Disappointing

The annual output of cricket books seems to increase every year and while there is an occasional gem, such as Matthew Hoggard's autobiography and Fatty Batter by Michael Simkins, there are others that would appear to have been a production line Friday afternoon special.

As you might expect, I have got many books on Derbyshire cricket and the autobiographies are generally quite good. Harold Rhodes' was a good read, as was Dominic Cork's, while John Wright's was excellent.

Yesterday I took Mrs Peakfan into Glasgow with her Mum, who wanted to get some gifts for our daughter's impending birthday at the end of the month. We're all sorted, so I left my wife and her mother to wander round Marks and Spencer's, Primark and other favourite haunts for a nice coffee and a sit down in Waterstones. No fool, me...

To my delight, they had copies of Michael Holding's new autobiography No Holding Back and I sat down with my drink in a comfortable chair to peruse my potential new purchase.

I was really disappointed. Yes, it covers his career in reasonable detail, but there is little of any real interest to Derbyshire fans, which was a major disappointment. In fact, to save you all the bother, here are his thoughts on his stint (of several years) for us.

He enjoyed it, was well treated by Kim Barnett and got on well with the team, especially the West Indian contingent. He found county cricket disappointing, especially when we weren't a very good side and were out of everything by July, and thought a lot of county players went through the motions. A number of players got out against the quicks like him then ensured they'd get their thousand (and a new contract) by scoring heavily against easier bowling in later matches.

One exception to this was John Morris, a batsman who had great talent but didn't always make the most of it, except for when he came up against good bowlers, something that really seemed to motivate him. he also rated Ole Mortensen and still sees him from time to time.

That's pretty much it. No anecdotes to savour, no mention of matches, nothing. If you want to read a cricket book, it looks OK, but for an insight into the Derbyshire scene of the period, you may as well not bother.

Maybe I'm being unfair as I've been revisiting one of my favourite books on Derbyshire cricket, the delightful Scraps from a Cricketer's Memory by Levi Wright. This book gives a wonderful insight into cricket in Victorian and Edwardian Derbyshire sides. While only seventy pages long, and written more like an oral history, it gives far greater satisfaction on every page than many books three times its size.

The comments on some legendary games of our past are masterful. The win over Essex at Chesterfield when Perrin scored 343 not out and ended up on the losing side only happened because the Essex side saw one ball misbehave and were "unnerved.". The record stand of 554 by Brown and Tunnicliffe for Yorkshire on the same ground would never have happened if George Davidson hadn't been determined to play in what was Walter Sugg's benefit match. He broke down in the first over but stayed on the pitch, being one of those who missed "many chances" in the slips.

His tales of dressing room discord among the professionals have their modern parallels, but the names of cricket legends trip through Wright's book in one of the most fascinating reads I have ever had. George Hirst balls "looked to be pitching well outside off stump but...when three yards away would duck and swing across into the batsman's feet." Sounds like the sort of stuff that Wasim Akram bowled to such good effect...

If only Michael Holding had someone who could do him justice.