Book review: Playing To Fix by Paul Radley

Paul Radley is a sportswriter who has lived and worked in the UAE for a number of years and this is his first book.

I am sure that it will not be the last, because this is a fascinating read that is at times like a fast-moving crime novel. 

Events on the field are described in some detail, but the time spent looking at the backgrounds of the players involved, as well as the history of UAE cricket and its place in society helps the reader get a better handle on the affair that wrecked the country's dream of playing at a World Cup.

I had no Idea about the rewards received by players in that part of the world, but assumed that they were more lucrative than in reality. The author makes the very good point that cricketers of this level are more likely to be tempted, because it is worth their while to do so. The money now on offer to top international players and those in franchise cricket around the globe is such that it is hard, if not impossible in some cases, to tempt them.

The UAE scandal and the way it unfolded and was subsequently dealt with has never, to my knowledge, been dealt with in such depth. I ended the book feeling sorry for the former Scotland, England and Warwickshire all-rounder Dougie Brown. A highly regarded coach who was once in for the Derbyshire role, he had got the national cricket team to number twelve in the world rankings then saw his team pulled apart. In a book of fascinating insights, his thoughts on the team that he had and their roles in T20 cricket are eye-opening.

Yet I also felt sorry for cricket in that part of the world. Once it is tarnished, perhaps people never look at it in the same way - I know that scandals surrounding the IPL in the past changed my attitude to and interest in it. Reputational damage, even by association, is hard to shake off.

Like several others this year, it is a shame this book needed to be written, but it is to their great credit that Pitch Publishing took it on. 

In doing so they are to be applauded. 

This is a very good read.

Playing to Fix: from the streets of Dubai to the brink of cricket's World Cup and back again is written by Paul Radley and published by Pitch Publishing