DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

The Random History of Cricket

Silly Mid-offs & Silly Mid-ons

Aubrey Day author Justyn Barnes author Tony Husband illustrator

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Headline Publishing Group

Published:13th Aug '15

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Random History of Cricket cover

A quirky, revisionist look at cricket history, at home and abroad, over the past 130 years with specially commissioned cartoons by Private Eye's Tony Husband.

This is the story of cricket as it has never been told before: a well tossed-up compilation of surreal match reports, spoof correspondence and quirky cartoons.

A lot of leather has 'plunk-plicked' against willow since cricket was first played on the village greens of Olde England, but this doughty little book heroically manages to capture the true essence of the noble ball game in just 100 run-grabbing moments (plus a few extras for overthrows).

This is the story of cricket as it has never been told before: a well tossed-up compilation of surreal match reports, spoof correspondence and quirky cartoons. From a Great Victorian refusing to walk (even though his bails have been knocked off by the bowler) to modern-day sledgers playing floodlit pyjama cricket, the game's towering achievements, hilarious happenings and ludicrous coincidences are entertainingly recalled.

The book's title says it all: which other sport would have Silly positions in the field? For those who don't know, silly mid-off (facing the batsman) & silly mid-on (behind him) field within a couple of metres of the man at the crease as he flails at the ball, delivered at 140kmh, using a 1kg wooden bat.

ISBN: 9781853759406

Dimensions: 182mm x 112mm x 16mm

Weight: 229g

128 pages