100 cricket books
Robert Brooke on the interesting and the influential
It was initially my intention to call this article “The Hundred Best Cricket Books”. Such effrontery would in fact have been quite mind-blowing. As if one person could make such a definite and final judgement; it could only ever have been a very personal, and probably subjective point of view, even had the writer been the world’s greatest ever, and most eloquent of cricket’s bibliophiles. Thus I hope that my revised format, and title, will be more acceptable.
My selection is therefore not claimed to be a list of the ‘best’ cricket books, nor the best known. But all have meant something to me and are owned by me, and often in their own individual way, all have proved to be worth reading, or studying, whether in whole or in part, or are essential to the cricket statistician.
Finally, I feel it is impossible to select one Wisden or S&B, so those selected titles which are part of a long run are counted as one book. After all, one’s list could well include 100 Wisdens, rendering the whole article even more pointless than many may well feel it already is.
Number one on most people’s list must surely be the aforementioned Wisden; the contents are well known and a set is something for which every serious cricket statistician/historian must strive. The first, in 1864, is in fact hardly worth having, unless as part of a set. It may be that the noncricketing material is of more interest, including as it does the Rules of Bowls (in four pages, as against three devoted to cricket’s laws), Knur and Spel, and Quoits, and a laughably biassed description of the Trial of Charles I. For its recording of cricket in 1863, Wisden in no way compares with The Cricket Chronicle For The Season 1863, by Captain W.Bayly. This superb 513-page volume included the full scores, albeit without bowling details, of almost every match of importance played in 1863; also many which were decidedly unimportant. Even Wethersfield v Felsted—a match which on the face of it belongs in “Coronation Street”. This was perhaps the trouble. Bayly included too many match scores, and it was perhaps too bothersome to sort out the dross. Whatever the story, Bayly’s marvellous effort, proudly announced as “To Be Continued Annually” disappeared after its first issue, whereas the substandard Almanack produced by John Wisden & Co. seems to become stronger and more opulent year by year.
A little earlier than the first Wisden in 1862 appeared the first edition of Frederick Lillywhite’s Scores and Biographies. Fred Lillywhite was in fact the publisher, and he acknowledges in his dedication that Arthur Haygarth did most of the work. A further 13 volumes of scores appeared, three and four financed by F.P. Miller, from number five published by Longman’s with MCC, and a final book consisting solely of Biographies, edited by Ashley Cooper. This last appeared as late as 1925. I have seen copious notes for biographies deleted by Ashley Cooper, and very many further scores never used, in Haygarth’s handwriting in the cellars at Lord’s.
Items four, five and six are the three Lillywhite publications. It seems amazing that three related people should publish rival cricket annuals. They never appeared all three together, but for two periods, two of them were published each season; what is more, the ground covered and general contents—summary score of matches, some notably inaccurate averages, valuable short biographies of current players and résumés of the club scene—were almost identical. The first, Frederick Lillywhite’s Guide ran from 1849 until 1866, when Fred, now very sick, was taken over by John Lillywhite and his Companion. Known as the Green Lillywhite, this ran until 1885, when it was incorporated into James Lillywhite’s Annual (The Red Lillywhite) which had started in 1872, and carried on until 1900, when the name Lillywhite, as applied to a cricket annual, finally disappeared after more than half a century.
The three titles cover a remarkable amount of contemporary cricket, albeit tilling the same ground in very large measure, yet all are certainly worth getting for any student of cricket in the second half of the 19th century. It has to be said that some of the content is almost laughable, whether the airing of personal prejudices by an ailing Fred Lillywhite in the 1865 Guide—the biographies of George Parr and John Wisden, for instance, were surely libellous—or the questionable grammar in the Green Companions. For example his biography of James Lillywhite in the 1867 issue states, “Having only one eye it has been a great drawback...” What has been the drawback, one may ask? The eye? As for the seasons’ averages...!
The only other English-published annuals of major importance both went through several titles. The Athletic News Annual ran from 1888 to 1946, became the Sunday Chronicle Annual and lasted until 1955. Of similar format is the contemporary Playfair Annual; Bill Frindall’s book proudly claimed its 50th edition in 1997, but it is by no means so uncomplicated. It is true that the Playfair title first appeared in 1948, but this was an illustrated, and far more luxurious publication. It was compiled almost singlehandedly by Roy Webber, and when he died his associate Gordon Ross amalgamated Playfair with The Cricket Annual, which covered roughly the same ground but in a far more basic manner. The Cricket Annual was a direct descendant, through several titles, of The Star and Morning Leader annual which started in 1895; in fact the 1997 Playfair was edition number 91!
