A Clear Blue Sky

Jonny Bairstow is one of the most naturally talented English cricketers in recent years.  His ability to alter games with his disruptive batting or take vital catches behind the stumps means he is an integral part of the English cricket team. 

However, a new biography, A Clear Blue Sky, ghost-written with Duncan Hamilton, enlightens the reader upon the hard road Bairstow has had to travel to attain a cemented position in the England team as they seek to regain the Ashes down under this winter versus the dreaded Australians.

Bairstow, is the son of a cricketer, he is from Yorkshire, cricket is in his blood, and yet it was an event when he was 8 that has created the basis of his desire and will to succeed on the world stage. When Jonny and his sister, Becca, came home one night to see their father David had hung himself, their world unravelled. At the same time, their mother was undergoing cancer treatment, you could be forgiven for the young Bairstow going off the rails and becoming just a statistic in crime and welfare.  However, the next day, Jonny and his sister went to school, education and learning has been a mainstay in his still young life; the need to carry on as normal was key to building character and as he says in the book, he had to grow up fast.

I mention the young life of Bairstow, who still has a long career of himself should injuries not come to the fore, and yet you wonder why are we reading a book about him now when a glorious winter could be on the horizon. Does the misery of his father's suicide explain enough why he has become a celebrated professional? Does the benefit of good education at schools that embraced sports explain his ability to translate to an international calibre athlete?  Or does the fact he have a recognisable name scream of nepotism or luck?

Naysayers may say, you make your own luck, but the ghost written portion of the novel reads as an opportunity for Hamilton to tell the story of how Yorkshire had to tread water for years of mediocrity before the hiring of Jason Gillespie and a bevy of young talent - Bairstow, current England captain Joe Root, Gary Balance, Adil Rashid - helped them to the County Championship.

Bairstow has benefited from being one of the cricketers who has had cross-over/transitional skills from sports he has played throughout his development - football for explosive speed, hockey for hand-eye co-ordination and golf for playing under pressure.  Hamilton goes to lengths to show the success of individuals like Bairstow within a system based upon central contracts allowing personal as well as professional development along with his peer Ben Stokes.

The book does at times read like a love letter for Yorkshire cricket and a by-gone era of when David Bairstow played, while the psychological and emotional stress has been abundant on the young wicketkeeper it should nevertheless be applauded at how he carries himself from day to day to perform at the highest level.

Unlike Stokes, who seems to have the shadow of controversy follow him, Bairstow appears to keep a clear head and avoid such vices eager to improve his game and become a vital part of a successful team in all three formats of the game - Test matches, ODI's and T20s.  The lessons and obstacles you overcome in your youth are the foundation for you as an adult, many sportsmen should look at the evidence of Jonny Bairstow to see what results can come to fruition through a combination of support, belief and talent.

A Clear Blue Sky is out now from HarperCollins across all formats

Cycling to the Ashes

Oli Broom was a chartered surveyor, but he found the idea of making money for other people whilst failing to save money for himself was disheartening.  He was the right side of 30 still and wanted one more adventure before he finally settled down with a family and a full time job.

The idea for an adventure came to him from his friend Becca one night, why not cycle to the Ashes and especially the first test in Brisbane in November 2010.  Cycling had been a passion of his since his year in Spain when he dreamed of cycling down to the southern border and across the Northern part of Africa.  The idea of doing this trek would be an adventure and rekindle his fitness which had long been lost under some city desk.

With little or no money in his savings, and little or no sponsors it seemed like he had no hope of gaining the necessary funds.  However, light came in the form of main sponsors Betfair and Mongoose cricket coupled with the support of the Lords Taverners.

