Download or read book Berkmann s Cricketing Miscellany written by Marcus Berkmann and published by Little, Brown Book Group. This book was released on 2019-07-11 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marcus Berkmann, author of the cricket classics Rain Men and Zimmer Men, returns to the great game with this irresistible miscellany of cricketing trivia, stories and more fascinating facts than Geoffrey Boycott could shake a stick of rhubarb at. Which England captain smoked two million cigarettes in his lifetime? Which Australian captain, asked what his favourite animal was, said 'Merv Hughes'? What did Hitler think of cricket? Which National Hunt trainer had a dog called Sobers? Who was described in his obituary as 'perhaps the only unequivocally popular man in Yorkshire'? No other sport is so steeped in oddness and eccentricity. There's the only Test player ever to be executed for murder, the only first-class cricketer to die on the Titanic, and the only bestselling author to catch fire while playing at Lord's. (It was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The ball hit a box of matches in his pocket.) All cricket is here, including an XI entirely made up of players who share their names with freshwater fish.
Download or read book Berkmann s Pop Miscellany written by Marcus Berkmann and published by Little, Brown Book Group. This book was released on 2021-06-03 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marcus Berkmann was for many years the pop critic of the Spectator, waiting like most freelances to get fired. He's also the author of the bestselling Berkmann's Cricket Miscellany, concentrating on the ridiculous true stories and the weird characters of that most eccentric of sports. Here he combines the two, in a wildly entertaining ride through the galloping absurdities of pop, from Elvis Presley's real hair colour, through Janet Jackson's more intimate piercings, to Courtney Love's hatred of cheese. Why does Bono always wear sunglasses? Did Ozzy Osbourne really urinate on the Alamo? What actually happened at Keith Moon's 21st birthday party at the Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan? There's sex, there's drugs, there's violence, there's even a little rock 'n' roll from time to time. But mainly there are vital questions, now finally answered. Which notable guitarist has unfeasibly tiny hands? Which Britpop star was forced to wear lederhosen as a child? Who said, 'The majority of pop stars are compete idiots in every respect'? And was she wrong?
Download or read book The Shorter Wisden 2020 written by Lawrence Booth and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-04-09 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Shorter Wisden is a compelling distillation of what's best in its bigger brother – and the 2020 edition of Wisden is crammed, as ever, with the best writing in the game. Wisden's digital version includes the influential Notes by the Editor, and all the front-of-book articles. In an age of snap judgments, Wisden's authority and integrity are more important than ever. Yet again this year's edition is truly a “must-have” for every cricket fan. In essence, The Shorter Wisden is a glass of the finest champagne rather than the whole bottle. @WisdenAlmanack
Download or read book Zimmer Men written by Marcus Berkmann and published by Abacus (UK). This book was released on 2006 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ten years after his classic Rain Men - 'cricket's answer to Fever Pitch,' said the Daily Telegraph - Marcus Berkmann returns to the strange and wondrous world of village cricket, where players sledge their team-mates, umpires struggle to count up to six, the bails aren't on straight and the team that fields after a hefty tea invariably loses. This time he's on the trail of the Ageing Cricketer, having suddenly realised that he is one himself and playing in a team with ten others every weekend. In their minds they run around the field as fast as ever; it's only their legs that let them down. ZIMMER MEN asks all the important questions of middle-aged cricketers. Why is that boundary rope suddenly so far away? Are you doomed to getting worse as a cricketer, or could you get better? How many pairs of trousers will your girth destroy in one summer? Chronicling the 2004 season, with its many humiliating defeats and random injuries, this coruscatingly funny new book laughs in the face of middle age, and starts thinking seriously about buying a convertible.
Download or read book Rain Men written by Marcus Berkmann and published by Abacus. This book was released on 2013-05-02 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are many cricket books, and they are all the same. 'Don't Tell Goochie', autobiographical insights of nights on the tiles in Delhi with Lambie and the boys; 'Fruit cake days', a celebrated humourist recalls 'ball' - related banter of yore; and Wisden, a deadly weapon when combined with a thermos flask. Rain Men is different. Like the moment the genius of Richie Benaud first revealed itself to you, it is a cricketing epiphany, a landmark in the literature of the game. Shining the light meter of reason into cricket's incomparable madness, Marcus Berkmann illuminates all the obsessions and disappointments that the dedicated fan and pathologically hopeful clubman suffers year after year - the ritual humiliation of England's middle order, the partially-sighted umpires, the battling average that reads more like a shoe size. As satisfying as a perfectly timed cover drive, and rather easier to come by, Rain Men offers essential justification for anyone who has ever run a team-mate out on purpose or secretly blubbed at a video of Botham's Ashes.
