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Answered Prayers:England and the 1966 World Cup |
Leading sportswriter Hamilton comes up with new perspectives on the world of football in those days. Central is Alf Ramsey - reserved, difficult, intensely private - who commanded his players' intense loyalty but never the full recognition he deserved. Highlighting the differences between todays and yesterday’s underpaid stars - mowing the grass, going to church rather than writing-off expensive cars - he goes wider than football and paints a portrait of a different nation. I watched the Final on TV and have read yards on it since but this account gave me new insights.
(Tony Pratt - bwl 110 Autumn 2023) |
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Harold Larwood |
Prize winning biography of England's great pre-war fast bowler, a 'villain' of Bodyline. Not just for cricket enthusiasts - his rise from a mining community, treatment by the grandees of the MCC and fall back into obscurity then his resurrection in, of all places, Australia speak eloquently of class-ridden mid- century Britain. Much more of a journey than Tony Blair ever contemplated.
(Tony Pratt - bwl 58 Autumn 2010) |
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Provided You Don't Kiss Me: 20 years with Brian Clough |
It was daunting for a rookie sport reporter on a local paper to suddenly find themself the main mouthpiece for Brian Clough, but what an opportunity! Volatile, opinionated and acerbic the supremely self-confident and successful Clough made few friends in the FA and the footballing establishment. With youth, enthusiasm and his partner Brian Taylor, Clough was an unstoppable force, but with their acrimonious split and his descent into alcoholism the tragic arc was sadly completed.
(Clive Yelf - bwl 68 Spring 2013) |
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The Great Romantic: Cricket and the golden age of Neville Cardus |
This a delightful and beautifully written book of a wonderful man. Neville Cardus wrote about cricket with poetic eloquence and a deep love of the game. He did the same for music. He wrote for the Guardian for many decades. The description National Treasure is an overworked phrase but in his case the phrase is apt and just. Anyone who reads this book is in for a treat.
(David Graham - bwl 94 Autumn 2019) |
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