The former Sussex cricket captain John Barclay offers 24 written sketches on characters he has known in the world of cricket. With his customary charm and self-deprecating humour he reflects on a range of subjects: Colin Cowdrey, Mike Atherton, Ray Illingworth, Tony Greig, Mike Brearley, Imran Khan, Derek Underwood, Jack Russell, Peter Roebuck, David Lloyd and many more, including a groundsman, a quartet of cricket writers, an umpire and finally his dog Robert. In his foreword John Woodcock writes: "These are not cricket prints of the kind which the great RC Robertson-Glasgow ('Crusoe') did so brilliantly. They are longer and less flamboyant than that; but they come from the same spring, refreshed by a love of the game and a wish to see the best in those who play it. His author's eye for human nature, informed by his cricket experience and access to privilege, probably misses a good deal less than his subjects might have suspected."
- ISBN13 9780956851130
- Publish Date 17 June 2013
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 25 January 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Fairfield Books
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 240
- Language English