Summer Days In Saigon

Over the next 11 weeks, fellow American war correspondents are intrigued. One even picks up the Grimmett volume and, having 8220;pitched ball8221; from a young age, becomes a serious reader of Grimmett8217;s thoughts on how to take the wickets of Hammond, Sutcliffe, Bradman, Ponsford and Fingleton. It is interesting how he becomes hooked on the game and loved the Grimmett theory. All so very lateral: it is not what you see that counts but what can be visualised and put into practise.

Being quick on the uptake, Brent Andrews fell into discussing the art of spin bowling and, on a trip to Australia months later, put into practice what he learnt from reading a book. Better still, he went to talk to The Fox and became even more involved in cricket; so much so he took his family to live in Sydney.

Grimmett8217;s book on leg-spin bowling is the archetypal manual on the most intricate and fascinating art in the game. Little wonder the New Zealand-born bowler, who went on to play for Australia, was a fascinating character. The book is not quite falling apart, but it creates an interesting, indepth mindset. There is much about which remains fresh; and, though purely a coaching book, few have matched it and it remains one of five favourites.

As the game changes, and along with it attitudes and writing styles, books such as Summer8217;s Days drop down the list of favourites. It has been replaced by highly entertaining material such as the ebullient cheek of British writer Martin Johnson, whose collection of writings Can8217;t Bat, Can8217;t Bowl, Can8217;t Field has slipped into the top five. It is an irreverent peek at the game and its establishment and covers a multitude of the good, the bad and the ugly about cricket during the 1970s to the late 1990s.

Gerald Brodribb is not a name which trips off even an English tongue that easily, yet his Next Man In is one of the five favourite books because of how the laws and their growth over more than 270 years have been encapsulated. Sure it is like Grimmett8217;s book and a technical manual but, without it, there is even more befuddled thinking about the laws of the game and how they evolved and why. In this day and age it is important to know about the game8217;s roots.

Sir Derek Birley8217;s The Willow Wand has similar value as it explains further the game8217;s history and, as with Next Man In, explores the roots of cricket8217;s growth and the characters who developed it. In this respect, Patrick Morrah8217;s Alfred Mynn and Cricketers of his Time has its place along with Professor Hillary Bickles8217;s examination of the game in the Caribbean in the companion volumes: Modern Revolution and Age of Discovery.

Lastly, South Asia is being rediscovered in Sunil Gavaskar8217;s Sunny Days the omnibus edition, Alan Ross8217;s Ranji: Prince of Cricketers and the delightful tales in Ramchandra Guha8217;s Spin and Other Tales, which jostle with Hutton8217;s Cricket is My Life for attention. After all, the game is for all and the broad literary canvas gives us the pleasure of discovering the joy this creates.

The writer, who is covering the World Cup for The Indian Express, is a former first-class umpire. His latest books are Fanie de Villiers: Portrait of a Test Cricketer and South Africa8217;s Cricket Captains.