The Cricket Statistician No 195

49 This will of course be required reading for any Somerset follower. One note of caution, however. As a neutral I found it hard at times to read about the repeated near-misses experienced by Somerset CCC over the last few years. Those with any strong emotional attachment to the club might therefore struggle... Richard Lawrence The Wicket Men: The Last Rites of Minor Counties Cricket By TonyHannan, Scratching Shed Publishing Ltd, paperback, pp404, £14.99, ISBN9781999333966 Tony Hannan’s door-stopping volume deals with the cricket season of 2018, as observed from a viewpoint in Cumberland and Westmorland. As a new book on a Minor County it was very welcome to me as I have little interest in modern doings at international, first- class or club levels. (In reviewing it, I make no apologies for having skipped through some sections of the narrative. Specifically those sections dealing with T20...) In the acknowledgements the author describes this book as ‘meandering’ which may well be due to the fact that there are three separate strands to the narrative and a good deal of cutting from one to another. The first strand is a ‘warts and all’ description of the 2018 season of the Cumberland C.C.C., the second is a whimsical journey round the club and village cricket grounds of Cumberland and Westmorland, whilst the third is a discussion of the (recent) history, current situation, and (short-term) future of Minor Counties cricket. Whilst this does make reading a somewhat frenetic activity, there’s plenty of interest here and it’s difficult to imagine how it might be better organised without losing crucial material. Up to a point, the ‘warts and all’ is the least interesting part of the book. I found it hard to invest in the doings of the likes of ‘Slacky,’ ‘Sempy,’ and ‘Syds’ – all good cricketers no doubt but the author somehow fails to bring them to life. However, this strand eventually comes up with the goods. Towards the end of the season a big hoo-hah cropped up regarding the departure of captain Gary Pratt from a county game still in progress in order to turn out for his club side. This is extensively covered and all concerned are to be thanked for resisting the temptation to brush everything under the carpet. The problem of balancing the goals of county setups with those of individual clubs is a potentially tricky one and it’s interesting to know that Norfolk, my county, are not alone in having problems in this area. (The strongest club in Norfolk is that of Swardeston and, to widespread dismay, their players controversially choose to spend their Sundays playing in prestigious national competitions rather than for their county. Add in a couple of ‘personal issues’ – and even what the Artful Dodger would describe as some ‘fisticuffs’ – and longstanding disharmony reigns.) Around two-thirds of the way through the narrative the action switches county for around 15 pages, becoming focussed on Minor Counties cricket in Norfolk. This might seem a puzzle to most readers but makes perfect sense to Norfolcians such as me. We are very proud of our unique Cricket Festival, which we see as the last bastion of cricket civilisation, crumbling slowly in the face of the muddle-headed priorities of the English Cricket Board. Our past is remembered with great affection, our future with great apprehension.