The original Mr cricket, 25 Feb 2007
I've always been a huge fan, and Im an Aussie, so I am biased. His career went for such a long period you tend to forget a lot of his moments. I for one found this to be a very enjoyable read. I would say that I would have loved if he spilt a lot more beans on some of the behind the scenes stuff but then again he wouldn't be the steely-eyed iceman, never allowing a moment of ill-dicipline if he did. He is the type of cricketer, mentally, that anyone that has played cricket would love to be. As anyone who ever talked about cricket would say, "if you ever wanted someone to bat for your life...it would be Steve Waugh" I found many aspects of the book revealing especially his early years in England and his relationship with his wife.

As to the pearls of wisdom that are in there. I think they're dotted all over the place. I know a lot of clubs took sections out of them and placed them around the club house. As ever they're typical Steve, internalised but in a team motivating way.

What is it good for?, 31 Jan 2007
Steve Waugh may not have been the most attractive player to watch, but as the sort of man who seemed to get runs when it mattered most (or for that matter, pluck a catch out of nowhere or take a wicket with a magic ball), he is certainly one to be respected and admired. He was probably the best of Australia's modern-era Ashes-winning captains, too. So I was expecting this to be full of sage words about the sport - basically the sort of thing the current England team should be using as bedtime reading. It is, too. Especially marked is the difference in attitude between Aussie sportsmen (and non-sportsmen) and their English counterparts. It's a good read. I'd say that this was only marred by three things: a strange reticence about his relationship with his twin brother Mark, the book's extreme length and a tendency towards the end to the sort of self-justification that all too often mars a sporting career.

Waugh Zone, 21 Jun 2006
An in-depth look into the life of the person who lead, in my opinion, the greatest cricket team ever to have played the game. A man who always played his cards very close to his chest, and was able to play mind games better than Jose and Ferguson put together. Finally, we get the chance to see what was going on in the head of one of crickets greats.

Out of My Comfort Zone gives the reader a great interaction into the thinking of the man. The mind games not only with other players, to name but one, Curtley Ambrose in 1995 where we actually find out how he managed to get under the skin of one of the greatest fast bowlers, but also the mind games with himself, and the occasional bought of self doubt that crept into his game. As every cricketer knows, self doubt in a batsman leads to self destruction.

What is also very revealing is the problems that the whole Australian team had with the professional bodies of the game, from the ICC to the ACB, and all the problems of touring and team selection. The difficulty of touring the sub-continent is brought about in stark terms, especially the car bomb in Sri Lanka just before the Aussies arrived for the 95 World Cup. The decision of whether to go ahead with the game in Sri Lanka or not and the conflict this caused is bore out in great detail.

The quality of the book is excellent. To date I have not come across an autobiography which has so much detail in it and is so in-depth in recounting events and scores from the past. A fascinating book which is also excellent rounded off with a chapter from Steve's wife Lynette, who describes life as a cricket widow..... of which much of it my own wife can relate to!!!

An excellent book for any cricket fan.

The original Mr cricket, 25 Feb 2007
I've always been a huge fan, and Im an Aussie, so I am biased. His career went for such a long period you tend to forget a lot of his moments. I for one found this to be a very enjoyable read. I would say that I would have loved if he spilt a lot more beans on some of the behind the scenes stuff but then again he wouldn't be the steely-eyed iceman, never allowing a moment of ill-dicipline if he did. He is the type of cricketer, mentally, that anyone that has played cricket would love to be. As anyone who ever talked about cricket would say, "if you ever wanted someone to bat for your life...it would be Steve Waugh" I found many aspects of the book revealing especially his early years in England and his relationship with his wife.

As to the pearls of wisdom that are in there. I think they're dotted all over the place. I know a lot of clubs took sections out of them and placed them around the club house. As ever they're typical Steve, internalised but in a team motivating way.

What is it good for?, 31 Jan 2007
Steve Waugh may not have been the most attractive player to watch, but as the sort of man who seemed to get runs when it mattered most (or for that matter, pluck a catch out of nowhere or take a wicket with a magic ball), he is certainly one to be respected and admired. He was probably the best of Australia's modern-era Ashes-winning captains, too. So I was expecting this to be full of sage words about the sport - basically the sort of thing the current England team should be using as bedtime reading. It is, too. Especially marked is the difference in attitude between Aussie sportsmen (and non-sportsmen) and their English counterparts. It's a good read. I'd say that this was only marred by three things: a strange reticence about his relationship with his twin brother Mark, the book's extreme length and a tendency towards the end to the sort of self-justification that all too often mars a sporting career.

Waugh Zone, 21 Jun 2006
An in-depth look into the life of the person who lead, in my opinion, the greatest cricket team ever to have played the game. A man who always played his cards very close to his chest, and was able to play mind games better than Jose and Ferguson put together. Finally, we get the chance to see what was going on in the head of one of crickets greats.

Out of My Comfort Zone gives the reader a great interaction into the thinking of the man. The mind games not only with other players, to name but one, Curtley Ambrose in 1995 where we actually find out how he managed to get under the skin of one of the greatest fast bowlers, but also the mind games with himself, and the occasional bought of self doubt that crept into his game. As every cricketer knows, self doubt in a batsman leads to self destruction.

What is also very revealing is the problems that the whole Australian team had with the professional bodies of the game, from the ICC to the ACB, and all the problems of touring and team selection. The difficulty of touring the sub-continent is brought about in stark terms, especially the car bomb in Sri Lanka just before the Aussies arrived for the 95 World Cup. The decision of whether to go ahead with the game in Sri Lanka or not and the conflict this caused is bore out in great detail.

The quality of the book is excellent. To date I have not come across an autobiography which has so much detail in it and is so in-depth in recounting events and scores from the past. A fascinating book which is also excellent rounded off with a chapter from Steve's wife Lynette, who describes life as a cricket widow..... of which much of it my own wife can relate to!!!

An excellent book for any cricket fan.


Stick to cricket, 27 Jul 2007
Modern sportsmen are getting into a bad habit of writing books far too early in their careers. This is a totally unnecessary effort from KP. From the corny cover photo to his self-protestations of intensity it makes for a poor read and lacks insight. At present he just needs to let his runs do the talking.

Pietersen would be a lot more readable if he showed a bit more self awareness. His ill-informed views on the South Africa quota system make him sound ridiculously naive and lack any credibility. It is easy to see why his media quotes have regularly made him appear more obtuse than he really is.

My advice is stick to batting old son and keep that trap shut.



Fascinating insight into amazing character, 15 Jan 2007
I am writing this as KP enters the dark night of the soul. 5-0 whitewash and a broken rib from gentle pace Glenn McGrath. World cup prospects threatened.

Yet this book shows that one thing Kevin Pietersen is not bothered about is adversity. He will be back.

The book obviously stops before this Winter's Ashes debacle, but the character of the man is all there. His fiercely competitive, sporting childhood; his fastidious approach; his unnerving determination and confidence and his hard loyalty to friends.

KP is far more interesting than the flambouyant hairstyle and extravagant jewellery. He is a sporting obsessive. He clearly sees his own destiny and is utterly, utterly committed to achieving it.

This book charts the nature of this drive. When the quota system designed to re-integrate South African cricket meant that the young KP, then a promising off-spinner who batted, was dropped by Natal, he showed no hesitation. He pursued a career in England, using the fact of his mother's English birth to secure a non-overseas player berth at Notts.

He was a run machine, easily topping the county averages and working well with Clive Rice, the SA legend who was coach of the team.

But KP bears grudges and takes sides.

On no less then three occassions in this book, he derides little known coaches who failed to nurture his talent, or hindered him, and laughs at the fact that they claim him as 'one of theirs.' He also still takes exception at the fact that he felt short changed during his barman stint while at an English club team! The guy must have millions by now, but still, you cross KP, you stay on the black-list.

When Notts and Rice parted company, simmering trouble with Pietersen exploded and the man who left behind South Africa was not going to let Notts get in the way. Soon he was at Hampshire.

The determination, the apparent lack of a 'live and let live' attitude and his reliance on a select group of friends and supporters all combine to produce someone utterly committed to cricket. There's none of the 'what the hell' blokey-ness of Andrew Flintoff here. Just hard obsession. Frankly he's terrifying. Glad he's on our side.

I liked and admired Kevin Pietersen after reading this book. It is no co-incidence that of the entire England team only Pietersen emerged from the Ashes disaster with his reputation enhanced. If you want to understand how a really successful sportsman thinks, read this book. Yes it has obvious padding from his mates, chipping in with their thoughts on the great KP, and some might think it thin as his test career as only just got going, but the psychological insight in this work, whether it's supposed to be there or not, lifts this book right out of the normal sports biography.

The original Mr cricket, 25 Feb 2007
I've always been a huge fan, and Im an Aussie, so I am biased. His career went for such a long period you tend to forget a lot of his moments. I for one found this to be a very enjoyable read. I would say that I would have loved if he spilt a lot more beans on some of the behind the scenes stuff but then again he wouldn't be the steely-eyed iceman, never allowing a moment of ill-dicipline if he did. He is the type of cricketer, mentally, that anyone that has played cricket would love to be. As anyone who ever talked about cricket would say, "if you ever wanted someone to bat for your life...it would be Steve Waugh" I found many aspects of the book revealing especially his early years in England and his relationship with his wife.

As to the pearls of wisdom that are in there. I think they're dotted all over the place. I know a lot of clubs took sections out of them and placed them around the club house. As ever they're typical Steve, internalised but in a team motivating way.

