Customer Reviews:
 Good, but only in parts August 13, 2008
Magic Rat (uk)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A curate's egg of a book, this one. (Actually, what is/was a "curate's egg" ?). It starts well, as Frindall (40 years as the BBC's Test Match scorer) describes his early life, his time in the RAF and how he got into scoring and got his cushy (thugh no doubt tedious) job. There are subsequently some lovely, sensitively-written chapters on Brian Johnston and others he has worked with. The chapter on the great, much missed John Arlott is beautifully written and the final paragraph had a dignified lump in my throat. There are also some intersting chapters on countries he has visited as a scorer and their cricket grounds - Australia, New Zealand and the Indian sub-Continent, although, strangely nothing on the West Indies, which must have been exciting, atmospheric and visually beautiful. Unfortunately, Frindall spends too much time at the book's end detailing his scores made as an amateur charity cricketer, much of his charity work and guest speaking. From then on in it becomes a bore of a book and I have to admit that I "block read" a lot of the book's final quarter, which is highly unusual for me.
Somewhat surprising is the amount of women Frindall appears (much of it is only mentioned in passing) to have dallied with, including three marriages (to date). He had three children (I think) from his two earlier marriages and they are not mentioned other than their birth, which is strange, although entirely his choice as the author. Also something I found questionable is the enthusiasm in which he swanned off to South Africa at the height of the apartheid era quaffing wine while happily chatting back home in the commentary box or at charity matches wih Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Bishen Bedi. John Arlott could not bring himself to visit South Africa more than once. Enough said.
A good book in parts and a pleasant enough read but, like its author, tends to be somewhat pernickety and tedious in places.
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