Book Review: Sticky Dogs and Stardust: When The Legends Played The Leagues - Second Innings by Scott Oliver

Many years ago, when I first came to Scotland, I played for a few years in the then Scottish Counties cricket competition.

I played alongside a couple of professional cricketers. One of them had been a peripheral player at county level but was an excellent coach and improved my game considerably. The other was an Australian of some reputation, a wonderful player who seemed to score heavily every week, but had no idea how to explain to others what they needed to do to improve. Both were very good professionals, but experiences of other sides were varied, with their recruits lacking in one way or another, on or off the pitch.

Scott Oliver has followed his original book of the same title with another of similar quality. It is a rollicking read, choc-full of wonderful stories, players who left a lasting impression with their feats on the pitch and their 'talents' off it. Opening with Jesse Ryder, you get a very early idea of how the book is going to go and it is  hugely entertaining from cover to cover. I especially enjoyed the recounting of the Adrian Shankar tale, a player who was signed by Worcestershire on the back of his self-penned Walter Mitty-style press pieces, suggesting a player 'in the mould of Virat Kohli'..

As was the case with the first book, I was left in awe at the depth of research undertaken by the author, the number of people he has spoken to and the tales that he has unearthed. While it cannot be denied that any volume one will always contain the best subjects, this 'second innings' loses little in comparison. How could it, with the likes of Rohan Kanhai, Steve Smith, Chris Cairns, Abdul Qadir, Dennis Lillee and Joel Garner within its pages? 

I have no idea how blokes who worked in offices and factories all week prepared to face Michael Holding and Andy Roberts, or figured out the variations of Muttiah Muralidaran (as spelled here). But the stories of how they did so make this a book that should be in the bag of everyone heading to cricket matches this summer.

There will be lunch intervals and of course periods of rain. This book and its predecessor will be your best friends at that point. 

Every cricket fan needs these on their bookshelf. It is as simple as that. 

Sticky Dogs and Stardust: When The Legends Played The Leagues - Second Innings is written by Scott Oliver  and published by Fairfield Books