What is it good for?, 31 Jan 2007
Steve Waugh may not have been the most attractive player to watch, but as the sort of man who seemed to get runs when it mattered most (or for that matter, pluck a catch out of nowhere or take a wicket with a magic ball), he is certainly one to be respected and admired. He was probably the best of Australia's modern-era Ashes-winning captains, too. So I was expecting this to be full of sage words about the sport - basically the sort of thing the current England team should be using as bedtime reading. It is, too. Especially marked is the difference in attitude between Aussie sportsmen (and non-sportsmen) and their English counterparts. It's a good read. I'd say that this was only marred by three things: a strange reticence about his relationship with his twin brother Mark, the book's extreme length and a tendency towards the end to the sort of self-justification that all too often mars a sporting career.

Waugh Zone, 21 Jun 2006
An in-depth look into the life of the person who lead, in my opinion, the greatest cricket team ever to have played the game. A man who always played his cards very close to his chest, and was able to play mind games better than Jose and Ferguson put together. Finally, we get the chance to see what was going on in the head of one of crickets greats.

Out of My Comfort Zone gives the reader a great interaction into the thinking of the man. The mind games not only with other players, to name but one, Curtley Ambrose in 1995 where we actually find out how he managed to get under the skin of one of the greatest fast bowlers, but also the mind games with himself, and the occasional bought of self doubt that crept into his game. As every cricketer knows, self doubt in a batsman leads to self destruction.

What is also very revealing is the problems that the whole Australian team had with the professional bodies of the game, from the ICC to the ACB, and all the problems of touring and team selection. The difficulty of touring the sub-continent is brought about in stark terms, especially the car bomb in Sri Lanka just before the Aussies arrived for the 95 World Cup. The decision of whether to go ahead with the game in Sri Lanka or not and the conflict this caused is bore out in great detail.

The quality of the book is excellent. To date I have not come across an autobiography which has so much detail in it and is so in-depth in recounting events and scores from the past. A fascinating book which is also excellent rounded off with a chapter from Steve's wife Lynette, who describes life as a cricket widow..... of which much of it my own wife can relate to!!!

An excellent book for any cricket fan.


Stick to cricket, 27 Jul 2007
Modern sportsmen are getting into a bad habit of writing books far too early in their careers. This is a totally unnecessary effort from KP. From the corny cover photo to his self-protestations of intensity it makes for a poor read and lacks insight. At present he just needs to let his runs do the talking.

Pietersen would be a lot more readable if he showed a bit more self awareness. His ill-informed views on the South Africa quota system make him sound ridiculously naive and lack any credibility. It is easy to see why his media quotes have regularly made him appear more obtuse than he really is.

My advice is stick to batting old son and keep that trap shut.



Fascinating insight into amazing character, 15 Jan 2007
I am writing this as KP enters the dark night of the soul. 5-0 whitewash and a broken rib from gentle pace Glenn McGrath. World cup prospects threatened.

Yet this book shows that one thing Kevin Pietersen is not bothered about is adversity. He will be back.

The book obviously stops before this Winter's Ashes debacle, but the character of the man is all there. His fiercely competitive, sporting childhood; his fastidious approach; his unnerving determination and confidence and his hard loyalty to friends.

KP is far more interesting than the flambouyant hairstyle and extravagant jewellery. He is a sporting obsessive. He clearly sees his own destiny and is utterly, utterly committed to achieving it.

This book charts the nature of this drive. When the quota system designed to re-integrate South African cricket meant that the young KP, then a promising off-spinner who batted, was dropped by Natal, he showed no hesitation. He pursued a career in England, using the fact of his mother's English birth to secure a non-overseas player berth at Notts.

He was a run machine, easily topping the county averages and working well with Clive Rice, the SA legend who was coach of the team.

But KP bears grudges and takes sides.

On no less then three occassions in this book, he derides little known coaches who failed to nurture his talent, or hindered him, and laughs at the fact that they claim him as 'one of theirs.' He also still takes exception at the fact that he felt short changed during his barman stint while at an English club team! The guy must have millions by now, but still, you cross KP, you stay on the black-list.

When Notts and Rice parted company, simmering trouble with Pietersen exploded and the man who left behind South Africa was not going to let Notts get in the way. Soon he was at Hampshire.

The determination, the apparent lack of a 'live and let live' attitude and his reliance on a select group of friends and supporters all combine to produce someone utterly committed to cricket. There's none of the 'what the hell' blokey-ness of Andrew Flintoff here. Just hard obsession. Frankly he's terrifying. Glad he's on our side.

I liked and admired Kevin Pietersen after reading this book. It is no co-incidence that of the entire England team only Pietersen emerged from the Ashes disaster with his reputation enhanced. If you want to understand how a really successful sportsman thinks, read this book. Yes it has obvious padding from his mates, chipping in with their thoughts on the great KP, and some might think it thin as his test career as only just got going, but the psychological insight in this work, whether it's supposed to be there or not, lifts this book right out of the normal sports biography.

Authoritative, entertaining, excellent, 11 Sep 2008
Sadly, most people's knowledge of the Bodyline tour will have been gleaned from Australian TV's hideously one-sided and inaccurate drama based around the events of 1932-33. Happily, David Frith, a wonderfully skilled cricket writer with a foot in both camps, has painstakingly brought the series to life in what is the finest cricket book I've ever read.

Frith's attention to detail combined with his love of the game, not to mention his ability in recreating a time when the Commonwealth (and, indeed, cricket) still really mattered, makes this book stand out from the pack.

Frith has met or interviewed virtually all of the key players in the Bodyline tour, and therefore his characterisation of cricketers - from the toadying Gubby Allen to the obstinate, loyal Harold Larwood - has an air of authority that few, if any, would have been able to recreate.

I'd strongly recommend this book not only to cricket fans whose love of the game goes beyond a passing interest for a few months in the summer of 2005, but to anyone with a love of social history, or indeed and interest in exploring the English psyche. The era when there were gentlemen and players may have passed, but the English attitude to sport - the misplaced air of superiority combined with being torn between wanting to take the moral high ground while having a burning desire to win at all costs - explored in this book is still highly relevant some 75 years after the event. Frith leaves no stone unturned in his quest to get to the truth of what happened on the Bodyline tour and writes in a refreshingly balanced manner. If the Aussies decide to make another TV version of the events of 1932-33, they could do a lot worse than appoint Frith as the script editor.

The Definitive History of Bodyline, 15 Nov 2006
I have seen newsreel footage of Harold Larwood bowling in this series. It brings a tingle to the spine - in particular the critical moment of the whole series, whereby a delivery unleashed from Larwood struck wicketkeeper-batsman Bert Oldfield on the head and fractured his skull in the Third Test at Adelaide.

It is difficult today to understand the impact that Bodyline had on cricket. Fast leg-theory had been practiced certainly since Victorian times, but never with bowlers of such pace, ferocity and consistency as Harold Larwood and Bill Voce, the Nottinghamshire duo, and never with a field set so aggressively - most fielders behind square leg, and no-one on the off side further forward than Point. Risk getting hit, fend off a delivery and risk getting caught. Hook, and risk getting caught.

To say that Bodyline endangered relations between England and Australia is not an understatement.

This is an excellent, well researched book. Unbiased, it paints the picture in great detail as to how the Bodyline saga unfolded. You witness the proceedings from a number of different points of view.

We see how Douglas Jardine, the England captain, knew that the key to the Ashes was to stop Don Bradman. How Jardine had a suspicion that Bradman was susceptible to short pitched bowling. How he executed his plan, and how Harold Larwood was key to this. We witness the execution of the plan, the growing unpopularity in Australia, and the flashpoint at Adelaide which nearly provoked a riot and very nearly caused the series to be cancelled.

We see the heroics. Stan McCabe's battling 189 against Bodyline. Eddie Paynter's heroic 83 having discharged himself from hospital to save England. Bill Woodfull taking blow after blow on the body rather than give up his wicket. Don Bradman's improvised batting technique to combat Bodyline.

We see the shocks. Bradman's first ball dismissal attempting to hook Bill Bowes, for example.

We witness the aftermath. Both political and sporting. How the rules were eventually changed to ban Bodyline. And an intriguing late chapter which moves forward in time and suggests that repeated short pitched bowling from the like of Lillie and Thomson (1970s), Marshall and Garner (1980s) et al is not that dissimilar from Bodyline. How very fast bowlers terririse batsman to this day.

But most of all, one gets a real history of how things used to be. How the pace of life appeared to be much slower. For me, there is the overriding feeling that this was possibly the beginning of "gamesmanship" as we know it today. Douglas Jardine sacrificed sportsmanship, and Harold Larwood too in pursuit of the Ashes. Larwood was simply doing his job. He had no other choice. He was a Professional - a workhorse who had to do as he was told. An ex-miner from Nuncargate, he was bowled to destruction by Jardine. A Captain of England in those days could only be an Amateur - a gentleman, even. We therefore see the human side to this saga too. How Larwood was subsequently ostracised by the authorities for his part in Bodyline and how he emigrated to Australia to start a new life.

This is an excellent book, which I consider to be the definitive history on the subject. It is very readable and it is certainly a book I turn to time and time again on my bookshelf.

Excellent Overview, 04 Nov 2004
Having known very little about Bodyline (It was 65 years before I was born!) I decided to find out more. This book gives an excellent overview of Bodyline and Leg Theory, giving the differences between the two and the history. The book is well researched and contains a very balanced arguement, in that it shows the Austrailian, English and World cricket views. It also defines the incident in the context if the politics of the time. This may make the book seem rather heavy, but the descriptions of the atcual cricket are well done and from other sources I have read, seems to be very accurate all round. A brilliant book for any cricket fan

Balanced Bodyline, 06 Jul 2004
An entertaining and informative history of the infamous tour of 1932/3.

For such an emotive issue in cricket history, this book is finely balanced and covers the shock and outrage of Bodyline as well as the context of Leg Theory.

Possibly the best cricket book I have read.

