Cricket
As evidence of eccentricity I submit to you that Whistlestop Bookshop’s website has a page dedicated to cricket, a worldwide bat-and-ball sport that is generally and comprehensively NOT understood in the United States. As with most interests, I came upon it in literature, which is why I include fiction titles here. I also became intrigued by the excellent cricket reporting in The Times and the Sunday Times of London. To a comical extent I can be mystified by the details, but the writing is superb — imagine being able to appreciate poetry while having only a brush of understanding of the language. Cricket, no surprise, is also a manifestation of history, both English and the British Empire, and of culture (the spinning creativity of countries affected by such history). It is rich and powerful in metaphors, which lends itself to literature — and thus we have returned to my continuing education. And I hope, perhaps, to yours. I am always on the alert for more good books on cricket — a bit challenging in the US but worth the effort.
The Test
The Test
‘Engaging and enjoyable . . . as probing and as penetrative as a Jimmy Anderson opening spell . . . This is no ordinary novel by no ordinary novelist’ Sunday Times
‘A fine addition to the painfully thin oeuvre of modern fictional works about cricket’ Mike Atherton, The Times
‘Outstanding’ Mail on Sunday
‘If all you know is cricket, then cricket will break you . . .’
It is the final Test match of The Ashes. A nation expects, and the rest of the cricketing world is watching.
Fast-paced, humorous and candid, The Test follows the battles on and off the field as stand-in England captain, James McCall, tries to get his exhausted team across the finish line. Along the way, his story becomes one of fatherhood, friendship and trusting yourself when no one else will.
Nathan Leamon’s love letter to Test cricket is that rare thing: a novel that captures the feel and flavour of professional sport from the inside – the good, the bad and the simply surreal.
Not since J. L. Carr’s classic A Season in Sinji has there been a novel that quite captures the spirit of the game.
Included in Wisden Cricket Monthly‘s Finest Cricket Books Ever Written