Book Review: Of Battenburg, Bombay and Blag - Tales of a Club Cricketer Gone Rogue by Vic Mills

Recent years has seen a number of cricket books written about the 'careers' of the ordinary cricketer. Memories of their years of playing, following and enjoying the game, wherever it has taken them.

Michael Simkins 'Fatty Batter' remains the best of these in my opinion, though this substantial tome is a worthwhile read, not just because of the sheer range of its coverage and its engaging style of writing. 

As well as covering his own cricket experiences, there are first hand accounts on Test matches, The Hundred and the IPL, as well as World Series Cricket, which he was one of the relatively few to witness first hand. 

The author has had a life well-lived and the book contains enjoyable accounts of watching cricket in both Australia and India, neither of them by conventional means.

Most recently he created Project Front Foot, a cricket academy for the children of South Asia's largest slum in Mumbai. Today that same project supports refugee cricketers in Europe.

Reading this entertaining book, I am reminded again that cricket is far from being 'just' Test cricket. In the grand scheme of things it is not even about that.

As I, the author and many more have experienced, the game opens doors in an individual's life and creates opportunities for lifetime friendship and enjoyment.

At the end of it all, that is worth far more than the winning and losing of a Test series.

This is another worthwhile book from Pitch Publishing and I hope it does well for them and for the author.

Of Battenburg, Bombay and Blag:Tales of a Club Cricketer Gone Rogue is written by Vic Mills and published by Pitch Publishing