Download or read book Cricketing Lives written by Richard H. Thomas and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2022-08-22 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As famous for its complicated rules as it is for its contentious (and lengthy) matches, cricket is the quintessentially English sport. Or is it? From cricket in literature to sticky wickets, Cricketing Lives is a paean to the quirky characters and global phenomenon that are cricket. Cricket is defined by the characters who have played it, watched it, reported it, ruled upon it, ruined it, and rejoiced in it. Humorous and deeply affectionate, Cricketing Lives tells the story of the world’s greatest and most incomprehensible game through those who have shaped it, from the rustic contests of eighteenth-century England to the spectacle of the Indian Premier League. It’s about W. G. Grace and his eye to his wallet; the invincible Viv Richards; and Sarah Taylor, “the best wicketkeeper in the world.” Richard H. Thomas steers a course through the despair of war, tactical controversies, and internecine politics, to reveal how cricket has always warmed our hearts as nothing else can.
Download or read book An Endangered Species written by David Gower and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-05-22 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a cricketer, David Gower was famed for the elegance of his strokeplay as one of England's greatest batsmen and for his superb fielding. As a captain, he led his country to Ashes success, yet some queried his application because it all seemed to come to him so easily and effortlessly. But that was never the whole story: Gower was always committed and a great competitor, as this fascinating and frank book, looking back on his life and career, shows. Once he retired from the game, Gower built a new career for himself, first as team captain in the long-running TV comedy series They Think It's All Over, and then as an astute and charming presenter and commentator with Sky Sports. After more than 30 years as one of the most popular figures in the game, Gower now reveals there is so much more to his story than the cliched image of 'Lord' Gower flying in his Tiger Moth. He is a man of great insight, determination and drive, but who also knows there is always more to be had from life.
Download or read book The Wit of Cricket written by Barry Johnston and published by Hodder & Stoughton. This book was released on 2010-05-27 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bumper collection of the funniest anecdotes, jokes and stories from cricket's best-loved personalities. Cricket is a funny old game -- even when rain stops play! Now you can read not only the most popular stories by five of the game's all-time great characters -- Richie Benaud, Dickie Bird, Henry Blofeld, Brian Johnston and Fred Trueman - but also the humour and insights of modern players including Michael Atherton, Andrew Flintoff, Darren Gough, Kevin Pietersen and Shane Warne. Crammed full of dozens of hilarious anecdotes about legendary Test cricketers such as Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott, Denis Compton, Michael Holding and Merv Hughes -- plus broadcasting gaffes, sledging, short-sighted umpires and the first male streaker at Lord's!
Download or read book The Wit and Wisdom of Test Match Special written by Dan Waddell and published by Random House. This book was released on 2015-05-21 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘He played that so late, it was almost posthumous.’ (John Arlott) For over fifty years, Test Match Special has provided the soundtrack to many cricket fans’ lives – now this book collects its greatest hits. Here are all the witty sayings, bons mots, doubles entendres, wise words and priceless moments from the whole TMS team past and present, and of course their many and varied celebrity guests. Whether it’s classic Test moments or hilarious asides from the boundary, you’ll find the perfect line for every occasion. Collecting over half a century of quips and quotes, and beautifully illustrated throughout, The Wit and Wisdom of Test Match Special is a cricket fan’s indispensable guide to bats, bowls, beards and bakes.
Download or read book The Test Match Special Quiz Book written by Dan Waddell and published by Random House. This book was released on 2016-08-11 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over 50 years, Test Match Special has provided listeners with every Test cricket ball, batting average, and plenty of views from the boundary, too. But how well do you know your cricket? Pit your wits against Aggers, Tuffers, Boycs and Johnners – and try not to get caught out! Can you identify the most famous players from history, name that ground or reel off well-known (and lesser-known) stats and facts. And of course, what Test Match Special would be complete without the gaffes, giggles, cakes and celebrity guests who make up a day at the cricket? With over 3,000 mind-bending puzzles about every aspect of the sport and beyond, this is the ultimate test of any cricket fan's true average.
Download or read book Brain Men written by Marcus Berkmann and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Courting Constitutionalism written by Moeen Cheema and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-12-16 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a deeply contextualized account of public law and judicial review in Pakistan.
Download or read book The Great Romantic written by Duncan Hamilton and published by Hodder & Stoughton. This book was released on 2019-07-25 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Neville Cardus described how one majestic stroke-maker 'made music' and 'spread beauty' with his bat. Between two world wars, he became the laureate of cricket by doing the same with words. In The Great Romantic, award-winning author Duncan Hamilton demonstrates how Cardus changed sports journalism for ever. While popularising cricket - while appealing, in Cardus' words to people who 'didn't know a leg-break from the pavilion cat at Lord's'- he became a star in his own right with exquisite phrase-making, disdain for statistics and a penchant for literary and musical allusions. Among those who venerated Cardus were PG Wodehouse, John Arlott, Harold Pinter, JB Priestley and Don Bradman. However, behind the rhapsody in blue skies, green grass and colourful characters, this richly evocative biography finds that Cardus' mother was a prostitute, he never knew his father and he received negligible education. Infatuations with younger women ran parallel to a decidedly unromantic marriage. And, astonishingly, the supreme stylist's aversion to factual accuracy led to his reporting on matches he never attended. Yet Cardus also belied his impoverished origins to prosper in a second class-conscious profession, becoming a music critic of international renown. The Great Romantic uncovers the dark enigma within a golden age.
Download or read book A Social History of English Cricket written by Derek Birley and published by Aurum. This book was released on 2013-08-01 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Acclaimed as a magisterial, classic work, A Social History of English Cricket is an encyclopaedic survey of the game, from its humble origins all the way to modern floodlit finishes. But it is also the story of English culture, mirrored in a sport that has always been a complex repository of our manners, hierarchies and politics. Derek Birley’s survey of the impact on cricket of two world wars, Empire and ‘the English caste system’, will, contends Ian Wooldridge, ‘teach an intelligent child of twelve more about their heritage than he or she will ever pick up at school.’ In just under 400 pages Birley takes us through a rich historical tapestry: how the game was snatched from rustic obscurity by gentlemanly gamblers; became the height of late eighteenth century metropolitan fashion; was turned into both symbol and synonym for British imperialism; and its more recent struggle to dislodge the discomforting social values preserved in the game from its imperial heyday. Superbly witty and humorous, peopled by larger-than-life characters from Denis Compton to Ian Botham, and wholly forswearing nostalgia, A Social History of English Cricket is a tour-de-force by one of the great writers on cricket.
Download or read book Fatherhood written by Marcus Berkmann and published by Random House. This book was released on 2011-03-31 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are lots of books about parenthood. But if you look closely most of them are about motherhood. Fathers get brief paragraphs about needing the odd cuddle themselves and being helpful for carrying the heavier elements of baby kit, but that's it. Fatherhood - The Truth, on the other hand, is a shed-friendly man's guide to the whole scary, life-changing business. One that looks beyond the happy-clappy cliches into the fiery hell of night feeds and projectile vomiting. 'Shit happens' will suddenly start to make sense as a phrase. Providing crucial information and insight on every aspect of parenting with pitch-perfect humour, it takes the dad-to-be on a white-knuckle ride from conception to the first birthday that also considers the emotional truths and selfish imperatives that fathers are usually asked to bury out of sight. A personally informed journey, Fatherhood - The Truth also touches all the crucial practical bases to make it a one-stop, know-it-all manual for the father-to-be.
Download or read book Fighting Words written by Raymond Evans and published by Univ. of Queensland Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With an open heart and inquiring intellect, Raymond Evans sets out to uncover a past not studied in the school books of his youth. Growing up in the 1950s, he lived in a community devoid of Aboriginal presence. It was an enclave of Welsh migrant families, with all the rituals and traditions of a faraway "Home". His evolving historical consciousness was fired by the need to connect with these shadowy absences and to engage with his adopted homeland. Interwoven with his personal journey is a revealing selection of race relations histories, which cover a wide arena from the Aboriginal/European conflicts of colonial Queensland to the anti-Chinese riots of 1888 and civilian internment during World War I. Evans also moves beyond frontier conflict into the long period of repressive government control of Aboriginal lives. In writing on race, gender and labour relations he illustrates how selective history can be by omitting the contribution of Aboriginal labourers, men and women. These form a critical bridge to understanding the complexities of race relations today.
Download or read book England The Biography written by Simon Wilde and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-07-24 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'An astonishing work of research, detail and revelation. Bulging with information, packed with nuggets.' John Etheridge, Sun 'Superbly researched... His eye for detail never wavers. It’s a pleasure to read.' Vic Marks, Observer 'The Cricket Book of the Year: Dauntingly comprehensive and surprisingly light-footed.' Simon Briggs, Daily Telegraph England: The Biography is the most comprehensive account of the England cricket team that has ever been published, taking the reader into the heart of the action and the team dynamics that have helped shape their success, or otherwise. It is now 140 years since England first played Test match cricket and, for much of that time, it has struggled to perform to the best of its capabilities. In the early years, amateurs would pick and choose which matches and tours they would play; subsequently, the demands of the county game - and the petty jealousies that created - would prevent many from achieving their best. It was only in the 1990s that central contracts were brought in, and Team England began to receive the best possible support from an ever-increasing backroom team. But cricket isn't just about structures, it depends like no other sport on questions of how successful the captain is in motivating and leading his team, and how well different personalities and egos are integrated and managed in the changing room. From Joe Root and Alastair Cook back to Mike Atherton, Mike Brearley and Ray Illingworth, England captains have had a heavy influence on proceedings. Recent debates over Kevin Pietersen were nothing new, as contemporaries of W.G.Grace would doubtless recognise. As England play their 1000th Test, this is a brilliant and unmissable insight into the ups and downs of that story.
