On Cricket

by Mike Brearley

Overview

'A treasure of recollections and reactions, talking heroes, controversies and big themes' i paper

'Brearley is at his best in these quirky, delightful essays when he is exploring the human qualities of humbler players . . . Brearley's admiration for his friends' decency, craftsmanship and modesty seems to recall a golden age of country cricket' The Times

'Brearley has a knack for paying respect to the past without denigrating the present and for calmly considering the future' Mail on Sunday

Mike Brearley was arguably one of England's finest cricket captains; not just for his outstanding record leading his country but also for the way he orchestrated, during the 1981 Ashes series, one of the most extraordinary reversals in sporting history.

In this collection of sparkling essays, Brearley reflects on the game he has come to know so well. He ranges from the personal - the influence of his Yorkshire father and the idols of his youth - to controversial aspects of the professional game, including cheating, corruption, and innovation, the latter often being on a borderline between genius and rebellion.

Brearley also evaluates his heroes (amongst them Viv Richards, Bishan Bedi and Dennis Lillee), the game changers, the outstanding wicketkeepers, the 'Indian-ness' of four generations of Indian batsmen and the important commentators (including Harold Pinter, John Arlott and Ian Chappell). The Ashes, the most sustained love-hate relationship in the history of sport and key to Brearley's test-playing career, are raked over. Central to the book is an important section on race and cricket, and the legacy of C. L. R. James.

Insightful and humorous, On Cricket is an intelligent exposition of the game's idiosyncratic culture and its enduring appeal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472129468
Publisher:	Little, Brown Book Group
Publication date:	08/20/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Mike Brearley OBE was educated at Cambridge, where he read classics and moral sciences, and captained the university. He played for Middlesex County Cricket Club intermittently from 1961 to 1983, captaining the side from 1971 to 1982. He first played for England in 1976 and captained the side from 1977 to 1980, winning seventeen test matches and losing only four. He was recalled to the captaincy in 1981 for the Ashes home series, leading England to one of their most famous victories. Since retiring from cricket in 1982, he trained and continues to work as a psychoanalyst, and is a lecturer on leadership and motivation. He is the author of the bestselling The Art of Captaincy and On Form, and has written on cricket and the psychology of sport for the Observer and most recently The Times. He lives in London.

Table of Contents

'Are We Going to the Same Place?' xi

Part 1 From Heckmondwike to Lord's

1 The Football Cap 3

2 Then I Knew We Had a Chance' 14

3 The Darling Buds of May 22

Part 2 The Ashes

4 The Gnawed Umbrella Handle and the Burned Bail 33

5 Raking Through the Ashes 36

6 A Late Developer (or: My Lucky Breaks) 43

7 Almost Losing a Dominion 48

8 Four Images from the 2006-7 Series 60

9 Giants 66

Part 3 Heroes

10 What Makes a Hero? 75

11 'In My Opinion' 80

12 'Michael Boy' 84

13 From Wot to Fot 90

14 Whispering Death 100

15 Caleb Garth: the Craftsman 108

Part 4 Cricket and Race

16 Crises in Cricket 119

17 'Batting like a Gorilla 124

18 'Nice Bonking Pace' 128

19 'We Picked Him' 135

20 'Half a Good Night' 146

21 Bible and Passion 153

22 The Zimbabwe Affair 158

23 Cometh the Hour 166

Part 5 Cheating and Corruption

24 Not Common-or-Garden Cheating 183

25 Ball Tampering: Disenchantment 191

26 The Sting: Lord's 2010 198

27 The Spirit of Cricket 205

Part 6 Game Changers

28 Scoops, Switch-hits and Helmets at Short Mid-on 219

29 Father of Reverse Swing 227

30 The Doosra and the Splint 234

31 'Naaaaaagh, That's No Good!' 241

Part 7 Indian Batsmanship

32 Supping with the Devil 251

33 'When I First Saw the English Bowling' 260

34 The Indian Bradman 267

35 The Bridge 273

Part 8 Commentators

36 From the Commentary Box 283

37 'Desperately Good' 285

38 'Another Time, Another Time' 293

39 Endgame 298

40 They've Not Got the Singles Going' 303

41 What Do They Know of Cricket… 308

Part 9 Wicket-Keepers

42 Behind the Timbers 323

43 Elegance 326

44 'What Do You Think This Is, Randall?' 332

45 The Flea 338

46 Not Yet the King of Albania 345

Part 10 Aesthetics

47 The Art of the Masses 353

48 The Beautiful Game 361

Part 11 Back to the Beginning

49 Summer County 383

Notes and References 388

Acknowledgements 397

Image Credits 399

Index 401

Editorial Reviews

Fascinating—Choice

Delightful new book . . . Brearley has a knack for paying respect to the past without denigrating the present and for calmly considering the future—Mail on Sunday

Brearley is at his best in these quirky, delightful essays when he is exploring the human qualities of humbler players . . . Brearley's admiration for his friends' decency, craftsmanship and modesty seems to recall a golden age of county cricket—The Times

Brearley speaks with understated authority on the matter. His words are all the more powerful for that—Sunday Express

A treasure of recollections and reactions, talking heroes, controversies and big themes—i paper

Brearley has a gentle, measured intellect that is warming and intriguing rather than intimidating or irritating . . . Brearley has a rare ability to read the game and its participants with delicacy and precision, like a tailor unpicking a collection of knotted threads—Wisden Cricket Monthly

His relaxed, dextrous, style achieves what most authors aspire to do: make their narrative sound as though they're speaking directly to the reader . . . His cumulative experience, humour and honesty make for a compelling read. Let's hope for a second volume of On Cricket—Dorset Echo

A book full of wisdom and sharp observation—Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians

Brearley is best when writing about character and thought processes—King Cricket

His cumulative experience, humour and honesty make for a compelling read—Birmingham Post

Mike Brearley is a cultured and intelligent man . . . able elegantly to assess his colleagues and predecessors, as he does with customary grace in his latest volume—Robert Crampton, The Times

A box of delights containing bitesize pieces on colourful individuals, burning issues and memorable events—Shomit Dutta, Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher