Vic’s amusing look at pro cricket is well worth a read
Late Cuts, by Vic Marks (Sportsbookofthemonth.com price £13.69, saving £3.30 on rrp)
❝ You fancy Vic Marks is a little more ‘old school’ and subscribes to the idea that statistics, while an important part of the game, can be notoriously unreliable
EARLIER this year, Nathan Leamon and Ben Jones wrote an acclaimed cricket book, Hitting Against The Spin, which contained an intelligent, well-considered foreword penned by England captain Eoin Morgan. Morgan noted that for centuries, generations of cricketers improved their game, eventually ridding their performances of obvious faults, by speaking with trusted colleagues or with their coaches.
Change, however, was on the horizon. “Since the release of Moneyball,” wrote Morgan, “the role of data in sport has grown exponentially,” a sentence which alerted readers to the (very enjoyable) prospect of reading about data analysis and its application.
You fancy Vic Marks is a little more ‘old school’ and subscribes to the idea that statistics, while an important part of the game, can be notoriously unreliable.
Marks’ latest book, Late Cuts, follows Original Sin and Marks out of XI, both extremely readable tomes, not least because the author writes as though he is inviting readers into his confidence; Late Cuts is written in similar vein. Marks’ first shared secret is that the book was triggered by Covid-19, a reaction to “having nowhere to go and not much to do.” He reveals that despite ambitions to tackle Shakespeare, Dickens and Joyce during lockdown, “within a week all the fine ideas of self-improvement slithered away as a new routine evolved.”
The new routine became Late Cuts, a unique insight into a game he played professionally and has written about for several decades. Often amusing, his views can also be described as ‘left field.’ Take the food provided for cricketers back in the day, for instance. “In 1974,” he writes, “the staple diet was some sweaty ham… and boiled potatoes that somehow ended up both hard and cold, all of which would be served up by the venerable Ethel, who was not so far removed from the Julie Walters character in Victoria Wood’s ‘Two Soups’ sketch. Everything would then be desperately smothered by salad cream provided there was some left in the bottle.”
Then there’s the inner turmoil caused by being dropped: “Obviously I want Somerset to win the match, but it would be preferable for them to do so while it becomes crystal clear to the captain – and everyone else – that he has picked the wrong team.”
Late Cuts is the perfect accompaniment to watching cricket on a day when rain is forecast, a bright and breezy opportunity to enjoy the game’s nuances in the company of a seasoned and wise old pro – and there’s not a statistic in sight.