Test Cricket Lists - The Ultimate Guide to Test Cricket - Review

Five Mile Press ISBN 1741782503 Buy It Now

Outstanding- simply outstanding!! This is the only word that truly describes this book by Graham Dawson and Charlie Wat. “Test Cricket Lists” was first published in 1982 and received further outings in 1992, 1996; the last edition was released in 2000. A lot has happened in six years of cricket; Shane Warne has strengthened the call as the greatest spinner to have played the game, Australia won 16 tests on the bounce before losing a magnificent series in India and the small matter of England winning last year's Ashes.

Following a glowing foreword from Richie Benaud and a few words about the authors we move straight into the most memorable and famous Test matches in history. The section begins with last season's Ashes series and as are the other matches on offer, complete with scorecards and highlights. In the 2006 season, World cricket witnesses arguably cricket at its worse when for the first time in 1800 Test matches, a Test nation (Pakistan) forfeited the match. Umpire Hair, who has since been sacked by the ICC took a strong stance and ended the match following allegations of ball tampering (which were unproven). A small timeline is offered for this Test.

The Bodyline series is covered, as is the great Australian invincibles side of 1948. Also included is the first ever meeting between West Indies and Pakistan in 1958 where numerous records were broken including Pakistan's highest total of 8 for 657 following on. There are far too many matches to mention in this review, the section is comprehensive, but for all those chosen they offer a well written summary and scorecard.

The second part of the book houses the trivia section and includes everything the cricket fan would want to know including unusual dismissals, a list of four brothers who represented their countries, father and son combinations and most sixes scored off consecutive balls to name but a few. The list is literally endless and fascinating. As a matter of interest only once have four brothers played in the same Test match, that honour belongs to the Mohammad family when they played for Pakistan against New Zealand (Karachi) in 1969/70 season. Buy It Now

There were a number of “firsts” in Test cricket in 1876/7 as the first match against Australia took place. Some interesting facts found in the book include: Alfred Shaw bowled the first ball in Test cricket from the Eastern End in Melbourne; Hill caught Horan at third man to take the first catch; Horan before being caught hit the first boundary (a snick through slips) and C Bannerman scored the first century before retiring hurt on 165. I have no idea how Dawson and Wat have found half of the information in this book, especially the little facts from early on in Test cricket. How on earth did they know Horan snicked the ball through slips for four?

It's very hard to do a book of this calibre justice in a short review, there's so much more in the book that will never be mentioned here, it's frankly impossible. If you ever wanted to know how many players have had the dubious honour of bagging a pair in the same match then you need look no further, Gooch is there as is Justin Langer and the aforementioned Bannerman. Harold Larwood's night-watchman innings of 98 in the Bodyline series is included as is Alec Bedser's 79 again Australia in 1948. Arguably the greatest was that of Jason Gillespie who scored 201 not out against Bangladesh, it is incidentally the highest score by a night-watchman.

The third and final section of the book is the meat of the book containing results from every Test match ever played listed country by country. Taking India as an example, we find separate sections for each opponent and within these sections a comprehensive breakdown of records are included such as best partnerships, best bowling, most runs in a series, lowest innings total etc. My only negative about the book, and the only reason I mention it is to give this amazing book a balanced review, is I would have liked to see a clearer distinction between each country. By this I mean either a colour codes system for each country or a title page, seriously though even this isn't a fault!

Spanning over 650 pages, the book concludes with a huge collection of every Test record you could imagine from the leading umpires (Bucknor on 113), Hair is there too but won't improve his 76 following the ICC decision this week!. Southerton holds the honour of being the oldest debutant (49) in 1876/7 and Rhodes the oldest to ever play the game when he finished in 1929/30. Bringing the book to a close is a complete listing of every player to play the game, listed alphabetically by country, and includes a summary of their performance as a Test player.

As a bonus a cd is included and offers updates by subscription. All in all I can't recommend this publication highly enough, it is a must for any cricketing fan interested in history, statistics, fun and trivia and any record you could want to know. Not only will fans or armchair viewers find this book useful, journalists will find the information supplied invaluable. Not a lot more I can say about this – without doubt taking pride of place on the shelf “Test Cricket Lists” is a serious reference and entertaining book. It is the Bradman of cricket books. Buy It Now

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