Coming from a mining background, the events of 1926 and the general strike, together with the subsequent treatment of miners, has been well engraved on my soul. In this book, which is admirably researched and written, Stephen Brenkley has managed to encapsulate the mood of the country while England were trying to wrest The Ashes from Australian hands.
It is a series that has been well documented but not previously, in my opinion, as well as this. Until the fifth and final Test the matches were played over three days, which in those pre-Bazball times were insufficient to produce a result, even when heavy rain produced 'sticky dogs' to contend with. Crowds queued through the night to see a hard-fought series, culminating in a legendary finale at The Oval.
England's selection was muddled, as always, with the side taking the field experienced to ridiculous proportions. Jack Hobbs was 43, wicket-keeper Herbert Strudwick 46 and Wilfred Rhodes, recalled for the final (successful) Test 48. Yet they triumphed, largely through the well-documented opening partnership of 172 between Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe in that final match, after heavy overnight rain had left the pitch perilous, some deemed almost impossible, for batting.
The young Nottinghamshire pace bowler, Harold Larwood, who was to go on to greater things in Australia in 1932-33, made a difference and the visitors were blown away in the fourth innings by his pace at one end and the guile of Rhodes at the other.
The author paints vivid pictures of the matches in the series and remarkably gives greater background on what the players got up to in the evenings, how they fared between matches and how the country responded to a series that was in stark contrast to what was going on around the shires. There are also enjoyable pen portraits of the major protagonists, which add much to the quality of the book, as do excellent photographs.
The miners were defeated, like the Australians. They eventually returned to work and faced longer hours for less pay, if they had a job to go back to at all. Not all of them did and it was a stark episode in the class division of this country.
Stephen Brenkley has produced a masterpiece and Fairfield Books are to be commended for three books this Autumn that are worthy of a place on the shelves of any cricket fan.
This is quite superb.
A Striking Summer: How Cricket United A Divided Nation is written by Stephen Brenkley and published by Fairfield Books
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