A Lot of Hard Yakka - Simon Hughes

Advantages: An insiders tale of the life of a professional cricketer
Disadvantages: Non sports fans won't find much to interest them

...the mid nineties having spent a decade and a half at the top of the domestic game but only the most dedicated of cricket fans would have been able to put a face to the name. While Hughes may not have had the most glamorous of careers he still lived the life of a professional sportsman and in this book he provides an unequalled insight into that life. The eighties were an exciting time for English cricket, from Botham's heroics in the '81 Ashes through ...
...of them. This is not a biography as such, we don't learn much about Hughes' background beyond those details pertinent to his life as a cricketer. More it is a diarised history of his professional life, it is an insider's tale and while he may not have dined at the top table he did meet the Brearleys and Bothams, Gattings and Gowers on the field of play as equals and this gives the story that much more credibility than any journalist penned piece, ... Read review

Advantages: sporting insights
Disadvantages: none

...by his own admission, was a journeyman cricketer. Although he was once very nearly considered good enough to play for England, he spent most of his time touring round the English county cricket grounds for Middlesex. A Lot of Hard Yakka is his recollection of his time as a county cricketer, taking in memories of his Middlesex debut, pre-season training, twelfth man duties and living in digs. All in all, it's well-written, anecdotal and very amusing ...
...on to better things as a cricket columnist and as Channel 4's cricket analyst. The best thing about this book, as with Garry Nelson's "Left Foot Forward", is that it's written by someone who was never a star, never thought he'd play for England in front of 100,000 people and can show you the reality of playing professional sport. Away from the glitz which can surround the top international players, the life of the journeyman is portrayed as quite ... Read review

Advantages: Interesting subject
Disadvantages: Too repititive

...the same time it isn't a classic. The book deviates from your usual cricket book as Hughes was never a Test player and by his own admission was a journeyman player. The interest in the book lies in the very fact that Hughes was not a superstar and his description of what life was like for the ordinary country pro. I suppose I found the book really interesting as I am from Ireland and I have always been interested in cricket. Hughes story is unremarkable ...
...about match and there aren't as much ancedotes as you would expect. You don't expect any tales of how Hughes bowled Viv Richards for a duck in a tour mtach but I was thinking that there would be more stories of incdents on the county circuit during his career ... Read review