The book which has been released during another intense Ashes summer yet the greatest cricketing rivalry ia a light at the end of the journey, a reason to get to where he is going. Cricket is paramount to his journey and yet it is as much a book about cycling, traversing and encountering people who have little or no knowledge of the sport, yet respect his passion and desire in this seemingly impossible journey

Cycling to the Ashes is that rare book that is part memoir, part satire and part travelogue, helped by the cynical Englishman lost abroad facet we have seen from Michael Palin or Alan Whicker before him.  When he encounters an Australian backpacker in South East Asia, Oli finds out that he is travelling around for one year and does not know where he will end up, Broom makes the observation that he could not do that sort of journey without a sense of purpose or direction.  Broom's resilience and stubbornness are apparent in equal abundance; the tenacity to get to Brisbane in time is a marvel.

What becomes apparent is how fortuitous Broom has been or how willing he has been to trust strangers when he is more of a stranger in these strange lands; at one point going to Goa for a few days and leaving his bike unattended with a man who owns a dhaba, a roadside cafe. He comes back to a bike cleaner than ever before, this is just one of many episodes where people offer lodgings and food just because he looks tired. Broom is amazed at the Samaritan he finds in passing strangers.

India seems to cost Broom is sanity at one point, odd considering that cricket is a religion in that over-populated country and how small he felt in a country of 1.3 billion people.  The breakdown he suffers at a sign saying Kolkata 997km is very strong, in marked contrast to the elation he feels when he finally sees the first sign of Brisbane 1695km.  A photo of himself with this sign shows him in a new light, it may seem like a lot but it seems so near to him after nearly 13,000km pedalled already.

Broom writes with a real fluency and happiness recalling his experiences, none more so than when he is remembering his encounters with his friends in every country none more so than Laszlo, a Hungarian man who becomes his best friend, filming his times in Eastern Europe setting him up with film-makers in Turkey and Africa, before meeting up with him for the last 1000km or three weeks into Brisbane.

You wonder how Broom would have done the trip had he been truly alone, but sometimes the power of community and friendship can help one man do things he never thought he could do, that were beyond the realms of possibility.  Some people (and those people are probably the Neanderthals who thing that football is the one and only) may think why do this just to see a cricket match.  Myself, being a cricket fan for so long can attest to that, cricket is the sport that taught me about the globe, places to travel to and all for a game that may not end in a result.

Oli Broom has written a wonderful book full of incident and accidents without a hint of allegation or circumstance - the book is funny and touching in equal measure, and the feat all the more astonishing and memorable considering he did not know how far he would go, and so it becomes a tale of one man exceeding himself and going further than he thought.

Cycling to the Ashes is out now from Yellow Jersey Press for £16.99 in Hardback

www.cyclingtotheashes.co.uk
www.olibroom.com

Cricket Banter

Following on from their website beginnings in February 2012, The Middle Stump or Dan Whiting and Liam Kenna, have put together an amalgamation of their websites best interviews into one e-book, Cricket Banter, which serves as a unique introduction to the website's humour but also the strong sense of adulation this small website has garnered in a short space of time.

Interviews with such luminaries as Mike Selvey (cricket correspondent for The Guardian) and Steve James (cricket reporter for The Daily Telegraph) are two of the better interviews which follow a familiar Q&A format - which in one downside of the e-book is too similar after a while and causes you to float over some answers.

However, what is indispensable and is unique to the book and not on the website (www.themiddlestump.co.uk) is the county-by-county guide which features an address, brief history of each county, TMS anecdotes, ground information, banter factor, recommendations of local boozers and tipples, overnight stay options, celebrity watch.

What is paramount to the book however, is the belief that cricket is a game that should give you enjoyment in watching and should be enjoyed when playing.  Interviews with Selvey, James and Mike Gatting make you wish of those halycon days of cricket when Test Match Special was on the BBC television with the dulcet tones of Tony Lewis and Richie Benaud babysat you through a long hot summer - now the proliferation of television coverage across the three game formats with micked up stumps and slow-motion replays means the fun has somewhat gone from the game.

Yet as long as there are people like Whiting and Kenna are around supporting English county cricket and backing the national side the future is bright for English cricket.

The e-book Cricket Banter is a must read and the perfect companion to a liquid lunch break at an out-ground or the thing to occupy your time during an inevitable rain delay.

This reader purchased Cricket Banter for £5.99 from Amazon.co.uk for the Kindle.

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