Cricket Through the Looking Glass

Cricket through the Looking Glass is a unique book in that it conveys a vivid description complete with detailed scorecards of a series of matches that have never in fact taken place. The vaults of imagination are plumbed to allow anyone who has ever existed, real or fictional, to reveal themselves under the singular aegis of the game of cricket. To some it will appear ridiculously farfetched, to others an illusion vivid enough almost to eclipse reality. Which, in an uncanny nutshell, precisely defines the fascination and intrigue of the greatest sport.

ISBN 190704003X   DEWEY edition DC22 ISBN13 9781907040030 (What's this?)   Pages 178 Publisher Melrose Books   Weight (grammes) 203 Imprint Melrose Books   Published in Ely Format Paperback   Height (mm) 198 Publication date 29 Mar 2010   Width (mm) 129 DEWEY 823.92   Academic level General

A veritable book of three halves, this is Wisden meets Gormenghast meets Monty Python. Let's face it, we've all often wondered how Vinnie Jones would fare batting against the Queen Mother's bowling, and who has not longed to see the Sheriff of Nottingham attempting to york Dixon of Dock Green. I know I have. All this is described in the most 'be-adjectived' prose imaginable. A corker of a book! This book has to be one of the funniest ever penned on the vast topic of cricket and all its inherent eccentricities. In a world where 'unique' is ridiculously over-used, this adjective can justifiably be applied to this magnificent work. It's inspiring, hilarious, exhilaratingly imaginative, totally original and quite impossible to put down once picked up. If you think truth is stranger than fiction you haven't read 'Cricket Through the Looking Glass' by Paul Newton and Steve Haworth. The book consists of a series of match reports complete with scorecards for a knockout tournament contested by 16 fictitious teams. Teams include 'The Fatties' (Bernard Manning, Pavarotti, Big Daddy...), The Joneses (Tom Jones, Jack Jones (TUC), etc), The Nursery Rhymes (Old King Cole, Little Red Riding Hood...). Einstein said 'imagination is more important than knowledge' and the imagination is stretched far and wide in this book. Matches are vividly described as this extract from 'The Generals v The Showbiz' quarter-final illustrates: '(Terry) Wogan joined Australia's first lady, and, after a couple of overs' circumspection, he clouted (Marshal) Montgomery to the mid-wicket fence. (Dame Edna) Everage promptly went down the pitch to admonish the genial Irishman...' It doesn't stop there. The results of the matches are as far-fetched as the teams. In their quarter-final The Fatties score 556-4 in their 50 overs before bowling out The Nursery Rhymes for a mere 38. There is value in adults using and stretching their imagination from time to time. It's good to dream. I'm just not entirely convinced that this book warrants the hour or two you will spend reading it. Still, for cricket nuts, it may a harmless way to while away a couple of hours on holiday this summer. Liam Rooney

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