Bodyline Autopsy, 13 Mar 2003
A thoroughly enjoyable read, from foreward to index. The book has many strengths to distinguish it. David Frith looks at the whole sorry episode from the points of view of the players, administrators, spectators, journalists, spectators, and those cricket followers in England, (who in the pre-television age relied on newspaper reports and a few seconds of newsreel action, and had only a limited idea of what was really going on). He handles each with considerable skill, based on clear analysis, and metriculous research.

My only slight criticism is that the author can come across as a bit of a name-dropper, but given the depth of research he has undertaken, and the people he has interviewed over the years, he can easily be forgiven a little showing off!

The biggest acheivement of the book is to put the upheavals of these games into their political contexts in a clear and interesting way. He also manages to be balanced and largely sympathetic in analysing the thoughts and actions of the main protagonists - no easy task on an issue that still polarises to this day.

I would happily recommend it

In My Autobiography, Aussie leg-spin maestro Shane Warne, perhaps the outstanding cricketer of his generation--and one of the most consistently newsworthy characters in sport--takes stock of a phenomenally successful career, and gives his account of the scandals and controversies that have sent the media into spasms of delighted indignation.

From his days as a frustrated teenage wannabe Aussie Rules star, who decided he might as well try his hand at cricket, Warne has almost single-handedly taken the gentle, studious art of spin-bowling and turned it into a thrilling gladiatorial spectacle--on the way gathering career stats that rank him in company with the game's all-time elite.

Warne crashed into the world spotlight in 1993, when his first-ever ball in Ashes cricket made seasoned England star Mike Gatting look like a floundering buffoon:

In the second or so it took to leave my hand, swerve to pitch outside leg stump, fizz past the batsmen's lunge forward and clip off stump, my life did change ... Ian Botham said he hadn't seen the same look of wide-eyed horror on Gatting's face since somebody had stolen his lunch a few years before.

And he has hardly looked back since--on the pitch at least. Outside the boundary rope it has been a different, though no less sensational story. The media has revelled in tales of extra-marital phone-sex, match-fixing controversies, and bust-ups with the game's authorities and fellow professionals--sparking endless nonsensical speculation as to whether this hard-drinking, smoking "yobbo" was too fat, too loud, too arrogant or just plain too much for cricket to take.

This is a candid chronicle of his side of the story, and along the way there are some wonderful revelations about the mysteries of spin-bowling, the professional art of "sledging", and a fascinating insider account of Australia's rise to world dominance. A frank observer of others; an insightful assessor of his own achievements and motivations--and rarely descending into bland PR-consciousness--The King Of Spin has once again confounded all expectations and served up a peach. --Alex Hankin

The original Mr cricket, 25 Feb 2007
I've always been a huge fan, and Im an Aussie, so I am biased. His career went for such a long period you tend to forget a lot of his moments. I for one found this to be a very enjoyable read. I would say that I would have loved if he spilt a lot more beans on some of the behind the scenes stuff but then again he wouldn't be the steely-eyed iceman, never allowing a moment of ill-dicipline if he did. He is the type of cricketer, mentally, that anyone that has played cricket would love to be. As anyone who ever talked about cricket would say, "if you ever wanted someone to bat for your life...it would be Steve Waugh" I found many aspects of the book revealing especially his early years in England and his relationship with his wife.

As to the pearls of wisdom that are in there. I think they're dotted all over the place. I know a lot of clubs took sections out of them and placed them around the club house. As ever they're typical Steve, internalised but in a team motivating way.

What is it good for?, 31 Jan 2007
Steve Waugh may not have been the most attractive player to watch, but as the sort of man who seemed to get runs when it mattered most (or for that matter, pluck a catch out of nowhere or take a wicket with a magic ball), he is certainly one to be respected and admired. He was probably the best of Australia's modern-era Ashes-winning captains, too. So I was expecting this to be full of sage words about the sport - basically the sort of thing the current England team should be using as bedtime reading. It is, too. Especially marked is the difference in attitude between Aussie sportsmen (and non-sportsmen) and their English counterparts. It's a good read. I'd say that this was only marred by three things: a strange reticence about his relationship with his twin brother Mark, the book's extreme length and a tendency towards the end to the sort of self-justification that all too often mars a sporting career.

Waugh Zone, 21 Jun 2006
An in-depth look into the life of the person who lead, in my opinion, the greatest cricket team ever to have played the game. A man who always played his cards very close to his chest, and was able to play mind games better than Jose and Ferguson put together. Finally, we get the chance to see what was going on in the head of one of crickets greats.

Out of My Comfort Zone gives the reader a great interaction into the thinking of the man. The mind games not only with other players, to name but one, Curtley Ambrose in 1995 where we actually find out how he managed to get under the skin of one of the greatest fast bowlers, but also the mind games with himself, and the occasional bought of self doubt that crept into his game. As every cricketer knows, self doubt in a batsman leads to self destruction.

What is also very revealing is the problems that the whole Australian team had with the professional bodies of the game, from the ICC to the ACB, and all the problems of touring and team selection. The difficulty of touring the sub-continent is brought about in stark terms, especially the car bomb in Sri Lanka just before the Aussies arrived for the 95 World Cup. The decision of whether to go ahead with the game in Sri Lanka or not and the conflict this caused is bore out in great detail.

The quality of the book is excellent. To date I have not come across an autobiography which has so much detail in it and is so in-depth in recounting events and scores from the past. A fascinating book which is also excellent rounded off with a chapter from Steve's wife Lynette, who describes life as a cricket widow..... of which much of it my own wife can relate to!!!

An excellent book for any cricket fan.


Stick to cricket, 27 Jul 2007
Modern sportsmen are getting into a bad habit of writing books far too early in their careers. This is a totally unnecessary effort from KP. From the corny cover photo to his self-protestations of intensity it makes for a poor read and lacks insight. At present he just needs to let his runs do the talking.

Pietersen would be a lot more readable if he showed a bit more self awareness. His ill-informed views on the South Africa quota system make him sound ridiculously naive and lack any credibility. It is easy to see why his media quotes have regularly made him appear more obtuse than he really is.

My advice is stick to batting old son and keep that trap shut.



Fascinating insight into amazing character, 15 Jan 2007
I am writing this as KP enters the dark night of the soul. 5-0 whitewash and a broken rib from gentle pace Glenn McGrath. World cup prospects threatened.

Yet this book shows that one thing Kevin Pietersen is not bothered about is adversity. He will be back.

The book obviously stops before this Winter's Ashes debacle, but the character of the man is all there. His fiercely competitive, sporting childhood; his fastidious approach; his unnerving determination and confidence and his hard loyalty to friends.

KP is far more interesting than the flambouyant hairstyle and extravagant jewellery. He is a sporting obsessive. He clearly sees his own destiny and is utterly, utterly committed to achieving it.

This book charts the nature of this drive. When the quota system designed to re-integrate South African cricket meant that the young KP, then a promising off-spinner who batted, was dropped by Natal, he showed no hesitation. He pursued a career in England, using the fact of his mother's English birth to secure a non-overseas player berth at Notts.

He was a run machine, easily topping the county averages and working well with Clive Rice, the SA legend who was coach of the team.

But KP bears grudges and takes sides.

On no less then three occassions in this book, he derides little known coaches who failed to nurture his talent, or hindered him, and laughs at the fact that they claim him as 'one of theirs.' He also still takes exception at the fact that he felt short changed during his barman stint while at an English club team! The guy must have millions by now, but still, you cross KP, you stay on the black-list.

When Notts and Rice parted company, simmering trouble with Pietersen exploded and the man who left behind South Africa was not going to let Notts get in the way. Soon he was at Hampshire.

The determination, the apparent lack of a 'live and let live' attitude and his reliance on a select group of friends and supporters all combine to produce someone utterly committed to cricket. There's none of the 'what the hell' blokey-ness of Andrew Flintoff here. Just hard obsession. Frankly he's terrifying. Glad he's on our side.

I liked and admired Kevin Pietersen after reading this book. It is no co-incidence that of the entire England team only Pietersen emerged from the Ashes disaster with his reputation enhanced. If you want to understand how a really successful sportsman thinks, read this book. Yes it has obvious padding from his mates, chipping in with their thoughts on the great KP, and some might think it thin as his test career as only just got going, but the psychological insight in this work, whether it's supposed to be there or not, lifts this book right out of the normal sports biography.

Authoritative, entertaining, excellent, 11 Sep 2008
Sadly, most people's knowledge of the Bodyline tour will have been gleaned from Australian TV's hideously one-sided and inaccurate drama based around the events of 1932-33. Happily, David Frith, a wonderfully skilled cricket writer with a foot in both camps, has painstakingly brought the series to life in what is the finest cricket book I've ever read.

Frith's attention to detail combined with his love of the game, not to mention his ability in recreating a time when the Commonwealth (and, indeed, cricket) still really mattered, makes this book stand out from the pack.

Frith has met or interviewed virtually all of the key players in the Bodyline tour, and therefore his characterisation of cricketers - from the toadying Gubby Allen to the obstinate, loyal Harold Larwood - has an air of authority that few, if any, would have been able to recreate.

I'd strongly recommend this book not only to cricket fans whose love of the game goes beyond a passing interest for a few months in the summer of 2005, but to anyone with a love of social history, or indeed and interest in exploring the English psyche. The era when there were gentlemen and players may have passed, but the English attitude to sport - the misplaced air of superiority combined with being torn between wanting to take the moral high ground while having a burning desire to win at all costs - explored in this book is still highly relevant some 75 years after the event. Frith leaves no stone unturned in his quest to get to the truth of what happened on the Bodyline tour and writes in a refreshingly balanced manner. If the Aussies decide to make another TV version of the events of 1932-33, they could do a lot worse than appoint Frith as the script editor.

