BOOK REVIEW

BOOKS OF THE YEAR, NO.15-11 It feels as though there have been more sports books published this year than any other, so whittling the mountain down to a shortlist has been, well, involved. This year’s sports book of the year is spread over three weeks: here’s week one ....

GiVEN England’s one-day success this year, it’s inevitable that cricket features on 2019’s ‘must read’ list, although neither recommendation focuses on players who lifted the World Cup or lost the Ashes series.

Instead, The Autobiography reveals former England captain Alistair Cook as a teak-tough, mentally powerful competitor who could not abide team-mates who lacked similar levels of courage and resolution. In addition, Cook was blessed with a special talent which ultimately meant he became England’s highest-scoring batsman. He claims that none of his 12,472 Test runs were a ‘gimmee’. “I had to dig bloody deep, work bloody hard for every single run,” he says.

Robin Smith’s The Judge: More Than Just a Game is an engaging, but often uncomfortable read.

Known as The Judge during his playing days, Smith was dropped in his early thirties and so began a period of prolonged introspection and doubt. With alcohol his go-to option, Smith went from being a fearless warrior to a frantic worrier. To read how a sportsman with the world at his feet can plummet to hit rock bottom in a comparatively short period is distressing.

Gavin Buckland’s Money Can’t Buy Us Love is part social history, part football, part business focusing on Everton’s pivotal role in creating a football business model that was eventually adopted by every ambitious club in the land. Chairman John Moores was, in footballing parlance, ‘years ahead of his time’, but supporters at Everton’s School of Science didn’t always appreciate his methods.

If you’re a football fan who recognises that supporters are the folks who keep the whole football industry afloat by attending games, buying satellite television subscriptions, club merchandise and replica kits, you should read The Club, written by Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg, for it confirms the degree to which they (we) have been taken for a ride.

There’s just enough space to mention Michael Cox’s engrossing analysis of European football’s tactical development in Zonal Marking. English football has undoubtedly benefited from developing continental tactics, often modifying them to suit domestic conditions. However, consider this: on Premier League’s inaugural weekend, in 1992, top-flight teams fielded a total of 11 foreign players; not one club had a foreign manager. 25 years later, English players are almost as rare as English bosses and the national side has not won a meaningful trophy in 53 years...

To read full reviews of each book, visit www.sportsbookofthemonth. com