CricketMASH Bookstore
Prospero Caliban Cricket and Other Glorious Uncertainties
by John Agard
Cricket Poetry by the Award-Winning Poet
With Introduction and Commentary by Arunabha Sengupta
For close to five decades, Afro-Guyanese poet John Agard has been revolutionising poetry in Britain with his brand of unexpected, satirical, mischievous verses that bounce a home truth or two and force the conscience to go for a stroke. Winner of multiple prizes for his work – Casa de las Américas, Paul Hamlyn Award for Poetry, the Guyana Prize for Literature(twice), the Cholmondeley Award, the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, BookTrust's Lifetime Achievement Award – he has forever been enchanted by cricket. The game has flitted rather frequently through his works, with plenty of double bite and reverse swing.
Here for the first time is a compilation of his cricket poetry. Laced with his love the game, they carry his characteristic trickster wit and often venture beyond de boundary into uncomfortable border zones.
The book has introduction and commentary by Arunabha Sengupta (author of Elephant in the Stadium and Apartheid: A Point to Cover) and an afterword by David Woodhouse (author of Who Only Cricket Know)
It is illustrated by Maha.
John Agard’s poetry is a wonderful affirmation of life, in a language that is vital and joyous – David Dabydeen
128 pages, Illustrated
Paperback: £10.99
Hardback: Collectors’ Edition £ 25.99
Far More Than A Game:
An Autobiography of a Cricket Writer and Broadcaster
240 pages, £15.00
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"Qamar Ahmed represents what is best in cricket writing. He is honest, knowledgeable and he is brilliant in what he does." - Zaheer Abbas, former captain of Pakistan
"Qamar has won universal respect throughout the world of cricket for the integrity of his reporting and analysis." - Richard Heller, novelist and cricket writer
"Qamar’s book is a brilliant tapestry of cricket over nearly 50 years and a fascinating personal testimony from one of its greatest servants." - Peter Oborne, cricket historian and political analyst
"Qamar Ahmed is one of the finest and most reliable media persons." - Sunil Gavaskar, former captain of India
"His in-depth knowledge of the game and his punctuality in meeting his deadlines are incomparable."- Rishad Mahmood, Sports Editor, Dawn
Having covered the game for almost half a century for leading newspapers and broadcasting houses of the cricketing world, Qamar Ahmed remains one of the most experienced men around as a writer and a commentator of a sport which is adored by those who follow the charming unpredictability of his ever-changing game.
His incisive knowledge and insight into its history makes him one of the rare men around as the game’s leading analyst. Not many in the field of cricket journalism would claim to have contributed to most of the leading newspapers and magazines of the cricketing world as a freelance journalist which he has always been since he first stepped into this as a reporter in 1974 covering a Test between Pakistan and England at Lord’s.
He has witnessed the game’s ups and downs, its changing moods with interest, and with honesty and integrity. In this book ‘Far More Than a Game,’ he has made an honest attempt to unfold not only the trauma of the partition of India and the creation of a new country Pakistan and migration which he witnessed first-hand as a schoolboy. But later as a journalist he also had the opportunity of covering serious controversies such as Kerry Packer revolution, umpiring controversies and the rest including a terrorist attack on a touring team. This autobiography provides one with not only moving moments of his life but also the lighter side of it.
The Has-Beens and Never-Will-Bes
by Megan Ponsford
September 2022
6’’ x 9’’
271 pp
Amazon: £ 15.99, AUD 29.26
Cricmash: £13.99, AUD 26
The first Australian cricket tour to India possesses an inherent intrigue that, for inexplicable reasons, was overlooked at the time and since has fallen further into obscurity. Megan Ponsford rectifies this through her investigation of the uneasy relationships between Australia, British India and Indian nationalism during the interwar period, using the 1935/36 tour as a lens. The unique liaison between the entrepreneurial tour manager Frank Tarrant and the Maharaja of Patiala, who financed the extravagant exercise, led the way.
From the palaces of the Raj to the foothills of the Himalayas, the evolving social consciousness of the ragtag team of Australia cricketers defines the tour. The deeply conservative cricket establishment was also challenged as the tour broke cultural, racial and sporting codes that were intrinsic to the then-amateur game.