The Definitive History of Bodyline, 15 Nov 2006
I have seen newsreel footage of Harold Larwood bowling in this series. It brings a tingle to the spine - in particular the critical moment of the whole series, whereby a delivery unleashed from Larwood struck wicketkeeper-batsman Bert Oldfield on the head and fractured his skull in the Third Test at Adelaide.

It is difficult today to understand the impact that Bodyline had on cricket. Fast leg-theory had been practiced certainly since Victorian times, but never with bowlers of such pace, ferocity and consistency as Harold Larwood and Bill Voce, the Nottinghamshire duo, and never with a field set so aggressively - most fielders behind square leg, and no-one on the off side further forward than Point. Risk getting hit, fend off a delivery and risk getting caught. Hook, and risk getting caught.

To say that Bodyline endangered relations between England and Australia is not an understatement.

This is an excellent, well researched book. Unbiased, it paints the picture in great detail as to how the Bodyline saga unfolded. You witness the proceedings from a number of different points of view.

We see how Douglas Jardine, the England captain, knew that the key to the Ashes was to stop Don Bradman. How Jardine had a suspicion that Bradman was susceptible to short pitched bowling. How he executed his plan, and how Harold Larwood was key to this. We witness the execution of the plan, the growing unpopularity in Australia, and the flashpoint at Adelaide which nearly provoked a riot and very nearly caused the series to be cancelled.

We see the heroics. Stan McCabe's battling 189 against Bodyline. Eddie Paynter's heroic 83 having discharged himself from hospital to save England. Bill Woodfull taking blow after blow on the body rather than give up his wicket. Don Bradman's improvised batting technique to combat Bodyline.

We see the shocks. Bradman's first ball dismissal attempting to hook Bill Bowes, for example.

We witness the aftermath. Both political and sporting. How the rules were eventually changed to ban Bodyline. And an intriguing late chapter which moves forward in time and suggests that repeated short pitched bowling from the like of Lillie and Thomson (1970s), Marshall and Garner (1980s) et al is not that dissimilar from Bodyline. How very fast bowlers terririse batsman to this day.

But most of all, one gets a real history of how things used to be. How the pace of life appeared to be much slower. For me, there is the overriding feeling that this was possibly the beginning of "gamesmanship" as we know it today. Douglas Jardine sacrificed sportsmanship, and Harold Larwood too in pursuit of the Ashes. Larwood was simply doing his job. He had no other choice. He was a Professional - a workhorse who had to do as he was told. An ex-miner from Nuncargate, he was bowled to destruction by Jardine. A Captain of England in those days could only be an Amateur - a gentleman, even. We therefore see the human side to this saga too. How Larwood was subsequently ostracised by the authorities for his part in Bodyline and how he emigrated to Australia to start a new life.

This is an excellent book, which I consider to be the definitive history on the subject. It is very readable and it is certainly a book I turn to time and time again on my bookshelf.

Excellent Overview, 04 Nov 2004
Having known very little about Bodyline (It was 65 years before I was born!) I decided to find out more. This book gives an excellent overview of Bodyline and Leg Theory, giving the differences between the two and the history. The book is well researched and contains a very balanced arguement, in that it shows the Austrailian, English and World cricket views. It also defines the incident in the context if the politics of the time. This may make the book seem rather heavy, but the descriptions of the atcual cricket are well done and from other sources I have read, seems to be very accurate all round. A brilliant book for any cricket fan

Balanced Bodyline, 06 Jul 2004
An entertaining and informative history of the infamous tour of 1932/3.

For such an emotive issue in cricket history, this book is finely balanced and covers the shock and outrage of Bodyline as well as the context of Leg Theory.

Possibly the best cricket book I have read.

Bodyline Autopsy, 13 Mar 2003
A thoroughly enjoyable read, from foreward to index. The book has many strengths to distinguish it. David Frith looks at the whole sorry episode from the points of view of the players, administrators, spectators, journalists, spectators, and those cricket followers in England, (who in the pre-television age relied on newspaper reports and a few seconds of newsreel action, and had only a limited idea of what was really going on). He handles each with considerable skill, based on clear analysis, and metriculous research.

My only slight criticism is that the author can come across as a bit of a name-dropper, but given the depth of research he has undertaken, and the people he has interviewed over the years, he can easily be forgiven a little showing off!

The biggest acheivement of the book is to put the upheavals of these games into their political contexts in a clear and interesting way. He also manages to be balanced and largely sympathetic in analysing the thoughts and actions of the main protagonists - no easy task on an issue that still polarises to this day.

I would happily recommend it

Noiicce , Shane !, 16 Jan 2006
I started to become fascinated with Shane Warne following his remarkable performance in the Ashes this year when he almost retained the trophy for the Aussies single-handedly. Without his devastating leg breaks which repeatedly tortured the England top-order batsmen and his determined batting which frequently spared the blushes of the Australian middle order, I am convinced that England would have won the Series 4-1. Shane Warne's autobiography is interesting but not particularly revealing and it lacks the amount of amusing anecdotes one might have expected from a top sportsman's life story. I would have liked to have found out more about his early life and his married life , but a lot of the book concerned itself with details and statistics about long forgotten Test matches and accounts of his cricketing injuries. The book is at it's best when describing some of the more controversial and unfortunate events in Shane's life such as the Scott Muller incident, saucy extra-marital phone-sex, bag-snatching and sledging. He doesn't seem to have had much luck getting away with doing naughty or silly things over the years. I also enjoyed finding out more about the Australian Cricket team and the personalities and relationships that have made them such a powerful force over the past decade. Unfortunately this book is a little out of date and doesn't include recent scandal about drug-taking, more extra-marital sexual liaisons and the recent break-up of Shane's marriage. The book reveals that although Shane Warne may have made some ill advised choices in his personal life, his knowledge of strategy and tactics in cricket is excellent and it is a pity that non-cricket related matters prevented him from becoming captain of the Australian side. I think that he would have been exciting and imaginative in this role and there are plenty of positive suggestions and good ideas mentioned in the book by Shane . Shane Warne's autobiography is less for a mainstream market and more for a strictly cricket-following audience with its emphasis on match details ,statistics and esoteric remarks such as "In the mid-90's I gave Mushtaq my flipper and he showed me his wrong-un" , which may confuse ,if not startle, the less knowledgeable reader.

Cricket Fans Only Need Apply!, 22 Jul 2005
Though it pains me to say it, what with him being an Aussie, Warne is quite possibly the greatest cricketer of all time and certainly (as Wisden decided) one of the top five. As such, any cricket fan would bound to be interested in his autobiography. It is however a disappointment.

Warne has always been colourful both on and off the field and a lot of his off-field antics have gained a great deal of publicity. In the book he attempts to explain away all of the situations he found himself in, whilst always attempting to show that nothing was his fault in any way. Put frankly he comes across as a whiner.

The chapters about his early years and going to the accademy are interesting enough, though I would have enjoyed more detail be provided about how he developed his incredible action. The book starts to struggle towards the end and as mentioned previously turns into a torrent of feeble excuses that you would expect a schoolboy to trott out to a teacher.

Of ego and ability, 21 Jul 2003
A reasonably interesting book though hardly substantive and to put into perspective, by author who has not ever read a book.

As most autobiographies of sporting greats of his fabric, its full of self glorification. The author's explanation of dispicable behaviour such as sledging gives us further insight of his grain.

One particular subject which I found interesting was his scathing attack of Arjuna Ranatunga. It must be noted that it is Ranatunga who is credited with transformation of Sri Lankan cricket, which culminated with her victory at the World cup in 1996(no prizes for guessing who the losing finalists were). Ranatunga during the tournament had daringly claimed that Warne was full of hype (Warne ended wicketless against the Lankans for 58 runs in his 10 overs, including being clubbed for a six by Ranatunga himself!!!)

Further, Ranatunga as we all know put his career in line and served a suspended ICC sentence in his fiery defence Muttiah Muralitharan in Australia. Its now apparent that Shane Warne will end his career behind Muttiah Muralitharan as the Greatest spin bowler of the game. Presently Warne has 491 wickets in 107 tests at nearly 26 runs per wicket, as against Muralitharan's 459 wickets in just 82 tests(25 tests less than Warne) at just over 23 and half runs per wicket. Muttiah Muralitharan has been named the greatest bowler in the history of the game by non other than Wisden.

So had it not been for Ranatunga, would Australia have won the 1996 world cup and Warne been the greatest spinner of all time(as opposed to being the second best)?

It no doubt appears that Mr Shane Warne firmly believes so.

Some fascinating nuggets but for cricket fans only, 20 May 2003
The world's greatest spin bowler he may be, but a great writer he certainly isn't. You wonder what was his ghost doing?
The book has two basic styles: the first is something like: "And then I took five wickets, and I was especially pleased with the flipper that took Fleming's off stump, and in the second test I got a few runs and we destroyed them in the final test, when, with six wickets, I certainly proved to Tugga I was back to my best."
The second comes through whenever he has to deal with controversy: "Well, you could say I am a bit blunt, but if a bloke won't return your calls when you want to sort it out, I don't think you can blame me for what happened."
Each time the whiff of controversy comes near, Warne airbrushes himself with barely a trace of apology. He sees himself not just as more sinned against than sinning but as hardly sinning at all.
This was written just before the drugs scandal, so Warne doesn't have to defend himself on that one, but there is the betting scandal, the remarks to other players, and the saucy phone calls, all of which he flatbats away.
But, then, let's be honest, this is pretty typical for sporting autobiographies, and it rather overlooks some of the great nuggets available here. Did you know about how a senior pro in the Australian team leads the singing of the Southern Cross at the end of a match? Or the fact that each player gives a mini-talk to the others about the history of Australia, the history of cricket or a subject of their choice (Warne chose gambling at a casino)?
These sorts of things help you realise how the Aussie team bond so brilliantly and reflect well on Waugh's captaincy.
And if you like cricket, even the run through of "Tests I have played in" is readable enough.
That said, some cricket books transcend their genre and have a value to the general reader. This isn't one of them.