These last items count as numbers seven, eight and nine, with the separate Playfair formats being allocated their own numbers.
Apart from S&B of course, other books of tremendous value on early cricket have been published. William Denison’s Cricketers’ Companion appeared in six editions, covering seasons 1843 to 1846. The scores of major matches are printed in these volumes, plus comment on current affairs, and since Denison predates S&B by many years it can be counted as valuable source material. I have the second edition, which like the first covered season 1843, but also included the Laws as revised on 3 June 1844. Denison was not the first annual however; this was Samuel Britcher’s Complete List of all the Grand Matches of Cricket, which ran for 15 issues and included match scores from 1790 to 1805. I have never examined a copy; it is an extremely rare item. David Rayvern-Allen has produced an excellent booklet about Britcher and his work, and one feels that Denison should be no. 10 in my list, and Britcher and Rayvern-Allen’s booklet no.11. Original Britchers are incredibly rare items, and no single complete set is known, yet I feel that there may once have been at least some copies in an unoccupied house in the Birmingham suburb of Moseley. A second-hand dealer with little knowledge of cricket books imparted this knowledge; if correct, they were destroyed by fire about 50 years since.
Book no. 12 is another modern Rayvern-Allen item, Early Books on Cricket. Published by Europa at £12, and possibly still available, it consists of notes on early cricket books and should be read by anyone interested in so fascinating but expensive a hobby.
Nos.13 and 14 are the two G.B. Buckley publications, Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket and Fresh Light on Pre-Victorian Cricket, published in Birmingham in 1935 and 1937, containing cricket notices and scores extracted from the Press, dating from 1697 to 1837. At first sight these items look a little bit dry; dry they are most certainly not. Unpublished further volumes of Buckley’s notices are in typescript at the Lord’s library.
Item no. 15 is Dawn of Cricket by H.T. Waghorn, a basically similar sort of volume to the two previous ones, published in London by the MCC in 1906. Ominously this was edited by Lord Harris (imagine Ray Illingworth editing an Irving Rosenwater historical tome and you will get the gist); his Lordship admits to omitting a large part of Waghorn’s material but it remains a valuable source of knowledge of pre-1800 cricket.
Even more valuable is a series of six pamphlets Old English Cricket, compiled by P.F. Thomas and published in one volume. This volume was republished in a limited edition of 300 by Willow Publishing Ltd., 17 The Willows, Stone, Staffs., ST15 0DE, and I believe copies are still available for £45 in Britain and £47 elsewhere. Peter Wynne-Thomas, in his recent and highly acclaimed History of Cricket, (No.17), suggests that P.F. Thomas’ work should be the foundation for any study of really early cricket. An examination of Old English Cricket suggests one should go further; that P.F. Thomas was the first proper cricket historian. His volume is no. 16; a series of pamphlets by another celebrated researcher, F.S.Ashley-Cooper is no. 18. Ashley-Cooper also compiled The Hambledon Cricket Chronicle 1772-96 while E.V. Lucas produced The Hambledon Men. Their work has been supplemented by the multi-volume Hambledon’s Cricket Glory by Ronald Knight—a summing up of all that has so far been discovered about Hambledon and cricket, along with valuable, and fascinating social background material. With 19, 20 and 21 all devoted to Hambledon, one feels this is quite sufficient.
Keeping to history, in 1922 Ashley-Cooper edited The Cricket Field, by Rev.James Pycroft, which was effectively the 11th edition of an historical publication first appearing in 1851; one can imagine it had more relevance in its initial appearance. This is no. 22 and 23, 24, 25 and 26 are all books of early scores. Grand Matches of Cricket is a collection of scores from 1771 to 1791, gathered by W. Epps and first published in 1799. This is almost unobtainable in its original form; cricket collectors were grateful when John McKenzie reprinted it in 1989. Scores from 1730 to 1773 were gathered together by Waghorn in 1899, but more interesting than this, because of its early date is Cricket Matches 1786 to 1822, by Henry Bentley. This was published in London in 1823, and is still available in excellent condition. The final book of early scores dealt with here is Kent Cricket Matches 1719-1880. The hand of Lord Harris is again in evidence, but he did very little damage, and it is a volume of more than local interest. Last in this historical section I have two items on early Sussex cricket, by H.F. and A.P. Squire. Henfield Cricket & Its Sussex Cradle and Pre-Victorian Sussex Cricket should be read in conjunction with what Peter Wynne-Thomas and P.F. Thomas have to say about Wealden cricket.