Employing a unique methodology, this book interprets the material culture located in the archives of the Australian and Indian cricketers. The Has Beens and Never Will Bes is a brilliant new contribution to the study of cricket and history. It will fascinate not just sporting enthusiasts but also those with an interest in politics, sociology, and cultural studies.
Megan Ponsford has spent a decade following the historical traces of the long-forgotten tour of 1935-36 and recreating its world. At last, in her excellent book, we have a literary testament to that great cricketing coup. – Gideon Haigh
From Score Box to Press Box
Ray Markham
178 pages
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If you enjoy funny, real-life stories, then you’ll love this book. It takes you into the unpredictable and unsung world of the cricket scorer, giving a unique, behind-the-scenes glimpse of what goes on in and around the score box and also in the press box at international matches. Written in a brilliantly descriptive way, with exceptionally dry wit, a sharp eye for detail and engaging anecdotes, this book provides a charming, informative and highly amusing read.
I found myself not wanting to put this book down! It really is a delight – funny, informative and with such an inspiring story, progressing from ramshackle youth-team scoring to Test matches. It mixes humour and insight perfectly, and deserves to be widely read
Stephen Chalke
Ray’s forays into cricket scoring often involved hilarious incidents, masterfully documented in this delightful volume. Ray is passionate about what he does and it is apparent in this delightful, uproariously entertaining autobiography, which should form a part of any cricket lover’s collection.
Arun Sengupta
The Postman who delivered The Ashes
The Life and Times of Harry Trott
Pradip Dhole
268 pages
Buy from Amazon UK Au
Kindle edition: UK Au
‘Postman Trott’s leather bag held letters stamped with names of places which his skill as a player and gifts as a skipper would take him to see’ - Ray Robinson.
His cricketing skills and tactical acumen were admired by one and all. His own men were devoted to him. Formidable opponents such as KS Ranjitsinhji and Archie MacLaren considered him the best of captains. He seemed to possess a mental chart of the chief strokes and the strong and weak points in each opposing batsman.
Wisden lavished praise about his canny bowling changes, and later also added: ‘one is inclined to think that no Australian captain before or since, was liked so much by his opponents.’ Cheerfulness was his other trait. In his later life, he would become an imposing 16 stone, an almost Pickwickian figure of geniality, his luxuriant moustache and his cheery smile the characteristic features of the face that cricketers, friend and foe, and the public loved. This genial soul who had traversed the pinnacle of the sporting world went on to suffer mental illness in his early thirties, was plagued by depression and buffeted by tragedy. He himself succumbed to Hodgkin’s Lymphoma the age of 51.
Pradip Dhole’s new biography of Harry Trott is now available.
THE ASHES: This Thing Can Be Done
Story of The Ashes where all the Tests are ‘drawn’
Arunabha Sengupta and Maha
330+ pages, 1000+ illustrations, deepdive into The Ashes in a Graphic Novel format
The Ashes: the most ancient, most traditional and perhaps the most widely written about of all sporting rivalries.
And in spite of all that, this book is indeed one of its kind. It tells the complete story of Anglo-Australian cricket, letting no facet remain untouched, pulling no punches, leaving no obscure detail unresearched, not really bothering about toeing any usual politically correct line.
Yet it is presented in a format that is accessible to all, using the sequential art of story-telling as in a graphic novel.
It has the depth to rival the most rigorous academic treatise, covering the cricketing excitement, touching upon the human element and essential – often uncomfortable – social history and geopolitical implications on and off the field.
At the same time the flavour of entertainment remains intact through a marathon of 1000-plus illustrations that appeals to a wide readership.
The illustrations tell the story of The Ashes in minute detail through the attention span barrier of the social media era, while remaining of supreme interest to serious cricket readers. They recreate the pre-camera and pre-video eras while adding multiple innovative layers to cricket in the more recent days.
An enormous undertaking. - David Frith
Sengupta is a cricket historian with a tremendous capacity for research - Stephen Chalke
Maha’s illustrations are fantastic - David Squires
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George Ayling Sergeant Major and Test Umpire by Michael Jones
In 1956, while on military duty in India, Englishman George Ayling was called upon to stand as umpire in a Test match between India and Australia. Having never umpired a first-class match at home, he thus became one of the first ‘neutral’ umpires to officiate in a Test match, long before the practice became universal in the 1990s. This diligently researched book tells us about the life of this trendsetter.