Needs another 200 pages to do it justice., 15 May 2003
Shane Warne is a cricketing legend but clearly never going to be a literary one. His autobiography is interesting but not as spectacular as it might have been given his stature in the game and the catalogue of controversy that has dogged his career. Instead you cant help but feel that there is a lack of detail here. Too much of the book reads like a list of statistics, "I took 5-47 in the first test, 6-70 in the 2nd and we won the series 2-0" (in fact WAY too much of the book reads like that ,but there's still enough here to keep a casual reader interested. A good read but as flawed as the man himself. Come back to hampshire soon, Shane!

The original Mr cricket, 25 Feb 2007
I've always been a huge fan, and Im an Aussie, so I am biased. His career went for such a long period you tend to forget a lot of his moments. I for one found this to be a very enjoyable read. I would say that I would have loved if he spilt a lot more beans on some of the behind the scenes stuff but then again he wouldn't be the steely-eyed iceman, never allowing a moment of ill-dicipline if he did. He is the type of cricketer, mentally, that anyone that has played cricket would love to be. As anyone who ever talked about cricket would say, "if you ever wanted someone to bat for your life...it would be Steve Waugh" I found many aspects of the book revealing especially his early years in England and his relationship with his wife.

As to the pearls of wisdom that are in there. I think they're dotted all over the place. I know a lot of clubs took sections out of them and placed them around the club house. As ever they're typical Steve, internalised but in a team motivating way.

What is it good for?, 31 Jan 2007
Steve Waugh may not have been the most attractive player to watch, but as the sort of man who seemed to get runs when it mattered most (or for that matter, pluck a catch out of nowhere or take a wicket with a magic ball), he is certainly one to be respected and admired. He was probably the best of Australia's modern-era Ashes-winning captains, too. So I was expecting this to be full of sage words about the sport - basically the sort of thing the current England team should be using as bedtime reading. It is, too. Especially marked is the difference in attitude between Aussie sportsmen (and non-sportsmen) and their English counterparts. It's a good read. I'd say that this was only marred by three things: a strange reticence about his relationship with his twin brother Mark, the book's extreme length and a tendency towards the end to the sort of self-justification that all too often mars a sporting career.

Waugh Zone, 21 Jun 2006
An in-depth look into the life of the person who lead, in my opinion, the greatest cricket team ever to have played the game. A man who always played his cards very close to his chest, and was able to play mind games better than Jose and Ferguson put together. Finally, we get the chance to see what was going on in the head of one of crickets greats.

Out of My Comfort Zone gives the reader a great interaction into the thinking of the man. The mind games not only with other players, to name but one, Curtley Ambrose in 1995 where we actually find out how he managed to get under the skin of one of the greatest fast bowlers, but also the mind games with himself, and the occasional bought of self doubt that crept into his game. As every cricketer knows, self doubt in a batsman leads to self destruction.

What is also very revealing is the problems that the whole Australian team had with the professional bodies of the game, from the ICC to the ACB, and all the problems of touring and team selection. The difficulty of touring the sub-continent is brought about in stark terms, especially the car bomb in Sri Lanka just before the Aussies arrived for the 95 World Cup. The decision of whether to go ahead with the game in Sri Lanka or not and the conflict this caused is bore out in great detail.

The quality of the book is excellent. To date I have not come across an autobiography which has so much detail in it and is so in-depth in recounting events and scores from the past. A fascinating book which is also excellent rounded off with a chapter from Steve's wife Lynette, who describes life as a cricket widow..... of which much of it my own wife can relate to!!!

An excellent book for any cricket fan.


Stick to cricket, 27 Jul 2007
Modern sportsmen are getting into a bad habit of writing books far too early in their careers. This is a totally unnecessary effort from KP. From the corny cover photo to his self-protestations of intensity it makes for a poor read and lacks insight. At present he just needs to let his runs do the talking.

Pietersen would be a lot more readable if he showed a bit more self awareness. His ill-informed views on the South Africa quota system make him sound ridiculously naive and lack any credibility. It is easy to see why his media quotes have regularly made him appear more obtuse than he really is.

My advice is stick to batting old son and keep that trap shut.



Fascinating insight into amazing character, 15 Jan 2007
I am writing this as KP enters the dark night of the soul. 5-0 whitewash and a broken rib from gentle pace Glenn McGrath. World cup prospects threatened.

Yet this book shows that one thing Kevin Pietersen is not bothered about is adversity. He will be back.

The book obviously stops before this Winter's Ashes debacle, but the character of the man is all there. His fiercely competitive, sporting childhood; his fastidious approach; his unnerving determination and confidence and his hard loyalty to friends.

KP is far more interesting than the flambouyant hairstyle and extravagant jewellery. He is a sporting obsessive. He clearly sees his own destiny and is utterly, utterly committed to achieving it.

This book charts the nature of this drive. When the quota system designed to re-integrate South African cricket meant that the young KP, then a promising off-spinner who batted, was dropped by Natal, he showed no hesitation. He pursued a career in England, using the fact of his mother's English birth to secure a non-overseas player berth at Notts.

He was a run machine, easily topping the county averages and working well with Clive Rice, the SA legend who was coach of the team.

But KP bears grudges and takes sides.

On no less then three occassions in this book, he derides little known coaches who failed to nurture his talent, or hindered him, and laughs at the fact that they claim him as 'one of theirs.' He also still takes exception at the fact that he felt short changed during his barman stint while at an English club team! The guy must have millions by now, but still, you cross KP, you stay on the black-list.

When Notts and Rice parted company, simmering trouble with Pietersen exploded and the man who left behind South Africa was not going to let Notts get in the way. Soon he was at Hampshire.

The determination, the apparent lack of a 'live and let live' attitude and his reliance on a select group of friends and supporters all combine to produce someone utterly committed to cricket. There's none of the 'what the hell' blokey-ness of Andrew Flintoff here. Just hard obsession. Frankly he's terrifying. Glad he's on our side.

I liked and admired Kevin Pietersen after reading this book. It is no co-incidence that of the entire England team only Pietersen emerged from the Ashes disaster with his reputation enhanced. If you want to understand how a really successful sportsman thinks, read this book. Yes it has obvious padding from his mates, chipping in with their thoughts on the great KP, and some might think it thin as his test career as only just got going, but the psychological insight in this work, whether it's supposed to be there or not, lifts this book right out of the normal sports biography.

Authoritative, entertaining, excellent, 11 Sep 2008
Sadly, most people's knowledge of the Bodyline tour will have been gleaned from Australian TV's hideously one-sided and inaccurate drama based around the events of 1932-33. Happily, David Frith, a wonderfully skilled cricket writer with a foot in both camps, has painstakingly brought the series to life in what is the finest cricket book I've ever read.

Frith's attention to detail combined with his love of the game, not to mention his ability in recreating a time when the Commonwealth (and, indeed, cricket) still really mattered, makes this book stand out from the pack.

Frith has met or interviewed virtually all of the key players in the Bodyline tour, and therefore his characterisation of cricketers - from the toadying Gubby Allen to the obstinate, loyal Harold Larwood - has an air of authority that few, if any, would have been able to recreate.

I'd strongly recommend this book not only to cricket fans whose love of the game goes beyond a passing interest for a few months in the summer of 2005, but to anyone with a love of social history, or indeed and interest in exploring the English psyche. The era when there were gentlemen and players may have passed, but the English attitude to sport - the misplaced air of superiority combined with being torn between wanting to take the moral high ground while having a burning desire to win at all costs - explored in this book is still highly relevant some 75 years after the event. Frith leaves no stone unturned in his quest to get to the truth of what happened on the Bodyline tour and writes in a refreshingly balanced manner. If the Aussies decide to make another TV version of the events of 1932-33, they could do a lot worse than appoint Frith as the script editor.

The Definitive History of Bodyline, 15 Nov 2006
I have seen newsreel footage of Harold Larwood bowling in this series. It brings a tingle to the spine - in particular the critical moment of the whole series, whereby a delivery unleashed from Larwood struck wicketkeeper-batsman Bert Oldfield on the head and fractured his skull in the Third Test at Adelaide.

It is difficult today to understand the impact that Bodyline had on cricket. Fast leg-theory had been practiced certainly since Victorian times, but never with bowlers of such pace, ferocity and consistency as Harold Larwood and Bill Voce, the Nottinghamshire duo, and never with a field set so aggressively - most fielders behind square leg, and no-one on the off side further forward than Point. Risk getting hit, fend off a delivery and risk getting caught. Hook, and risk getting caught.

To say that Bodyline endangered relations between England and Australia is not an understatement.

This is an excellent, well researched book. Unbiased, it paints the picture in great detail as to how the Bodyline saga unfolded. You witness the proceedings from a number of different points of view.

We see how Douglas Jardine, the England captain, knew that the key to the Ashes was to stop Don Bradman. How Jardine had a suspicion that Bradman was susceptible to short pitched bowling. How he executed his plan, and how Harold Larwood was key to this. We witness the execution of the plan, the growing unpopularity in Australia, and the flashpoint at Adelaide which nearly provoked a riot and very nearly caused the series to be cancelled.

We see the heroics. Stan McCabe's battling 189 against Bodyline. Eddie Paynter's heroic 83 having discharged himself from hospital to save England. Bill Woodfull taking blow after blow on the body rather than give up his wicket. Don Bradman's improvised batting technique to combat Bodyline.

We see the shocks. Bradman's first ball dismissal attempting to hook Bill Bowes, for example.

We witness the aftermath. Both political and sporting. How the rules were eventually changed to ban Bodyline. And an intriguing late chapter which moves forward in time and suggests that repeated short pitched bowling from the like of Lillie and Thomson (1970s), Marshall and Garner (1980s) et al is not that dissimilar from Bodyline. How very fast bowlers terririse batsman to this day.