The study of overseas (non-British) cricket requires certain ‘standard’ volumes, in addition to the ACS publications. For South Africa one cannot get very far without three volumes of scores. The History of South African cricket (29), by M.W.Luckin, was published in 1915 and claims to include the full scores of all important matches since 1876. Actually there are a small number missing, but basically this is a superb publication, the value of which is increased by the large number of photographs and historical items. Volume Two (30), also by Luckin, carries on in similar, though less massive manner until 1927; an advance on the first volume is the inclusion of fall-of-wickets details. The series is carried on in a third volume by Louis Duffus (31), taking the record up to 1947. A fourth volume, by Brian Bassano (32), appeared recently, going on to 1960. Full scores have unfortunately had to be discontinued, but this attractive and well-illustrated card covered volume gives detailed résumés of every season from 1947 to 1960, with full first-class averages. Most of the seasons since 1948 have been covered by the South African Cricket Almanack (1949-50) (33) and since 1951-52, the South African Cricket Annual (34), under Colin Bryden one of the world’s top cricket annuals.
New Zealand, like South Africa, is pretty well-served with regard to the recording of full scores. New Zealand Cricket 1841-1914 (35) and New Zealand Cricket 1914-33 (36), both by T.W. Reese, print virtually all scores for first-class and other important cricket in New Zealand, as well as supplying comment on, and other details of, the domestic cricket scene. The second volume of Reese actually contains a supplement up to 1935/36. There is then a short gap, filled in large part by Brian Croudy’s ACS Guide to New Zealand Cricket, but from 1948 all scores, plus match reports and player details, are supplied in the New Zealand Cricket Almanack (37), founded by A.H. Carman, and now edited by Francis Payne and Ian Smith, which recently celebrated its 50th issue.
For India the basic publications are in place; whether one can easily obtain them may be another matter. Forty Five years of the Ranji Trophy (38 and 39), edited by P.N. Sundaresan, supplies full scores, though no fall-of-wicket details until 1970, for all Ranji trophy matches from 1934, the start, until 1979. Two volumes are required and the binding is invariably insecure, but the information supplied is invaluable. In 55 Years of Bombay Cricket (40), by A.A. Fyzee, full scores of the various Bombay Tournaments are given, from 1895 until 1944. The ACS Indian Guide fills in most of the gaps, but from 1939 to 1945 The Crickinia Annual (41), edited by Muni Lal filled in most scores and other details while continuity has been maintained since 1946/47 with Indian Cricket (42), an annual of rather mixed quality, but which has consistently published First-class and other important scores. Among Indian histories, Patrons, Players and The Crowd (43), by Richard Cashman, publishes much information not otherwise readily available.
Pakistan is somewhat less well served than other major cricketing countries with regard to the supplying of statistical information. The Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan issued a Cricket Annual (44) which appeared seven times and in its various issues covered Pakistani cricket between 1965 and 1974. It then collapsed but since 1991 the Pakistan Board, in conjunction with Wills, has produced another Cricket Annual (45), a first-class publication containing full scores, averages and other details.
Australia has, in the past been surprisingly ill-served with regard to the supply of First-class scores but all early problems were resoundingly solved by the publication in 1991 of First Class Cricket in Australia, Volume 1 (46), which published in very full details, all first-class scores from 1850/51 to 1941/42. The compiler was Ray Webster, the editor Allan Miller, and volume 2 has just been published. Miller has produced Allan’s Cricket Annual (47) since 1988/89 and all other gaps can in fact be filled from Wisden, or the various short-lived annuals which have appeared since the 1939-45 war.
The major information source for West Indies scores is Statistics of West Indies Cricket 1865-1989 (48), by Jimmy Richards and Mervyn Wong. This excellent publication prints all scorecards of all regional matches in this period, and West Indian Tests, but omits other first-class games. From 1970 to 1991, West Indies Cricket Annual (49), edited by Tony Cozier, covered the scene in an authoritative but colourful fashion, but this publication has long folded.
