The Twelfth Man 2013

23 down’. Mick, our well-respected and hard working Secretary, must have spent hundreds of hours on the research he has put into preparing this book, which I am sure will hold a place on the shelves of cricket lovers far away from Yorkshire. So many ghostwritten books appear each year, written for ‘big name’ players. Mick has already produced five well-written books, always with a base to history, always very readable and ‘keepable’. The latest, spanning 180 years of Yorkshire cricket, sadly relates the stories of 60 tragic Yorkshire cricketers. In my humble opinion it’s a must for all cricket lovers. The Promise of Endless Summer Cricket Lives from the Daily Telegraph Edited by Martin Smith Published by Aurum – £14.99 Another Telegraph book, similar in size to Not in my Day, Sir I reviewed two years ago and in the same ‘handy’ format, making it easy to slip into a bag to read during one of the quieter periods, while watching cricket. It contains the obituaries of 82 cricketers who have died since the end of the Second War. Not arranged in chronological, or even alphabetical order, but informally grouped, so that characters who have obvious connections. SPECIAL OFFER To order a copy of The Promise of Endless Summer (9781781310489) for £11.99* including p&p, phone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk , and quote offer code AUR346 . Alternatively, send a cheque made payable to: Littlehampton Book Services Mail Order Department, Littlehampton Book Services, PO Box 4264, Worthing, West Sussex BN13 3RB. Please quote the offer code AUR346 and include your name and address details. *UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas. Of course there are many familiar names, like Les Ames, Alec Bedser, Don Bradman, Colin Cowdrey, Malcolm Marshall and his Bajan pal, Sylvester Clarke, (I umpired them both and had no problems). Of course, I found our own dear David Bairstow and Bill Bowes, such a kindly man who I met on Bleach Mill Lane. A really interesting book which I must confess I've ‘hopped about’ searching for favourites, while coming across others like Bomber Wells, an old fashioned bowler who believed in hitting the ball as far as he could, unlike the modern way where there are no 9, 10, Jack in the batting order. I have no hesitation in recommending this one.