But most of all, one gets a real history of how things used to be. How the pace of life appeared to be much slower. For me, there is the overriding feeling that this was possibly the beginning of "gamesmanship" as we know it today. Douglas Jardine sacrificed sportsmanship, and Harold Larwood too in pursuit of the Ashes. Larwood was simply doing his job. He had no other choice. He was a Professional - a workhorse who had to do as he was told. An ex-miner from Nuncargate, he was bowled to destruction by Jardine. A Captain of England in those days could only be an Amateur - a gentleman, even. We therefore see the human side to this saga too. How Larwood was subsequently ostracised by the authorities for his part in Bodyline and how he emigrated to Australia to start a new life.

This is an excellent book, which I consider to be the definitive history on the subject. It is very readable and it is certainly a book I turn to time and time again on my bookshelf.

Excellent Overview, 04 Nov 2004
Having known very little about Bodyline (It was 65 years before I was born!) I decided to find out more. This book gives an excellent overview of Bodyline and Leg Theory, giving the differences between the two and the history. The book is well researched and contains a very balanced arguement, in that it shows the Austrailian, English and World cricket views. It also defines the incident in the context if the politics of the time. This may make the book seem rather heavy, but the descriptions of the atcual cricket are well done and from other sources I have read, seems to be very accurate all round. A brilliant book for any cricket fan

Balanced Bodyline, 06 Jul 2004
An entertaining and informative history of the infamous tour of 1932/3.

For such an emotive issue in cricket history, this book is finely balanced and covers the shock and outrage of Bodyline as well as the context of Leg Theory.

Possibly the best cricket book I have read.

Bodyline Autopsy, 13 Mar 2003
A thoroughly enjoyable read, from foreward to index. The book has many strengths to distinguish it. David Frith looks at the whole sorry episode from the points of view of the players, administrators, spectators, journalists, spectators, and those cricket followers in England, (who in the pre-television age relied on newspaper reports and a few seconds of newsreel action, and had only a limited idea of what was really going on). He handles each with considerable skill, based on clear analysis, and metriculous research.

My only slight criticism is that the author can come across as a bit of a name-dropper, but given the depth of research he has undertaken, and the people he has interviewed over the years, he can easily be forgiven a little showing off!

The biggest acheivement of the book is to put the upheavals of these games into their political contexts in a clear and interesting way. He also manages to be balanced and largely sympathetic in analysing the thoughts and actions of the main protagonists - no easy task on an issue that still polarises to this day.

I would happily recommend it

Noiicce , Shane !, 16 Jan 2006
I started to become fascinated with Shane Warne following his remarkable performance in the Ashes this year when he almost retained the trophy for the Aussies single-handedly. Without his devastating leg breaks which repeatedly tortured the England top-order batsmen and his determined batting which frequently spared the blushes of the Australian middle order, I am convinced that England would have won the Series 4-1. Shane Warne's autobiography is interesting but not particularly revealing and it lacks the amount of amusing anecdotes one might have expected from a top sportsman's life story. I would have liked to have found out more about his early life and his married life , but a lot of the book concerned itself with details and statistics about long forgotten Test matches and accounts of his cricketing injuries. The book is at it's best when describing some of the more controversial and unfortunate events in Shane's life such as the Scott Muller incident, saucy extra-marital phone-sex, bag-snatching and sledging. He doesn't seem to have had much luck getting away with doing naughty or silly things over the years. I also enjoyed finding out more about the Australian Cricket team and the personalities and relationships that have made them such a powerful force over the past decade. Unfortunately this book is a little out of date and doesn't include recent scandal about drug-taking, more extra-marital sexual liaisons and the recent break-up of Shane's marriage. The book reveals that although Shane Warne may have made some ill advised choices in his personal life, his knowledge of strategy and tactics in cricket is excellent and it is a pity that non-cricket related matters prevented him from becoming captain of the Australian side. I think that he would have been exciting and imaginative in this role and there are plenty of positive suggestions and good ideas mentioned in the book by Shane . Shane Warne's autobiography is less for a mainstream market and more for a strictly cricket-following audience with its emphasis on match details ,statistics and esoteric remarks such as "In the mid-90's I gave Mushtaq my flipper and he showed me his wrong-un" , which may confuse ,if not startle, the less knowledgeable reader.

Cricket Fans Only Need Apply!, 22 Jul 2005
Though it pains me to say it, what with him being an Aussie, Warne is quite possibly the greatest cricketer of all time and certainly (as Wisden decided) one of the top five. As such, any cricket fan would bound to be interested in his autobiography. It is however a disappointment.

Warne has always been colourful both on and off the field and a lot of his off-field antics have gained a great deal of publicity. In the book he attempts to explain away all of the situations he found himself in, whilst always attempting to show that nothing was his fault in any way. Put frankly he comes across as a whiner.

The chapters about his early years and going to the accademy are interesting enough, though I would have enjoyed more detail be provided about how he developed his incredible action. The book starts to struggle towards the end and as mentioned previously turns into a torrent of feeble excuses that you would expect a schoolboy to trott out to a teacher.

Of ego and ability, 21 Jul 2003
A reasonably interesting book though hardly substantive and to put into perspective, by author who has not ever read a book.

As most autobiographies of sporting greats of his fabric, its full of self glorification. The author's explanation of dispicable behaviour such as sledging gives us further insight of his grain.

One particular subject which I found interesting was his scathing attack of Arjuna Ranatunga. It must be noted that it is Ranatunga who is credited with transformation of Sri Lankan cricket, which culminated with her victory at the World cup in 1996(no prizes for guessing who the losing finalists were). Ranatunga during the tournament had daringly claimed that Warne was full of hype (Warne ended wicketless against the Lankans for 58 runs in his 10 overs, including being clubbed for a six by Ranatunga himself!!!)

Further, Ranatunga as we all know put his career in line and served a suspended ICC sentence in his fiery defence Muttiah Muralitharan in Australia. Its now apparent that Shane Warne will end his career behind Muttiah Muralitharan as the Greatest spin bowler of the game. Presently Warne has 491 wickets in 107 tests at nearly 26 runs per wicket, as against Muralitharan's 459 wickets in just 82 tests(25 tests less than Warne) at just over 23 and half runs per wicket. Muttiah Muralitharan has been named the greatest bowler in the history of the game by non other than Wisden.

So had it not been for Ranatunga, would Australia have won the 1996 world cup and Warne been the greatest spinner of all time(as opposed to being the second best)?

It no doubt appears that Mr Shane Warne firmly believes so.

Some fascinating nuggets but for cricket fans only, 20 May 2003
The world's greatest spin bowler he may be, but a great writer he certainly isn't. You wonder what was his ghost doing?
The book has two basic styles: the first is something like: "And then I took five wickets, and I was especially pleased with the flipper that took Fleming's off stump, and in the second test I got a few runs and we destroyed them in the final test, when, with six wickets, I certainly proved to Tugga I was back to my best."
The second comes through whenever he has to deal with controversy: "Well, you could say I am a bit blunt, but if a bloke won't return your calls when you want to sort it out, I don't think you can blame me for what happened."
Each time the whiff of controversy comes near, Warne airbrushes himself with barely a trace of apology. He sees himself not just as more sinned against than sinning but as hardly sinning at all.
This was written just before the drugs scandal, so Warne doesn't have to defend himself on that one, but there is the betting scandal, the remarks to other players, and the saucy phone calls, all of which he flatbats away.
But, then, let's be honest, this is pretty typical for sporting autobiographies, and it rather overlooks some of the great nuggets available here. Did you know about how a senior pro in the Australian team leads the singing of the Southern Cross at the end of a match? Or the fact that each player gives a mini-talk to the others about the history of Australia, the history of cricket or a subject of their choice (Warne chose gambling at a casino)?
These sorts of things help you realise how the Aussie team bond so brilliantly and reflect well on Waugh's captaincy.
And if you like cricket, even the run through of "Tests I have played in" is readable enough.
That said, some cricket books transcend their genre and have a value to the general reader. This isn't one of them.

Needs another 200 pages to do it justice., 15 May 2003
Shane Warne is a cricketing legend but clearly never going to be a literary one. His autobiography is interesting but not as spectacular as it might have been given his stature in the game and the catalogue of controversy that has dogged his career. Instead you cant help but feel that there is a lack of detail here. Too much of the book reads like a list of statistics, "I took 5-47 in the first test, 6-70 in the 2nd and we won the series 2-0" (in fact WAY too much of the book reads like that ,but there's still enough here to keep a casual reader interested. A good read but as flawed as the man himself. Come back to hampshire soon, Shane!

Beauty Mate!, 22 Jan 2006
Anyone who has played club cricket will identify and love this book. Hilariously written and superbly observed - this loose "diary" of a season will leave you with a warm glow inside. Beauty mate!

Instant empathy, 29 Dec 2004
I did begin to wonder whether any of the nicknames in this book had been contrived to further characterise the people we barely had a chance to meet in the run up to the Yarra's season but, the more of that season the diary chronicled, the more the characterisation developed anyway and it was all the more touching for it. If you have played any cricket - or any amateur sport - you will empathise instantly with the peaks and troughs of the sporting achievement, and the stresses and strains of club administration. You'll recognise the people too because there is almost certainly the same blend in your own club.

In many ways, this is no different to Rain Men but, as an Englishman, all the more revealing of club culture in a sporting nation we have been conditioned to revere. For that alone Many a Slip is worth reading because you'll identify moreso with a shared bond that spans a far greater distance than some of the more parochial and therefore recognisable events in Rain Men and similar diaries.

Haigh is an excellent, perceptive and thoughtful correspondent who'll neatly encapsulate much of what you feel about your own cricket club. If you're not a cricketer then this is worth reading to see what all the fuss is about: ultimately, it isn't even about the cricket; it's about the shared interest and the mateship. It's a delightful book.

