cricket with balls

Today I thought I would pimp someone elses book for a change.

Recently I received a surprise in my letterbox.

A nice one.

A re-issued copy of Gideon Haigh’s seminal piece on the  south yarra cricket club (the yarras), the Vincibles.

It happened to appear when England were playing South Africa in a 2020 match, and I was trying to keep one eye on the match, but I couldn’t.

Instead I read the entire book in one go. That is very rare for me, general I flick, I read bits on trains, and then eventually I finish a book through sheer luck.

I loved it.

Obviously I am partial to writing about club cricket, but even so this was a great.

It reminded me of playing cricket in Australia.

Through the magic of the internet we can even look at Gideon’s career.

He is a specialist at making 70 odds.

His bowling, off spin (or as he called it recently cricket’s rubbish skill), is also pretty handy, with a best of 6 for 6 on what was probably an early season sticky wicket.

The book is way better than a nuggety 70odd or an assy 6 for, it is a stylish hundred or a hard earned 8 for.

There is very little about cricket in this, mostly it is about blokes, taking the piss and being involved in a group so badly run that everyone does everything and nothing ever gets done till the last minute.

Once you’ve bought my book, read it, loved it, get this, Gideon at his best.