Zimmer Men (trials and tribulations of an ageing cricketer)
 It's
been 10 years since Marcus Berkmann brought us his
highly acclaimed comical Rain Men, a book I hasten
to add I haven't yet read ! Please don't ask me where
I was when it come out or how the hell did I miss
it, I simply can't remember! However, given the standard
of his latest offering “Zimmer Men”, a
humorous look at old age and village cricket, I'll
have to get hold of a copy and see what I've been
missing all these years! Buy
Paper Back Edition | Buy
Hard Back Edition Now
Due for release in the first week
in July, I urge you to reserve yourself a copy of
the funniest cricket book I've ever read, so funny
in parts it hurts! Both the hard cover and paperback
editions are released within days of each other, unusual
these days but at least you have the choice.
The book could well have been written
with thousands of village cricketers in mind as we
all know countless of examples taken from the book.
There will always be a player who thinks age hasn't
had any affect on his or her ability to perform week
in week out, a player who thinks he's a Steve Waugh
but in reality not even in the class of Phil Tufnell.
Zimmer Men is an ideal summer reading
book, something you can pick up and sit in the garden
while whiling away the hours in the summer sun. Berkmann
tells us how he started off in cricket, despite never
being any good at it, the emphasis was always on taking
part not actually being able to score runs or take
wickets! How things changed in the Captain Scott XI
and why he left to find himself another team.Buy
Now
Berkmann takes a comical look at the
fixture secretary and how his old mate Harry would
always look after that side of things, funny how no
one would play them when Harry was on holiday! A freak
of nature or good planning on Harry's part?!
He also examines how little things
have changed over the years, how helmet wearing players
were frowned upon 10 years ago,these days it has become
the norm thanks mainly to a new law introduced for
the young. The young I said not the old !!!
“We have one (helmet), and I
have been occasionally been tempted by it. I have
never played a hook in my life, as I know I would
get a top edge straight into my face, A helmet would
make this possible, actually a miraculous infusion
of talent would make this possible” !!!
And so the book goes on, taking fun
out of sledging, sunblock ( a great Aussie tradition)
and pub opening hours – remember the good old
days when pubs closed for 5 hours on a Sunday afternoon
? Did that really happen ? The book goes from strength
to strength, Berkmann talks about foreign tours to
Sweden, low scores (not a rarity for Marcus with a
career average of 4.2!) and injuries. An effortless
book, very easy to read and one you will be talking
about in years to come, until he writes another classic!
The cricketing world would be a poorer
place without teams like Rain Men XI's, X's or how
ever many players one can muster at the last minute.
Well worth a read this, rush out and get your copy
now before they disappear from the shelves or should
that be internet checkout baskets ? Such is progression!
Superb.
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