Cricket's the same game wherever it's played, 31 Mar 2004
This is the diary of the South Yarra cricket club's 2001-02 sesson in Melbourne, Australia. It makes you realise that all cricket clubs are the same all over the world. Some of Haigh's characters and situations will be instantly recognisable to anyone who has played in the lower reaches of club cricket anywhere. I read this in less than two days on the train and had to struggle not to laugh out loud at several points. Very highly recommended to anyone with any interest in club cricket - or anyone who just wants quick, funny read.

fantastic, 22 Jan 2003
if you've ever read Gideon Haigh's column in the Guardian and enjoyed it, then you are obliged to buy this book.

fantastically funny, and beautifully written in a vernacular style, this is a fine read.

if you are worried about it being overly 'australian' then you might have a point, but i love it and I'm a pom.

When the only noteworthy trait of an English Test team is a tendency to self-destruct, the latest edition of David Frith's lavishly illustrated chronicle of tests between the Poms and Oz is timely.

This delicious book is more than a history of one of the oldest sporting confrontations. The past and its heroes are brought dramatically to life with more than 1,200 pictures covering every match. All the greats are there, from Australian bowler Fred Spofforth, who sides in 1879, through Grace, Rhodes, Bradman, Hobbs and Sutcliffe, to Compton, May, Trueman and Botham.

There is the monochrome reminder of that torrid campaign of 1932-33, which almost severed diplomatic relations, as well as what may well be the first ever picture of an England/Australia match, taken at the Oval in 1880. The glorious contribution by Ian Botham and Bob Willis to the astounding victory at Headingley in 1981 gets the full pictorial treatment, as does the 1986-87 tour--the last time before this book was printed that England held the Ashes.

As well as a reminder that at one time England was capable of beating the old enemy, this is more a superb pictorial record of one of the greatest of all competitions. Enthusiasts will want to sit back and enjoy. --Arnold Woods

The original Mr cricket, 25 Feb 2007
I've always been a huge fan, and Im an Aussie, so I am biased. His career went for such a long period you tend to forget a lot of his moments. I for one found this to be a very enjoyable read. I would say that I would have loved if he spilt a lot more beans on some of the behind the scenes stuff but then again he wouldn't be the steely-eyed iceman, never allowing a moment of ill-dicipline if he did. He is the type of cricketer, mentally, that anyone that has played cricket would love to be. As anyone who ever talked about cricket would say, "if you ever wanted someone to bat for your life...it would be Steve Waugh" I found many aspects of the book revealing especially his early years in England and his relationship with his wife.

As to the pearls of wisdom that are in there. I think they're dotted all over the place. I know a lot of clubs took sections out of them and placed them around the club house. As ever they're typical Steve, internalised but in a team motivating way.

What is it good for?, 31 Jan 2007
Steve Waugh may not have been the most attractive player to watch, but as the sort of man who seemed to get runs when it mattered most (or for that matter, pluck a catch out of nowhere or take a wicket with a magic ball), he is certainly one to be respected and admired. He was probably the best of Australia's modern-era Ashes-winning captains, too. So I was expecting this to be full of sage words about the sport - basically the sort of thing the current England team should be using as bedtime reading. It is, too. Especially marked is the difference in attitude between Aussie sportsmen (and non-sportsmen) and their English counterparts. It's a good read. I'd say that this was only marred by three things: a strange reticence about his relationship with his twin brother Mark, the book's extreme length and a tendency towards the end to the sort of self-justification that all too often mars a sporting career.

Waugh Zone, 21 Jun 2006
An in-depth look into the life of the person who lead, in my opinion, the greatest cricket team ever to have played the game. A man who always played his cards very close to his chest, and was able to play mind games better than Jose and Ferguson put together. Finally, we get the chance to see what was going on in the head of one of crickets greats.

Out of My Comfort Zone gives the reader a great interaction into the thinking of the man. The mind games not only with other players, to name but one, Curtley Ambrose in 1995 where we actually find out how he managed to get under the skin of one of the greatest fast bowlers, but also the mind games with himself, and the occasional bought of self doubt that crept into his game. As every cricketer knows, self doubt in a batsman leads to self destruction.

What is also very revealing is the problems that the whole Australian team had with the professional bodies of the game, from the ICC to the ACB, and all the problems of touring and team selection. The difficulty of touring the sub-continent is brought about in stark terms, especially the car bomb in Sri Lanka just before the Aussies arrived for the 95 World Cup. The decision of whether to go ahead with the game in Sri Lanka or not and the conflict this caused is bore out in great detail.

The quality of the book is excellent. To date I have not come across an autobiography which has so much detail in it and is so in-depth in recounting events and scores from the past. A fascinating book which is also excellent rounded off with a chapter from Steve's wife Lynette, who describes life as a cricket widow..... of which much of it my own wife can relate to!!!

An excellent book for any cricket fan.


Stick to cricket, 27 Jul 2007
Modern sportsmen are getting into a bad habit of writing books far too early in their careers. This is a totally unnecessary effort from KP. From the corny cover photo to his self-protestations of intensity it makes for a poor read and lacks insight. At present he just needs to let his runs do the talking.

Pietersen would be a lot more readable if he showed a bit more self awareness. His ill-informed views on the South Africa quota system make him sound ridiculously naive and lack any credibility. It is easy to see why his media quotes have regularly made him appear more obtuse than he really is.

My advice is stick to batting old son and keep that trap shut.



Fascinating insight into amazing character, 15 Jan 2007
I am writing this as KP enters the dark night of the soul. 5-0 whitewash and a broken rib from gentle pace Glenn McGrath. World cup prospects threatened.

Yet this book shows that one thing Kevin Pietersen is not bothered about is adversity. He will be back.

The book obviously stops before this Winter's Ashes debacle, but the character of the man is all there. His fiercely competitive, sporting childhood; his fastidious approach; his unnerving determination and confidence and his hard loyalty to friends.

KP is far more interesting than the flambouyant hairstyle and extravagant jewellery. He is a sporting obsessive. He clearly sees his own destiny and is utterly, utterly committed to achieving it.

This book charts the nature of this drive. When the quota system designed to re-integrate South African cricket meant that the young KP, then a promising off-spinner who batted, was dropped by Natal, he showed no hesitation. He pursued a career in England, using the fact of his mother's English birth to secure a non-overseas player berth at Notts.

He was a run machine, easily topping the county averages and working well with Clive Rice, the SA legend who was coach of the team.

But KP bears grudges and takes sides.

On no less then three occassions in this book, he derides little known coaches who failed to nurture his talent, or hindered him, and laughs at the fact that they claim him as 'one of theirs.' He also still takes exception at the fact that he felt short changed during his barman stint while at an English club team! The guy must have millions by now, but still, you cross KP, you stay on the black-list.

When Notts and Rice parted company, simmering trouble with Pietersen exploded and the man who left behind South Africa was not going to let Notts get in the way. Soon he was at Hampshire.

The determination, the apparent lack of a 'live and let live' attitude and his reliance on a select group of friends and supporters all combine to produce someone utterly committed to cricket. There's none of the 'what the hell' blokey-ness of Andrew Flintoff here. Just hard obsession. Frankly he's terrifying. Glad he's on our side.

I liked and admired Kevin Pietersen after reading this book. It is no co-incidence that of the entire England team only Pietersen emerged from the Ashes disaster with his reputation enhanced. If you want to understand how a really successful sportsman thinks, read this book. Yes it has obvious padding from his mates, chipping in with their thoughts on the great KP, and some might think it thin as his test career as only just got going, but the psychological insight in this work, whether it's supposed to be there or not, lifts this book right out of the normal sports biography.

Authoritative, entertaining, excellent, 11 Sep 2008
Sadly, most people's knowledge of the Bodyline tour will have been gleaned from Australian TV's hideously one-sided and inaccurate drama based around the events of 1932-33. Happily, David Frith, a wonderfully skilled cricket writer with a foot in both camps, has painstakingly brought the series to life in what is the finest cricket book I've ever read.

Frith's attention to detail combined with his love of the game, not to mention his ability in recreating a time when the Commonwealth (and, indeed, cricket) still really mattered, makes this book stand out from the pack.

Frith has met or interviewed virtually all of the key players in the Bodyline tour, and therefore his characterisation of cricketers - from the toadying Gubby Allen to the obstinate, loyal Harold Larwood - has an air of authority that few, if any, would have been able to recreate.

I'd strongly recommend this book not only to cricket fans whose love of the game goes beyond a passing interest for a few months in the summer of 2005, but to anyone with a love of social history, or indeed and interest in exploring the English psyche. The era when there were gentlemen and players may have passed, but the English attitude to sport - the misplaced air of superiority combined with being torn between wanting to take the moral high ground while having a burning desire to win at all costs - explored in this book is still highly relevant some 75 years after the event. Frith leaves no stone unturned in his quest to get to the truth of what happened on the Bodyline tour and writes in a refreshingly balanced manner. If the Aussies decide to make another TV version of the events of 1932-33, they could do a lot worse than appoint Frith as the script editor.

The Definitive History of Bodyline, 15 Nov 2006
I have seen newsreel footage of Harold Larwood bowling in this series. It brings a tingle to the spine - in particular the critical moment of the whole series, whereby a delivery unleashed from Larwood struck wicketkeeper-batsman Bert Oldfield on the head and fractured his skull in the Third Test at Adelaide.

It is difficult today to understand the impact that Bodyline had on cricket. Fast leg-theory had been practiced certainly since Victorian times, but never with bowlers of such pace, ferocity and consistency as Harold Larwood and Bill Voce, the Nottinghamshire duo, and never with a field set so aggressively - most fielders behind square leg, and no-one on the off side further forward than Point. Risk getting hit, fend off a delivery and risk getting caught. Hook, and risk getting caught.

