Book Review - Frank Sugg: A Man For All Seasons by Martin Howe

The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians is long established as a publisher of high quality cricket books. Their titles play an important role in the literature of the game and they are always well researched, written and produced.

This latest title is no exception and is a worthy addition to the list. As much a social history as sporting biography, it tells the story of nineteenth century cricket star Frank Sugg. He started out at Yorkshire, spent a couple of seasons with Derbyshire and then made his name with Lancashire, where he became a good enough player to represent his country twice against Australia. He subsequently started and ran a chain of sports shops in an era when this was popular among cricketers, before the business collapsed along with Sugg's personal fortune, primarily as a result of the First World War.

There were rumours of gambling problems, though never substantiated, yet the player is beautifully presented  in this book. He "never had a day's coaching in his life" yet managed, through a somewhat rustic technique where defence was often a last resort, to become a free-scoring batsman in a powerful Lancashire side over a ten-year period. Expansive drives and pulls were his trademark shots, often played too early in his innings to the detriment of his average. It is interesting to note that after taking ten seasons to reach one thousand runs for the first time, he then did so five times in the next six. Such opportunity would be unlikely to come his way today but Victorian crowds appreciated his approach to the game, one that could sometimes be more effective than the 'blocking' approach of some contemporaries.

His spell at Derbyshire was brief and largely unsuccessful, yet didn't prevent him from getting a bad reception when he first returned with Lancashire, one so bad that the visitors discontinued the fixture for four years. He was also a useful footballer, playing for several clubs including Derby County, but it appears that history, or the man himself, over-stated his importance in the sport. He was, however, the first player to score a hat trick for the Rams, in 1884.

What comes clearly from this excellent book is that Frank Sugg was first and foremost an entertainer and a man with a flair for publicity. His career in club and first-class cricket was studded with spectacular innings, although the very nature of such an approach dictated that there would be periods of failure too. His cricket annual, highly collectable and rare today, ran from 1894 to 1905 and was a fascinating read, with potted biographies and scores, photographs and a fund of anecdotes, as well as top tips for budding cricketers ("rise early, take a cold bath; cleanse the bowels...")

His business career ultimately fell apart, with family feuds leading to a somewhat acrimonious end to it all and there were subsequently a number of failed ventures, as well as two years as a first-class umpire. He at least had a stable domestic life, but his relationship, as a twenty-seven year old cricketer in the public eye, with a girl of seventeen would interest today's tabloids, though not being that unusual in the Victorian era. They later enjoyed a lengthy marriage that produced a son and three daughters, but the sad ending to his life and subsequent burial in a pauper's grave was the culmination of a 'rags to riches and back' life.

The book is beautifully researched and written, as well as being pleasingly and appropriately illustrated. It deserves to do well and, if you are looking for a cricket book that will fascinate, interest and educate you in equal measure, this is one for you.

I would heartily recommend it.

Frank Sugg: A Man For All Seasons is written by Martin Howe and published by the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians priced £12.