As a general source of scores, the various magazines are well worth the effort of acquisition. Since 1973 The Cricketer Quarterly (50), which first appeared to take some of the statistics which had been part of the appeal of Playfair Cricket Monthly (51), has been almost wholly devoted to the publication of scores from around the world, and although for a full statistical picture the various annuals are required, the quarterly goes some way to supplying a need. Magazines are an excellent source of all manner of cricket information, some of which may otherwise have been missed. The first major magazine in Britain was Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game (52) which appeared summer and winter from 1882 until its demise in 1913. Apart from keeping the reader in touch with the contemporary scene the regular contributions of Ashley-Cooper and Pentelow ensured a strong statistical and historical bias. Some of the content was pretty ‘way out’—disastrous for circulation, to paraphrase Rowland Bowen, but marvellous for the modern student. Cricket’s successor, World of Cricket (53) appeared in 1914, under Pentelow and A.C. MacLaren, but publication was suspended in August as war clouds gathered. Three further issues appeared in the Autumn, but it then disappeared for ever. A pity, since it showed promise.
A real success story has been The Cricketer (54), which made its debut in April 1921 and continues monthly to this day. It was nominally under the editorship of Sir Pelham Warner until 1962.
Playfair Cricket Monthly (55), founded in 1960 by Roy Webber and Gordon Ross, had a strong statistical bias and perhaps a more limited appeal than The Cricketer, with which it amalgamated in 1973.
Wisden Cricket Monthly (56) is possibly the natural successor to Playfair Cricket Monthly, though under editor David Frith, founder in 1979, a number of excellent historical items saw the light of day. Under Tim de Lisle WCM looked very professional in a modern sort of way, but lost something when it lost Frith.
Cricket Quarterly (57) appeared in eight volumes (32 issues) from 1963 to 1970, and had minimal circulation, but under the editorship of Rowland Bowen—the ultimate cricket eccentric—many people were introduced to things in cricket they never suspected existed. Bowen was also the first person to do ‘proper’ book reviews—sensational at the time, but some a little ‘tame’ to modern eyes. Every person with the slightest appreciation of, or interest in, cricket history should move heaven and earth to acquire the full set.
Sports Quarterly Magazine (1977-81) (58) and Sports History (1982-87) (59) were duplicated, but under the editorship of the intrepid John Goulstone contain very much original cricket material.
Finally, but by no means least, from April 1977 until May 1979, Cricket News (60) was a quirky, lively and informative addition to the cricket scene. Weekly in the Summer, monthly in the Winter, it was a valiant effort to supply a combined replacement for Cricket: A Weekly Record and Cricket Quarterly. It was sad, and a terrible disappointment to its two editors, that poor circulation caused its demise. It was, at the time, the best magazine around.
A large number of cricket ‘histories’ have been written, some worse than others, but one or two among them have been reasonable, and are in my collection. Rowland Bowen’s Cricket A History of its Growth and Development (61) was the best, at least until Peter Wynne-Thomas’ recent effort (17 above), but the nature of one or two blatant errors make one wonder about the conditions under which it was written. Perhaps he was so intent on causing sensation (and offence) that he failed to put in the work on the ‘nitty gritty’.
The emergence of properly researched Who’s Who books has been a feature of recent cricket publishing. The first of the ‘modern’ type of this book was Nottinghamshire Cricketers 1821 to 1914 (62) by Peter Wynne-Thomas. This gave a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘cricket research,’ as Thomas turned many stones which it was not even realised existed. This superbly produced volume was possibly the inspiration for numerous other such projects, some of which have seen the light of day. The illustrated Who’s Whos of Essex, Glamorgan, Lancashire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire (63-68) seemed excellent ideas and in general were compiled reasonably well, but sales were insufficient and the project has been postponed, at least temporarily.
Collins’ Who’s Who (69) 1945-84 appeared in 1985, but was overwhelmed by the ACS’s Who’s Who of Cricketers (70). It covers all English cricket from 1864, and includes many earlier players besides. The second edition in 1993 reached new and previously undreamed of heights for such a work. In fact, other than the odd snippet of new information, and updating, it is difficult to see just how much further one can go.
No other country has yet produced a comprehensive Who’s Who. The most noteworthy effort thus far is the Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket (71). The biographies of very many Australian cricket people are included (men as well as women) and also much further detail. As an encyclopedia, no other cricketing country is so well served.
