The Cricket Society 

The winner
LIFE BEYOND THE AIRING CUPBOARD - John Barclay
Publisher - Fairfield Books
The current President of The Cricket Society presents a view of his life and career, laced with humour and customary self-deprecation, which almost hides the fact that here was a cricketer who played and matched the very best. Honest about his perception of where he stood in relation to others, the book is not afraid to delve into dark corners where other books are sometimes reluctant to go. John Barclay reveals himself here as witty, modest, honest, sensitive and possessed of considerably more facets than might have been guessed at, had this engaging book not been written.

Shortlisted
POMMIES – England Cricket Through an Australian Lens - William Buckland
Publisher - Matador
A detailed analysis of what is seen as the underlying malaise that currently affects English cricket occupies the opening part of this first cricket book by an author who has experienced both club cricket in England and grade cricket in Australia. How the problems are to be solved occupies the remainder of the book and William Buckland is not afraid to be controversial in his view of a root and branch assault of what is seen here as a sport in danger of terminal decline. Cogently argued throughout, the book will, no doubt, attract both passionate support and opposition.

Shortlisted
CAPTAIN OF THE CROWD – Albert Craig - Tony Laughton
Publisher - Boundary Books
Early research by John Arlott is revised and extended here by Tony Laughton into a biography of a character who might have sprung fully-fledged from a Dickens novel. With a foreword from the estimable David Frith, Craig's extraordinary life and work and his sad but all too typical end are chronicled masterfully by the author with the realisation that here was a ‘one-off' who would not pass this way again. Shades of Palgrave's Golden Treasury abound with Craig's rhymes and if he had had any sporting inclination, one could well imagine Horace Rumpole enlivening dull Chambers meetings with selected quotes from this singular rhymester.

Shortlisted
NETHERLAND - Joseph O'Neill
Publisher - Fourth Estate
Unusual to find a work of fiction in the running for this award but Joseph O'Neill's work deals with cricket as a means of redemption in a New York landscape literally torn apart by the events of 11th September 2001. Provoking and thought-provoking as the book tours the Boroughs of New York, the main protagonist, a Dutch oil analyst, meditates on whether or not normal life can continue in an abnormal world and finds an unlikely answer when he resumes his cricketing life. Then, as he becomes enmeshed in the schemes and machinations of a larger than life fellow-player, his personal life becomes less straight-forward.

ROCKLEY WILSON - Martin Howe
Publisher - ACS Publications
A biography of a Yorkshire cricketer who at the age of 41 found himself a heartbeat or, at least, a sprained ankle away from the captaincy of his country. Martin Howe writes lucidly and entertainingly of a man whose impeccable amateur credentials stood somewhat at odds with his contemporary journalism. Details of the conflict between these two activities are covered here with a full appreciation of a life both inside and outside of cricket together with how the cherubic Rockley Wilson lived his life when his long first-class career came to an end.

SIX OF THE BEST – Cricket’s Most Famous Over - Grahame Lloyd
Publisher - Celluloid Ltd.
A book covering just five minutes in cricket’s history, but what a five minutes! Grahame Lloyd has invested time and effort into an in-depth study of Gary Sobers’ six sixes in one over and has spoken to all the participants in Swansea’s famous day in 1968. With every player, the match, the preamble and the aftermath set in context, the eventful over is recounted with each ball allowed a whole chapter. The main achievement of this exemplary book is that it manages the remarkable feat of making the reader anxious to read on, despite knowing, in advance, what will actually happen. Even the match ball gets a separate chapter in this detailed and most readable book.

MARCUS TRESCOTHICK – Coming Back To Me - Marcus Trescothick and Peter Hayter
Publisher - Harper Sport
A book of two halves this, with the joy of being paid to play a game that the author so evidently loves, taking him to the peak of a career only to find an abyss on the other side. Marcus Trescothick’s early career sees him overcoming setbacks that might have finished a lesser man but his descent into depression is shown here not as weakness but as a condition that is being faced with more personal bravery than that required to stand up to the most hostile of fast bowling. A book that can legitimately be described as unique in the cricketing canon.

NOT DARK YET - Mike Harfield
Publisher - Loose Chipping Books
Proof here, that cricket writing, humour and an American icon can come together in this most English of games. Superficially, an account of how cricketers of varying pedigrees combine to play an annual match against an Oxfordshire team, chosen because the author’s parents live in the village, it rapidly becomes a compendium of riotous anecdotes about club cricket that will ring bells for every player or spectator. It’s safe to say Mike Harfield is not a fully paid-up member of the Margaret Thatcher fan-club and a delightful part of the book is that the chapter headings are all taken from Bob Dylan songs. The times they-are-certainly-a-changing.

THERE’S ONLY TWO TONY COTTEYS - Tony Cottey and David Bentley
Publisher - Gomer Press
With a title adapted from one of the few genuinely amusing football chants, a player who embraced both football and cricket tells a story of a life in both sports. Tony Cottey regards himself as a journeyman but proof here that a career spent without star billing can be compelling if an author can ally a sometimes brutal honesty with keen and unflinching observation. He may stand only five feet four inches but Tony Cottey demonstrates in this book the proof that good things can come in small packages.

TONY LOCK – Aggressive Master of Spin Alan Hill
Publisher - The History Press
Remarkable that this is the first English biography of a famous left-arm spinner whose on-field demeanour as shown in the title was more suited to that of a tearaway fast bowler. A career tinged with controversy and a life coloured by distressing and unproven allegations of impropriety are covered both dispassionately and yet with compassion by a writer whose body of work stands comparison with any modern cricket author. The book fills a surprising gap in modern cricket history, given Tony Lock’s outstanding contribution to Surrey, Leicestershire, Western Australia and England and it is both fortunate and proper that Alan Hill should have been the man to do so.

BOB WOOLMER’S ART AND SCIENCE OF CRICKET - Bob Woolmer and Tim Noakes with Helen Moffet
Publisher - New Holland
The title says virtually all that needs to be said. A combination of history, coaching, observation and application are fused together to provide a comprehensive analysis of cricket today and sometimes yesterday. Original thought can sometimes be difficult to follow but the virtue of this book is that it combines real knowledge with a fluent writing style. Sad that this will be viewed as a memorial when there was clearly so much more to come. Equally sad for Cricket Society members is the fact that this was the last book that our late Chairman, Ian Jackson, was in the process of reviewing at length.

CRICKET IN WALES – An Illustrated History - Andrew Hignell
Publisher - University of Wales Press
Proof here that what at first might seem a parochial subject can achieve great heights in the hands of an accomplished author. Dr. Andrew Hignell gives us a book that combines a love for the game, national pride and a desire to pass on the story of his adopted country for future generations. The book moves from the earliest origins of the game to the prospect of a Test Match in Wales in 2009 with many trips down the highways and byways of Welsh cricket but accuracy and enjoyment are always at the forefront. History is neither bunk nor boring here.

THE ECCENTRIC ENTREPRENEUR – Sir Julien Cahn - Miranda Rijks
Publisher - The History Press
Only in cricket and probably only in England could such a character as Sir Julian Cahn exist outside the pages of fiction. Miranda Rijks gives us a full picture of an extraordinary man and his life and times who achieved much in the face of prejudice and who was much more than just a man to be remembered for his sponsorship of cricket and cricketers. His determination to play first-class cricket in the face of his almost complete lack of talent shows a steely determination that explains his success in both business and public life. And don’t forget those inflatable pads!

EXILES AND KINGS – The African Imprint on English Cricket - Richard Jones
Publisher - Stadia
A timely study of the impact that cricketers from the African continent have made on cricket in England. Taking as its starting-point, the D’Olivera affair and ending with Kevin Pietersen’s rise to the forefront of international cricket, the book focuses on the succession of players who have illuminated English cricket over the last forty years. One of the book’s key points is made by Richard Jones where he counters the charge of mercenary behaviour by highlighting the loyalty and affection that many of the players have inspired within their adopted counties.

BICKERS – The Autobiography of Martin Bicknell - Martin Bicknell
Publisher - Green Umbrella Publishing
The sort of honest book that one would expect from an honest craftsman who spent a large part of his career being overlooked as a series of overnight sensations flared and fizzled out. Commendably free from bitterness, Martin Bicknell recounts the story of his life and gives his views on his own career, the state of the game and the England set-up as seen by an occasional participant. Typically forthright, a book that comes from the heart, the product of a cricketer who always gave his all and never shirked a challenge.