Opening Up
Registered by 
Netstation
of Coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom on 6/20/2004
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
Netstation of Coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom on 6/20/2004 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
Registered for 'a special mission'
I am weirdly starting to view Michael Atherton in the same way as I look at Bill Clinton (and no, this is nothing to do with cigars or dry cleaning). Young, intelligent, full of ideas and idealism and had the whole world at his feet when made England captain / President of the USA - only to ultimately fail to leave behind a worthy legacy. Do you follow me?
When it came down to it, Athers was basically too conservative and not imaginative enough, despite the fact that he has captained England more times than anyone else in test matches. Part of this is to do with the fact that he was in charge in an era when the captain (bizarrely) had no say in the selection of the team. This led to the weird situation where players like the left arm seamer Mike Smith were "foisted" upon him, and as a result he didn't trust them enough to make use of them (Smith's test career consists of one test and a measly 4 overs, including a what-if moment when safe-hands Graham Thorpe dropped a catch in the slips...)
Anyway - another great choice of book Steve, and I thank you.
(I met Athers once after he retired actually, and I have to say that retirement suits him - he looks both younger and thinner in the flesh...)
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update 31/12/04
Finished. A good read - unusually well-written for a sporting book. Perhaps his Cambridge education wasn't wasted after all. Interesting, if not especially controversial (much like his commentary, and a bit like his captaincy, actually). For my money he is a little bit too defensive over the whole "dirt in pocket" affair.
His eventual average of 37-ish is a poor reflection of his importance to the England side for a decade. Never beat the Australians in a series during his whole career.... let's hope we can put that right in the summer of 2005, eh?
Thanks Steve!
When it came down to it, Athers was basically too conservative and not imaginative enough, despite the fact that he has captained England more times than anyone else in test matches. Part of this is to do with the fact that he was in charge in an era when the captain (bizarrely) had no say in the selection of the team. This led to the weird situation where players like the left arm seamer Mike Smith were "foisted" upon him, and as a result he didn't trust them enough to make use of them (Smith's test career consists of one test and a measly 4 overs, including a what-if moment when safe-hands Graham Thorpe dropped a catch in the slips...)
Anyway - another great choice of book Steve, and I thank you.
(I met Athers once after he retired actually, and I have to say that retirement suits him - he looks both younger and thinner in the flesh...)
---
update 31/12/04
Finished. A good read - unusually well-written for a sporting book. Perhaps his Cambridge education wasn't wasted after all. Interesting, if not especially controversial (much like his commentary, and a bit like his captaincy, actually). For my money he is a little bit too defensive over the whole "dirt in pocket" affair.
His eventual average of 37-ish is a poor reflection of his importance to the England side for a decade. Never beat the Australians in a series during his whole career.... let's hope we can put that right in the summer of 2005, eh?
Thanks Steve!
Released on Saturday, January 01, 2005 at about 6:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Forest Cafe-Salcey Forest-Near Hartwell/Quinton in Northamptonshire, England United Kingdom.
RELEASE NOTES:
I'll leave this in the OBCZ in the forest cafe. It's a good book. We're doing quite well in the cricket at the moment, so let this take you back to a time in the not-so-distant past when we were rubbish at it.
RELEASE NOTES:
I'll leave this in the OBCZ in the forest cafe. It's a good book. We're doing quite well in the cricket at the moment, so let this take you back to a time in the not-so-distant past when we were rubbish at it.
