On a lazy summer
afternoon with the cricket coverage in the background I completely galloped
through this incredibly entertaining work by Haigh. Within pages the fortunes
of the Australian test team paled into insignificance as I desperately read
onto the next chapter in the life of the ‘Yarras’ 2001-02 season.
As the title
suggests Haigh at no stage sought out to write a serious cricket book about a
motivated sporting club. Instead a true reflection of what the ‘pitch-in’ life
really is like in a local cricket club. Can you imagine David Warner sitting
down weekly typing up the club newsletter, or Nathan Lyon acting as chairman of
selectors (actually he may put his hand up for that)? In humorous prose Haigh
describes what it is like for the true lovers of cricket to just get a game. I
agree wholeheartedly with his sentiments that he gets more joy from a cover
drive than Mark Waugh ever did, owing to genuine surprise and elation at its
execution, so do I.
I found myself
giggling at most of the ups and downs in the life of the ‘Yarras’, and in a
number of places being reduced to tears. Others will find differing points of
greater hilarity to them but I lost it reading the description of Wombles’
stewardship and transfer protocol of the clubroom keys. The description of the elongated
selection negotiation, finally requiring that whoever chose player Y (the
champion) also was required to take player Y (the duffer) as well gave me much
hope for the world. Middle aged men reduced to rationale more at home in a primary
school yard.
Contrast this to
the tedium experienced in picking up the second piece of cricketing literature
‘100 not out’, edited by Rod Nicholson. The genesis of this book review existed when these two works lay
side by side, one the story of the triers the other of the champions, what a
great ability to contrast those two people groups and hopefully find that
common thread of passion for the greatest game[1].
I do believe the
passion of Haigh’s comrades extends through to what is ultimately the third
tier of competitive cricket below country & state, albeit with a few ‘A’
teams & development squads hanging around, but you wouldn’t feel it from
what is ostensibly a reference book written by Williams and Nicholson for an
incredibly niche audience.
What appears to
‘100 Not Out’s’ writers (and maybe many at the up echelons of cricket) is that
ultimately it is a game that transcends any individual, facts and statistics
only bearing importance inasmuch as they help the game’s story reach greater
heights. The mountain of centuries Bill Lawry scored for Northcote pales into
insignificance compared to that one century ‘Moof’ scored helping the 3rd
XI to victory in the grand final.
As you can obviously guess my clear preference is for ‘The Vincibles’ over ‘100 Not Out’ - and a lot of the cricket books I've read.
[1] There is one instance of crossover between the books where Haigh
describes a former Prahran first grade cricketer deciding to join the ‘Yarras’
ranks being confronted immediately at his first training session by the
eccentric ‘Space Cadet’ who informs the new arrival that his vocation is
teaching Tibetan throat singing.
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