'With assiduous research, and the assistance of military and educational bodies in both England and India, Michael Jones has put together this detailed account of Ayling’s life, in and out of cricket.' - Keith Walmsley
Paddington Boy by David Frith
David Frith has perhaps forgotten more about the game and its history than most of us will ever come close to knowing.
He started writing his first book on cricket in 1968.
He did not stop for the next 53 years.
38 books encapsulating the history of cricket, and thereby snapshots of society and life.
And then there is his collection of cricketana, memorabilia and films.
The letters alone amount to more than 6000. There are more than 500 VHS tapes, over 350 Betamax cassettes and several DVDs and films, hundreds of sound tapes.
“Makes me feel like Methuselah,” he once said.
In 2020, he also said, “If I have one more book left in me it might be my autobiography, which seemed to have been blanked by much of the cricket world in 1996, and now needs to be amended and updated.”
Here is that amended and updated autobiography.
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Apartheid: A Point to Cover
South African cricket 1948-1970 and the Stop The Seventy Tour campaign
Arunabha Sengupta
Anyone searching for an in-depth analysis of cricket’s anti-apartheid drama of 50 years ago (and more) is most adequately served by Arun Sengupta’s offering. An enjoyable read. David Frith
I am immensely impressed by the research that has gone into the book, the way so many threads are gathered together in telling the story. I love the flickering style of it, moving from scene to scene with such an eye for the telling detail. The use of the present tense makes it so immediate and, running through it all, there is a terrific sense of the injustice of apartheid. Full marks to Arun Sengupta for taking a well-worn subject and creating such an original book. Stephen Chalke
Cricket book with a conscience. Gideon Haigh
An excellent book, a pathbreaker. I wish I had it when I wrote The Sporting Colours, my book on sport and apartheid. Amazing material, the research has been amazing, and I particularly liked the way he has juxtaposed it all. Mihir Bose
A significant piece of work displaying Sengupta’s normal attention to detail. Patrick Ferriday
The proposed South African cricket tour of England in 1970 was cancelled as a result of an incredible campaign carried out by a young group of activists – the Stop The Seventy Tour movement led by the 20-year-old Peter Hain.
2020 marks the 50th anniversary of this extraordinary campaign. The movement itself was variously landmark, far-reaching and hilarious. Extremely innovative in its direct-action methods, it triggered the isolation of South Africa from the cricket world and contributed significantly in the fight to end apartheid in the land.
The campaign was the result of a long history of subjugation and exploitation of the non-whites in South Africa, and the social discrimination was reflected in the way they were marginalised in the sporting world.
The book takes a detailed look at this social history through the prism of exciting white and non-white cricket of South Africa, covering the turbulent apartheid era of 1948-1970.
For cricket and sports lovers, as well as those intrigued about the most institutionalised infestation ever of racist politics into sport, this book is a real treasure trove. Arunabha Sengupta has crafted a wonderful story of people who defied the odds and ultimately triumphed by ensuring that today sport in South Africa is organised according to the normal principle of selection and competition on merit – not race. His meticulous research and engaging photographs make this an even more compelling read. Peter Hain (Lord Hain of Neath)
In a League of Their Own
by Mayukh Ghosh
Readers who enjoy the delightful short pieces penned by Mayukh Ghosh will be glad to know that in association with FlyingTurtle publications, Cricmash has published a collection of his writings titled In a League of their Own.
The volume contains exactly 100 short pieces about giants of the game, first-class greats, curious characters as well as various writers, artists and poets associated with the game. A delight for cricket lovers.
According to the author “There are some interesting stories about some interesting cricket personalities. I have enjoyed writing them. I hope you enjoy reading them.”
Stories about Cricket’s Great Characters – told with a sparse elegance that is at first sight rather startling, but proves eminently readable and effective. - Murray Hedgcock, author of Wodehouse at the Wicket
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Billy Midwinter and the Dawn of Test Cricket by Pradip Dhole
While the origins of Test cricket have now slipped far from living memory, the importance of those formative years will remain, as the foundation of the international game. Pradip is one of a rather rare breed who is adding detail to our knowledge of those critical years. We live in an age where we are overwhelmed by information, but there are upsides, one of which is that it is easier to explore sources from the past. Filtering and distilling that information into useful knowledge remains a challenging task. Charles Davis