To say that Bodyline endangered relations between England and Australia is not an understatement.

This is an excellent, well researched book. Unbiased, it paints the picture in great detail as to how the Bodyline saga unfolded. You witness the proceedings from a number of different points of view.

We see how Douglas Jardine, the England captain, knew that the key to the Ashes was to stop Don Bradman. How Jardine had a suspicion that Bradman was susceptible to short pitched bowling. How he executed his plan, and how Harold Larwood was key to this. We witness the execution of the plan, the growing unpopularity in Australia, and the flashpoint at Adelaide which nearly provoked a riot and very nearly caused the series to be cancelled.

We see the heroics. Stan McCabe's battling 189 against Bodyline. Eddie Paynter's heroic 83 having discharged himself from hospital to save England. Bill Woodfull taking blow after blow on the body rather than give up his wicket. Don Bradman's improvised batting technique to combat Bodyline.

We see the shocks. Bradman's first ball dismissal attempting to hook Bill Bowes, for example.

We witness the aftermath. Both political and sporting. How the rules were eventually changed to ban Bodyline. And an intriguing late chapter which moves forward in time and suggests that repeated short pitched bowling from the like of Lillie and Thomson (1970s), Marshall and Garner (1980s) et al is not that dissimilar from Bodyline. How very fast bowlers terririse batsman to this day.

But most of all, one gets a real history of how things used to be. How the pace of life appeared to be much slower. For me, there is the overriding feeling that this was possibly the beginning of "gamesmanship" as we know it today. Douglas Jardine sacrificed sportsmanship, and Harold Larwood too in pursuit of the Ashes. Larwood was simply doing his job. He had no other choice. He was a Professional - a workhorse who had to do as he was told. An ex-miner from Nuncargate, he was bowled to destruction by Jardine. A Captain of England in those days could only be an Amateur - a gentleman, even. We therefore see the human side to this saga too. How Larwood was subsequently ostracised by the authorities for his part in Bodyline and how he emigrated to Australia to start a new life.

This is an excellent book, which I consider to be the definitive history on the subject. It is very readable and it is certainly a book I turn to time and time again on my bookshelf.

Excellent Overview, 04 Nov 2004
Having known very little about Bodyline (It was 65 years before I was born!) I decided to find out more. This book gives an excellent overview of Bodyline and Leg Theory, giving the differences between the two and the history. The book is well researched and contains a very balanced arguement, in that it shows the Austrailian, English and World cricket views. It also defines the incident in the context if the politics of the time. This may make the book seem rather heavy, but the descriptions of the atcual cricket are well done and from other sources I have read, seems to be very accurate all round. A brilliant book for any cricket fan

Balanced Bodyline, 06 Jul 2004
An entertaining and informative history of the infamous tour of 1932/3.

For such an emotive issue in cricket history, this book is finely balanced and covers the shock and outrage of Bodyline as well as the context of Leg Theory.

Possibly the best cricket book I have read.

Bodyline Autopsy, 13 Mar 2003
A thoroughly enjoyable read, from foreward to index. The book has many strengths to distinguish it. David Frith looks at the whole sorry episode from the points of view of the players, administrators, spectators, journalists, spectators, and those cricket followers in England, (who in the pre-television age relied on newspaper reports and a few seconds of newsreel action, and had only a limited idea of what was really going on). He handles each with considerable skill, based on clear analysis, and metriculous research.

My only slight criticism is that the author can come across as a bit of a name-dropper, but given the depth of research he has undertaken, and the people he has interviewed over the years, he can easily be forgiven a little showing off!

The biggest acheivement of the book is to put the upheavals of these games into their political contexts in a clear and interesting way. He also manages to be balanced and largely sympathetic in analysing the thoughts and actions of the main protagonists - no easy task on an issue that still polarises to this day.

I would happily recommend it

Noiicce , Shane !, 16 Jan 2006
I started to become fascinated with Shane Warne following his remarkable performance in the Ashes this year when he almost retained the trophy for the Aussies single-handedly. Without his devastating leg breaks which repeatedly tortured the England top-order batsmen and his determined batting which frequently spared the blushes of the Australian middle order, I am convinced that England would have won the Series 4-1. Shane Warne's autobiography is interesting but not particularly revealing and it lacks the amount of amusing anecdotes one might have expected from a top sportsman's life story. I would have liked to have found out more about his early life and his married life , but a lot of the book concerned itself with details and statistics about long forgotten Test matches and accounts of his cricketing injuries. The book is at it's best when describing some of the more controversial and unfortunate events in Shane's life such as the Scott Muller incident, saucy extra-marital phone-sex, bag-snatching and sledging. He doesn't seem to have had much luck getting away with doing naughty or silly things over the years. I also enjoyed finding out more about the Australian Cricket team and the personalities and relationships that have made them such a powerful force over the past decade. Unfortunately this book is a little out of date and doesn't include recent scandal about drug-taking, more extra-marital sexual liaisons and the recent break-up of Shane's marriage. The book reveals that although Shane Warne may have made some ill advised choices in his personal life, his knowledge of strategy and tactics in cricket is excellent and it is a pity that non-cricket related matters prevented him from becoming captain of the Australian side. I think that he would have been exciting and imaginative in this role and there are plenty of positive suggestions and good ideas mentioned in the book by Shane . Shane Warne's autobiography is less for a mainstream market and more for a strictly cricket-following audience with its emphasis on match details ,statistics and esoteric remarks such as "In the mid-90's I gave Mushtaq my flipper and he showed me his wrong-un" , which may confuse ,if not startle, the less knowledgeable reader.

Cricket Fans Only Need Apply!, 22 Jul 2005
Though it pains me to say it, what with him being an Aussie, Warne is quite possibly the greatest cricketer of all time and certainly (as Wisden decided) one of the top five. As such, any cricket fan would bound to be interested in his autobiography. It is however a disappointment.

Warne has always been colourful both on and off the field and a lot of his off-field antics have gained a great deal of publicity. In the book he attempts to explain away all of the situations he found himself in, whilst always attempting to show that nothing was his fault in any way. Put frankly he comes across as a whiner.

The chapters about his early years and going to the accademy are interesting enough, though I would have enjoyed more detail be provided about how he developed his incredible action. The book starts to struggle towards the end and as mentioned previously turns into a torrent of feeble excuses that you would expect a schoolboy to trott out to a teacher.

Of ego and ability, 21 Jul 2003
A reasonably interesting book though hardly substantive and to put into perspective, by author who has not ever read a book.

As most autobiographies of sporting greats of his fabric, its full of self glorification. The author's explanation of dispicable behaviour such as sledging gives us further insight of his grain.

One particular subject which I found interesting was his scathing attack of Arjuna Ranatunga. It must be noted that it is Ranatunga who is credited with transformation of Sri Lankan cricket, which culminated with her victory at the World cup in 1996(no prizes for guessing who the losing finalists were). Ranatunga during the tournament had daringly claimed that Warne was full of hype (Warne ended wicketless against the Lankans for 58 runs in his 10 overs, including being clubbed for a six by Ranatunga himself!!!)

Further, Ranatunga as we all know put his career in line and served a suspended ICC sentence in his fiery defence Muttiah Muralitharan in Australia. Its now apparent that Shane Warne will end his career behind Muttiah Muralitharan as the Greatest spin bowler of the game. Presently Warne has 491 wickets in 107 tests at nearly 26 runs per wicket, as against Muralitharan's 459 wickets in just 82 tests(25 tests less than Warne) at just over 23 and half runs per wicket. Muttiah Muralitharan has been named the greatest bowler in the history of the game by non other than Wisden.

So had it not been for Ranatunga, would Australia have won the 1996 world cup and Warne been the greatest spinner of all time(as opposed to being the second best)?

It no doubt appears that Mr Shane Warne firmly believes so.

Some fascinating nuggets but for cricket fans only, 20 May 2003
The world's greatest spin bowler he may be, but a great writer he certainly isn't. You wonder what was his ghost doing?
The book has two basic styles: the first is something like: "And then I took five wickets, and I was especially pleased with the flipper that took Fleming's off stump, and in the second test I got a few runs and we destroyed them in the final test, when, with six wickets, I certainly proved to Tugga I was back to my best."
The second comes through whenever he has to deal with controversy: "Well, you could say I am a bit blunt, but if a bloke won't return your calls when you want to sort it out, I don't think you can blame me for what happened."
Each time the whiff of controversy comes near, Warne airbrushes himself with barely a trace of apology. He sees himself not just as more sinned against than sinning but as hardly sinning at all.
This was written just before the drugs scandal, so Warne doesn't have to defend himself on that one, but there is the betting scandal, the remarks to other players, and the saucy phone calls, all of which he flatbats away.
But, then, let's be honest, this is pretty typical for sporting autobiographies, and it rather overlooks some of the great nuggets available here. Did you know about how a senior pro in the Australian team leads the singing of the Southern Cross at the end of a match? Or the fact that each player gives a mini-talk to the others about the history of Australia, the history of cricket or a subject of their choice (Warne chose gambling at a casino)?
These sorts of things help you realise how the Aussie team bond so brilliantly and reflect well on Waugh's captaincy.
And if you like cricket, even the run through of "Tests I have played in" is readable enough.
That said, some cricket books transcend their genre and have a value to the general reader. This isn't one of them.

Needs another 200 pages to do it justice., 15 May 2003
Shane Warne is a cricketing legend but clearly never going to be a literary one. His autobiography is interesting but not as spectacular as it might have been given his stature in the game and the catalogue of controversy that has dogged his career. Instead you cant help but feel that there is a lack of detail here. Too much of the book reads like a list of statistics, "I took 5-47 in the first test, 6-70 in the 2nd and we won the series 2-0" (in fact WAY t