Statisticians need their record books (if only to find out where the other chaps have gone wrong!). The King of cricket’s record keepers was unarguably Test Match Special scorer (and ACS member) Bill Frindall. The 1993 edition of Wisden Book of Cricket Records (72) is a direct descendant, albeit vastly more wide in scope, of Roy Webber’s Playfair Book of Cricket Records (1951) (73), itself a fascinating product of its time. Webber also produced a two-volume Playfair Book of Test Cricket up to 1953; Frindall’s own two volume Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1977-1977 (74) and 1977-94 (75) is basically the same format but the scores are vastly more detailed. This is in fact virtually the ultimate in statistical histories. In 1985 Frindall, with Victor Isaacs, produced The Wisden Book of One Day International Cricket (76), since republished in an updated version. This book will satisfy many people.
There have been many county histories, and a number of attempts at producing a complete set (now presumably 18) in more or less uniform format. The most recent of such efforts was commenced in the 1980s by Christopher Helm and for a time it seemed they would complete the course. The company was absorbed and the County series seems to have been consigned to the pending file, but subsequently forgotten. The published books were mixed in quality and also in size; perhaps the best two were Glamorgan (77) and Yorkshire (78); the latter especially was a rollicking good read and almost succeeded in squeezing a quart into a pint pot. Unfortunately we still await the brave publishers who will last the pace and ‘do’ all 18 counties.
Some of the most disappointing cricket books have been biographies, or autobiographies. In the latter case it seems that the subjects may well argue amongst themselves (‘My ghost knows less than your ghost!’), but there is the occasional reasonably worthwhile tome.
Nicholas Felix and Alfred Mynn were two of the most celebrated players of the first half of the 19th century, and they were both biographed in the 1960s. In 1962 Gerald Brodribb produced Felix of the Bat (79), and after the biography is a reproduction of Felix’s own cricket book of the same name, with Felix’s own illustrations. Felix was undoubtedly a most talented artist, but it does seem that his players were mostly too much like Byron or Shelley facially to be real; perhaps he was not quite the artist of his own dreams. The biography is hardly a ‘warts and all’ production, and it is a pity that the faults of the subject are not given more space. Yet it is admitted he was a most interesting personality.
Personality is perhaps where Alfred Mynn was lacking—personality and also commonsense, since his self-imposed lifestyle was a recipe for disaster. He definitely went on too long, but Patrick Morrah’s Alfred Mynn & The Cricketers of His Time (80) emphasises his power and effectiveness at his peak. If you tire of reading about a brainless bumpkin, you can always have a good cry over Prowse’s verse on page 208.
Bobby Abel (81), by David Kynaston, takes us through the life of the type of professional which seems no longer to exist—the South of the Thames working class Londoner who made good despite everything. With Abel ‘everything’ was indifferent—eyesight and physique, a technique which reads like an exaggeration of Derek Randall’s and the handicap simply of being a Surrey professional.
No. 82 is Jim Swanton’s biography of Gubby Allen, with foreword by Lord Home. How much more establishment can one get? Actually this is an excellent effort; Swanton more or less establishes that Allen was related to Napoleon, but unfortunately fails to mention another alleged filial query…
I trust I am allowed personal feelings to intrude in compiling this list. Bill Andrews, author of The Hand That Bowled Bradman (83), was a great personality, albeit with faults, and nearly as good a cricketer as he himself reckoned. He also took a great liking to this writer on our first meeting, and he retained the friendship—albeit usually from afar until his last, protracted illness. As one would expect from such a man, it is a good read, but unusual and uneven.
Two of the best books about a specific cricketer are appropriately about Sir Donald Bradman. Bradman The Great (84), by B.J.Wakley, is an exhaustive innings-by-innings analysis of his career—by a long way the most complete statistics of any career ever. Sir Donald Bradman (85) by Irving Rosenwater is in its different way the equal of the previous item. Rosenwater seems to have researched everything—even, one is told, the Don’s dental history—to produce the most detailed biography of any cricketer. Bradman deserved Wakley and Rosenwater; they in their turn were fortunate to have Bradman to test their abilities to the full.
No. 86 is a splendid effort, Richard Streeton using a lengthy spell of idleness during industrial action to compile P.G.H. Fender—a biography. So highly thought of was this book that Streeton won the Cricket Society Literary Award. For once that award went to the right book.
