Cricket, My Brother and Me

Fifty Years Watching English

Geoffrey Hart

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing
• eBook ISBN:
  9781801502764
• Year: 2022

As a toddler, Geoff plays a straight bat with a frying pan, knocking his brother unconscious. They both survive and go on to share an obsession with cricket. From playing as kids in oversized pads, they become recreational cricketers and devotees of England and Notts. Cricket, My Brother and Me is rich in humorous anecdotes and personal memories of 50 eventful years playing and watching cricket. Accounts of early life as cricketers see the brothers trying to emulate their heroes and failing miserably, finally settling for the role of spectator. Memories include the torture and the glory of watching the Ashes, touring abroad and the more sedate joys of county cricket. The book describes the brothers' fraught first encounter with the Barmy Army and later touring as part of the world's greatest supporters' club. Ardent fans will enjoy the serious reflections on cricket and politics and thoughts on the future of the sport. This is a 'must read' for cricket lovers and for those intrigued as to why cricket can inflame such passion.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Photographic Acknowledgements
• 1. Down and Out, Down Under
• 2. My Brother and Me
• 3. Growing Up With Cricket
• 4. Back in the Saddle
• 5. Playing Cricket: Our Rise to the Bottom
• 6. Our First Test Match
• 7. Watching the Ashes
• 8. The Burger Moment and Other Cricketing Anecdotes
• 9. In No Particular Order
• 10. Pakistan Spot Fixing Scandal
• 11. Cricket and Politics
• 12. The Innings of a Batting Genius
• 13. Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and Us
• 14. The Moon Under Water
• 15. Cricket, Sri Lanka and Me
• 16. Our World Cup Year
• 17. The Barmy Army, My Brother and Me
• 18. Barmy in South Africa
• 19. The Laws of an Eccentric Game and the Spirit of Cricket
• 20. Are All Wicketkeepers Nuts?
• 21. England Batting Collapses, My Brother and Me
• 22. The Nightwatchman
• 23. Aspiring Young Cricketers
• 24. Cricket Emerges from the Darkness into the Light
• 25. The Future for Cricket
• Postscript
• References
• Photos