Cricket books have a remarkable quality that brings long-forgotten memories and feeling back to life. The crucial moments in a game that a scorecard of that day cannot entirely paint. The way the person three rows in front consumes a sandwich that was buried under their Playfair Annual. The mood of the crowd or the clouds' shape and size that you have suspiciously towards the ground.
Cricket is a consuming sport at times; there is a lot to be
caught up in from the finest details to the bigger broad strokes that have hooked
us at one time or another.
It was discussing Fatty Batter by Michael Simkins that
I realised just how nuanced books on just one subject could take us to a wide array
of places. One moment you can be reading about the extraordinary exploits of
some of the biggest names in the game. Ben Stokes On Fire does just
that. The way someone of Stokes's calibre talks about the thoughts going
through his head as he fired England to a World Cup Final victory.
For most of us, that thing never happens. 18 not out batting
at eleven to win a second XI game against Edwinstowe may fondly remember, but
it wasn't played under the same pressure.
What is probably unique about cricket is streaky innings
played by a nobody can have a similar appeal to a world cup winner.
The image of cricket played on the village green with the
local blacksmith steaming in bowling to the lord of the manor is still an
enduring one. Even though for the most part that has disappeared. The mix of professional
and amateur may have vanished in the 1960s, but the spirit lives on.
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