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.

I am not sure why I use the word review, I don’t really review. Mostly I give broad sweeping good thoughts. And the reason i don’t give bad thoughts is because i don’t review things here I don’t like.

Gideon Haigh’s new book, his 736th, is something i like.

Online the book is still called, “The Ultimate Test: The Story of the 2009 Ashes Series“.

Gideon knew that no one would take that seriously and instead has used the extremely self-aware comment from Strauss upon England winning the Ashes.

The book is not without fault, there is no chapter about Gideon meeting me, and the front cover has a ginger northern man making the international symbol for the letter Y.

Once inside the book, it is a thing of beauty, a joy forever. Which makes it nothing like the series itself.

Reading Gideon is like drinking the top single malt Scottish Whisky. It’s a smooth enjoyable feeling, and even when he is talking about Brum you feel like you are in your happy place.

Gideon is the cricket writer’s writer.

Friends of mine talk about him like goth schoolgirls talk about those moody looking vamps in Twilight.

In 2005 this book would probably already be a best seller, but in the wake of the Bopara Hauritz series people aren’t looking forward to shelling with their cash, for this book they should.

This is a small section on Ian Bell:

“Perhaps the most intriguing is Bell. In mathematics, a bell curve describes the mathematical depiction of data clustered around a mean. In cricket, a Bell curve describes a tendency in scores to produce a Test average of 40 while nonetheless remaining largely devoid of character or authority. “

Imagine if I wrote that, it would end up with Ian Bell naked in a bird cage. Gideon makes it classy while slipping his velvet slipper nicely into Bell’s ribs.

If you are going to buy only one Ashes book this year, perhaps you should wait a month or so, but if you are going to buy a couple I suggest this should be one of them.

Available with free worldwide delivery here.