while lazy around listening to crackly commentary on the radio. Just like the old days.
1. Penguins stopped play: eleven village cricketers take on the world / Harry Thompson.
This was such fun to read. A real celebration of cricket, and the ‘madness’ its tragics suffer. I’ve read this a couple of times, and highly recommend it. "It seemed a simple enough idea at the outset: to assemble a team of eleven men to play cricket on each of the seven continents of the globe. Except - hold on a minute - that's not a simple idea at all. And when you throw in incompetent airline officials, amorous Argentine Colonels' wives, cunning Bajan drug dealers, gay Australian waiters, overzealous American anti-terrorist police, idiot Welshmen dressed as Santa Claus, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and whole armies of pitch-invading Antarctic penguins, you quickly arrive at a whole lot more than you bargained for. Harry Thompson's hilarious book tells the story of one of those great idiotic enterprises that only an Englishman could have dreamed up, and only a bunch of Englishmen could possibly have wished to carry out." (Also available in large print and on audio)
Hadlee spend a lot of time taking wickets, scoring runs, and collecting yarns. If you need a few laughs, then check out this collection of the best yarns. And there are some goodies here.
4. Cricket speak / Justin Brown
Confused by cricket? Then this entertaining volume will help clear things up.
3. NIPS XI / Ruth Starke
Such fun! A real insight into how pervasive cricket is in Australia – and the lives of migrant children.
2. Christmas in Rarotonga / John Wright.
Find out more about the Black Caps’ coach in this entertaining read. Reminisce about the days when New Zealand cricket nearly ruled the world. And the team wore beige. Someone in my family bought it for our dad many many years ago. It now lives at the family bach, and I happily re-read it while lazy around listening to crackly commentary on the radio. Just like the old days.
1. Penguins stopped play: eleven village cricketers take on the world / Harry Thompson.
This was such fun to read. A real celebration of cricket, and the ‘madness’ its tragics suffer. I’ve read this a couple of times, and highly recommend it. "It seemed a simple enough idea at the outset: to assemble a team of eleven men to play cricket on each of the seven continents of the globe. Except - hold on a minute - that's not a simple idea at all. And when you throw in incompetent airline officials, amorous Argentine Colonels' wives, cunning Bajan drug dealers, gay Australian waiters, overzealous American anti-terrorist police, idiot Welshmen dressed as Santa Claus, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and whole armies of pitch-invading Antarctic penguins, you quickly arrive at a whole lot more than you bargained for. Harry Thompson's hilarious book tells the story of one of those great idiotic enterprises that only an Englishman could have dreamed up, and only a bunch of Englishmen could possibly have wished to carry out." (Also available in large print and on audio)
2 comments:
i also loved 'penguins stopped play'.
Another one to add might be Peter Pan's first XI by Kevin Telfer. The story of a cricket team started by JM Barrie & including luminaries such as arthur conan doyle.
I will have to check if Annie has read that one. In fact I might also pick up both that and Penguins stopped play and have a look myself (once I am at the bottom of my current pile of books)
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