tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post8765323592483179552..comments2024-03-28T22:51:28.222+05:30Comments on The Middle Stage: The best Indian cricket writingChandrahashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-57355457846761848362011-11-13T10:41:52.384+05:302011-11-13T10:41:52.384+05:30Can anyone give a list of Novels dealing with cric...Can anyone give a list of Novels dealing with cricket, from the Indian subcontinent and other regions. <br /><br />Anvar SadhathDr. V.P Anvar Sadhathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15858782396555109139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-53632828393863787262007-07-28T12:11:00.000+05:302007-07-28T12:11:00.000+05:30Beyond a Boundry can be found in Landmark at Andhe...Beyond a Boundry can be found in Landmark at Andheri (W). Extremely good book. Corner of a Foriegn Field is similar to it, in fact Guha may have drawn inspiration from CLR... his profiling of Baloo Palwankar(sic) is silar to what James does with Constantine though Guha has to rely on third party information unlike James.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-8140150627838618762007-06-30T14:18:00.000+05:302007-06-30T14:18:00.000+05:30Balakrishnan - The Picador Book of Cricket is no d...Balakrishnan - <I>The Picador Book of Cricket</I> is no doubt a first-rate anthology, but there's no way I could have included it in a surevy of the best <I>Indian</I> cricket writing. Only the editor of the book is Indian.<BR/><BR/>As for <I>Beyound A Boundary</I>, it's very hard to find it in India - I've never seen it in a bookshop. Actually, although we are a cricket-crazy nation, the demand for cricket <I>books</I> is relatively low, so I'm not surprised that it's hard to find.Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-71106975265990064822007-06-30T12:52:00.000+05:302007-06-30T12:52:00.000+05:30One book,though an anthology,which should have fou...One book,though an anthology,which should have found mention in your piece,just for the good service it renders us readers,who otherwise could only have dreamed of reading Neville Cardus,CLR James or Jack Fingleton,is 'The Picador book of cricket' compiled by Guha.It surely merits place in bookshelves of cricket lovers.<BR/><BR/>Two question for which I wait for an answer:<BR/><BR/>1)Where in India can I lay my hands on CLR James'Beyond a Boundary'<BR/><BR/>2) Why do such good books go out of print and become collector's item, when in cricket crazy India, it should easily be available of the shelf for people to lap it up.<BR/><BR/>Balakrishnan.DBalakrishnanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13393132132955475470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-18296936237710746812007-03-15T10:46:00.000+05:302007-03-15T10:46:00.000+05:30The best by an Indian author is certainly 'corner ...The best by an Indian author is certainly 'corner of a foreign field' by ramachandra guha. it is in many ways comparable to 'beyond a boundary'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-46132186276732147682007-03-06T16:06:00.000+05:302007-03-06T16:06:00.000+05:30Anirudh - Yes, in those times it was rare of find ...Anirudh - Yes, in those times it was rare of find an Indian cricket book with a breadth of reference as wide as Gavaskar's. I remember being similarly fascinated with stories of cricketers I knew only by name.<BR/><BR/>I haven't read any John Feinstein, but I have a modest interest in boxing journalism. David Remnick's biography of Muhammad Ali is the best sports book I've ever read - I remember sitting up all night reading it when I was twenty. Remnick's new book *Reporting* has pieces on some other boxers, including Mike Tyson, but I haven't been able to lay my hands on it yet.Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-67322241046562671512007-03-06T13:22:00.000+05:302007-03-06T13:22:00.000+05:30Thanks to everybody for their comments - I hadn't ...Thanks to everybody for their comments - I hadn't heard of some of the cricket books mentioned here and all of them seem interesting. <BR/><BR/>Chandrahas - I think I was older than seven when I read 'Idols' but I mustn't have been even ten because I remember never having heard of players like Alan Knott, John Snow, Derek Underwood and Padmakar Shivalkar. My friends and I used to play a game in which we had to guess cricket players' names (I won't explain the rules here) and the cricketers I discovered in this book came in handy. (I believe, however, that there was an argument over whether Shivalkar had played international cricket; Ranji players weren't allowed.) <BR/><BR/>Also, have you read any of John Feinstein's books? I read 'March To Madness' - his book on US college basketball - two or three years ago and in spite of having absolutely no interest in the topic, enjoyed the book throughly. (If you're interested in tennis, you might want to read his 'Hard Courts'.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-26216432994650396502007-03-06T06:17:00.000+05:302007-03-06T06:17:00.000+05:30Very enjoyable. I'm in the middle of 'Beyond a Bou...Very enjoyable. I'm in the middle of 'Beyond a Boundary' at the moment; I think it's a must read as far as the backgroumd of west Indies Cricket is concerned. A few more recommendations:<BR/><BR/>1) Dilip Doshi's autobiography 'Spin Punch', a worthy and sometimes better recollection from a purist cricketer who didn't fit in with the overly commercial times.<BR/><BR/>2) Tim May's book 'Mayhem'. This is an unusual book a friend picked up from Australia. Tim May recollects his visit to the Subcontinent during the 87 world cup, in the form of a tour diary. Except, the names are all changed, some of the stories are true and some are exaggerated. he claims it's up to us to figure it out. A very funny book.<BR/><BR/>3) Jyotsana Poddar's compilation 'Cricketing Memories' which brings together some 50 players. Semi-coffee table, actually. Each player(from Len Hutton to Kapil Dev) has a page to himself to describe his funniest memories of cricket, and there are accompanying cartoons by RK Laxman, mario Miranda and Sudhir Dhar. Really entertaining, with more depth than it suggests.Suhashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13529331211611984893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-88657858139069088122007-03-04T16:11:00.000+05:302007-03-04T16:11:00.000+05:30Yes.... Waugh's is a very Australian account of Te...Yes.... Waugh's is a very Australian account of Test Cricket. It would be fascinating to read Mark Waugh's account of his life in Cricket - given that he played 108 of his 128 Tests partnering his brother in the middle order.... <BR/><BR/>I hope he does write it.Kartikeya Datehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03512491310629949028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-22912654283395617622007-03-04T13:42:00.000+05:302007-03-04T13:42:00.000+05:30Kartikeya - That's a very good survey - let me kno...Kartikeya - That's a very good survey - let me know whenever you're in Bombay, and we should get together to talk cricket. I notice you have a good cricket blog as well - enjoyed reading some of your pieces.<BR/><BR/>I haven't read Waugh's book in full, but I keep dipping into it, and I don't think there's a better book for giving a feel of what Test cricket is all about. <BR/><BR/>There's a bit in which he says how, when a wicket fell and it was his turn to come in to bat, he always liked getting in and taking guard before the opposition had dispersed after their post-wicket celebration. This gave him a feeling of being in control of things, much more than arriving and finding the bowler waiting at the top of his mark. <BR/><BR/>I thought little things like this very revelatory of just why he was just such a great sportsman - in my view the most influential Test cricketer ever, someone who took the game by the scruff of the neck and changed it for good. <BR/><BR/>Geoff Boycott's tour diaries are very good too - you sometimes come across them in second-hand book shops. That's another man who knew what Test cricket was all about - when Holding and Roberts weren't thirsting for his blood, it was Lillee and Thomson.<BR/><BR/>And I thought Purandare's book on Tendulkar was actually quite a worthy effort - it defamiliarises Tendulkar for us in a way a sloppily written biography never would.<BR/><BR/>Okay, now it's lunch break.Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-43739521929979309142007-03-04T00:56:00.000+05:302007-03-04T00:56:00.000+05:30It leaves me wanting to read a cricket book for th...It leaves me wanting to read a cricket book for the rest of the weekend..... :)<BR/><BR/>I recently finished Waugh's autobiography - it seemed in large part a compilation of Waugh's detailed tour diaries. Colin Cowdrey's Autobiography MCC was a different kind of autobiography (i suppose he wrote it himself), which was also a heartfelt insight into the English game. Cowdrey was the last of the great amateurs and his book reveals that.<BR/><BR/>I remember Gavaskar's books - he used to be my favorite cricket writer too.... until i read Cowdrey's book, and later Guha... <BR/><BR/>One other very interesting cricket book i read recently was Bacher's biography - someone who'd been an administrator in pre and post apartheid SA, and also been a Springbok.<BR/><BR/>Other biograhies tend to be almost hagiographic such as Mahiyar Morwalla's (im not sure ive spelt this right) book about Sobers and Vaibhav Purandare's recent biography of Tendulkar. But then again - hagiographies probably sit well on Tendulkar and Sobers.<BR/><BR/>Anyways..... i enjoyed reading your piece! Thanks!Kartikeya Datehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03512491310629949028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-27978821268948671362007-03-03T22:55:00.000+05:302007-03-03T22:55:00.000+05:30Anirudh - *Idols* was among the first cricket book...Anirudh - *Idols* was among the first cricket books I read as well. I was about seven, and after that I quickly read *Sunny Days*, *Runs 'n Ruins*, and *One-Day Wonders*, and for a brief while if someone asked me who my favourite writer was, I'd say Sunil Gavaskar. *Idols* was quite a good book, but it's not spectacular in any way, just unusual coming from an Indian cricketer.Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-30969416070881925882007-03-03T19:08:00.000+05:302007-03-03T19:08:00.000+05:30An enjoyable piece. But what about the first crick...An enjoyable piece. But what about the first cricket book I read, Gavaskar's 'Idols'?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com