An Unusual Celebrity
The Many Cricketing Lives of Bill Bowes
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Pitch Publishing Ltd
Published:10th Jun '24
Should be back in stock very soon
An Unusual Celebrity: The Many Cricketing Lives of Bill Bowes is the inspiring story of one of English cricket's most popular personalities, who dedicated his life to the game from the 1920s to the 1980s.
An often devastating bowler for Yorkshire in the 1930s, Bowes was a crucial part of one of the greatest ever county teams. He bowled Bradman first ball during the famous 'Bodyline' series but was tainted for some by his regular use of the 'bumper'.
Tall, unathletic, modest and playing in glasses, Bowes did not fit the mould of the typical opening bowler. Captured in North Africa in 1942, he spent three years in prisoner-of-war camps, and helped others through the ordeal. On release, he played for two more seasons before serving as a respected and forthright journalist for 25 years.
A man of many talents, as part of the Yorkshire coaching staff, he nurtured Fred Trueman and Brian Close, but he was also a broadcaster and popular public speaker, while his other interests included magic and film-making.
"It was about time that Bill Bowes had his biography written, and this one is not lacking in either quality or quantity. The name Jeremy Lonsdale is a hallmark of high quality, and it goes without saying that I thoroughly recommend this book."
-- John Ward * Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians *"Any modern cricketers who venture into this book will marvel at Bill Bowes's stamina as he bowled 38 overs in a day once for Yorkshire, and once took 6-17 and 6-28 with a 200-mile train journey in between. He had a major input into Yorkshire's regular County Championship triumphs and is made even more interesting when his membership of the Magic Circle is revealed. He was a man of some depth - and a conjuror besides."
* The Cricketer *"Bill Bowes, of course, was an even more recognisable figure in Yorkshire cricket for over 60 years and Jeremy Lonsdale's fine biography, An Unusual Celebrity, carefully explores the career of a man who, as JM Kilburn pointed out, never really retired from the game. Some might argue that Lonsdale's book, yet another fine Pitch publication, recalls an era in which cricket was far more deeply embedded in Yorkshire life than it is today. Perhaps so, but many folk in the county will read An Unusual Celebrity and identify closely with the devotion of this kindly, unathletic, bespectacled giant of a man."
* The CricketISBN: 9781801508834
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
320 pages