Returning to autobiography, A Mingled Yarn (87) is the story of Alan Gibson, very talented, basically nice, but terribly mixed-up. Alan Gibson became something of a friend to me during the 1980s, and indeed once featured me in one of his Times reports (completely ignoring the proceedings in a mundane Warwickshire game). If eventually he let me down, forgetting a meeting he himself had arranged, at his best Gibson was a very good writer, and a good man.
At his best I rate David Foot as currently the possessor of the most evocative pen in cricket. Perhaps he first established himself with Harold Gimblett: Tormented Genius of Cricket (88). What a sad book this is, yet how badly it needed writing, and what a tribute to the author, who performed as conscientious a job as one feels was possible.
Percy Chapman (89), by David Lemmon, is not always as riveting as one felt it could be. Lemmon has written lots of books, but touches the stars in his allusion on page 133 to Citizen Kane Rosebud. At what moment did things start going wrong? Be sure, there has to be such a moment—there must be—despite Lemmon’s apparent doubts, but one agrees with him that it is perhaps impossible to determine that moment. Perhaps Rosebud needs a book to itself. As for Lemmon, if he never writes another word...!
Wheelwrights to Wickets (90) is undoubtedly one of the outstanding cricket books of recent times. It is the story perhaps of the greatest of all cricketing families, The Hearnes, and written by the son of the last Hearne ‘great’ J.W. (Young Jack’). One was surprised and disappointed it failed to win an award.
One’s own feeling—unsupported by any sort of detailed research—is that cricketers are more likely to take their own life than leading practitioners of other sport. David Frith’s By His Own Hand (91) is an investigation of such people. Despite the feelings of some, it is not in bad taste, and makes for a most moving and heart-rending publication.
C.B. Fry was certainly one of the greatest of all-round sportsmen, and a great batsman. He was also a remarkably weak individual, completely dominated by his battle-axe of a wife, and in later years he was convinced she had ruined his life. Such nonsense; he had feet of clay and hadn’t the guts to breakaway and do something. Forget Fry’s own Life Worth Living; for what must be far closer to the true story, try C.B. (92), by Clive Ellis, and The Captain’s Lady (93) by Ronald Morris. It is likely that Fry and his wife were both psychopaths who in today’s climate would probably be accused of child abuse.
Another fraud was Fry’s friend Ranji; in Ranji—A Genius Rich and Strange (94) Simon Wilde shows a man so different to the person previously biographed by, for example, Alan Ross, that it is really another person. He was still a marvellous batsman, however.
If Fry was weak and Ranji a fraud, F.R. Foster was really ‘crackers’. Cricketing Memories (95) is embarrassing in places, and certainly Foster’s apparent hero, ‘Tiger’ Smith felt this way, but it is an interesting an amusing story patently written by someone struggling with his mental balance. There is a further story to be told here.
A.E. Stoddart was an England skipper in the so called ‘Golden Age’; 20 years later he was so sick of life that he blew his own brains out. My Dear Victorious Stod (96) is another classic from David Frith, as is The Archie Jackson Story (97). Is it callous to suggest he died at the right time, that he would have been one of cricket’s underachievers?
Douglas Jardine: Spartan Cricketer (98) by Christopher Douglas tells the story of a good man much misunderstood. (Those who gaily refer to him as a fascist ought to be ashamed of their lack of knowledge of the English language.) One hesitates to describe him as a ‘great’ captain, since the exact meaning is uncertain, but he was certainly extremely successful.
John Edward Shilton’s Book (99), though having almost no statistical value, as the self-inspired story of a Victorian County pro, would in any event have been worthy of a lengthy browse. The fact is, Shilton was far more than your normal professional cricketer; his true story has everything.
No. 100 I allocate to every ACS publication. The essential basis for anyone commencing a life with cricket statistics and history is a complete set of ACS items; without it one is so handicapped as to be unqualified as a cricket researcher. Is it exaggeration to suggest that the idea floated by two enthusiasts in a Warwickshire pub in 1972 has produced more in a shorter time than any other cricket organisation or individual? The large number and range of ACS publications suggests not.
This article first appeared in The Cricket Statistician for Winter 1997. To join the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians, subscribe to the journal, and secure a special discount on some of the publications mentioned by Brooke, please visit our website: