Guest Review: Gower: The Autobiography By David Gower

From the moment he hooked his first ball in Test cricket to the boundary, David Gower has been in a class of his own when it comes to style and panache. In 114 Test matches, he scored over 8000 runs at an average of 44 which ranks him with the post-war greats. His elegant play is always a joy to watch and certainly there hasn't been a better and more entertaining left-hander since Sir Garfield Sobers. Yet because of his natural gifts, he has often attracted criticism for his "laid back" approach and "lack of application". In the book, Gower answers these charges and sets out his side of the story about his two spells of captaincy for both club and country. He puts his man-management record on the line alongside those of fellow captains Mike Brearley, Bob Willis, Mike Gatting and Graham Gooch, and attacks the current mentality of Test selectors "where runs around the block seem to count for more than runs in the middle". There are also many light-hearted moments in the book: visiting casinos and nightclubs in the company of fellow "rogues" Ian Botham and Allan Lamb, dumping a hired car at the bottom of a lake in St Moritz, and "buzzing" Robin Smith from a Tiger Moth while he was batting on the 1991/92 Australian tour.

Review: David Gower was a cricketer who played in 117 Test Matches for England between 1978 and 1992. He also captained the side on 32 occasions. Following his retirement from playing, he turned to television commentating and writing columns for newspapers. This autobiography, written with the assistance of the journalist Martin Johnson, was published in 1992. It therefore does not include the last part of his playing career, although there is a brief reference to his recall to the England team in July 1992.

Often described as an elegant and stylish left-handed batsman, he made batting look easy when things were going well. However, he also had his detractors who often described his style as languid, and were infuriated when he got out to what appeared to be a casual stroke. His record stands up well to scrutiny, however, and he scored the fifth highest aggregate of runs in Test Matches for England players. He also had a sense of humour and adventure, that led to his being involved in a number of scrapes. Amongst those described in the book is the time when, after receiving a lecture from his captain on the appropriate dress code when staying in hotels during away matches, he turned up for breakfast wearing a dinner suit. Probably the most infamous incident occurred when he took a joyride in a biplane from an aerodrome adjacent to the ground where the England team were playing against a state side in Australia, and persuaded the pilot to “buzz” the ground whilst play was in progress.

These, and other incidents, together with details of his playing career and the many characters he played with and against are described in the book, which is sprinkled liberally throughout with his wry sense of humour. I enjoyed reading it, despite the fact that it is now out of date. I would recommend it to all cricket lovers.

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Guest Review: Big Ron: A Different Ball Game By Ron Atkinson

Ron Atkinson is one of English football’s most recognisable and popular characters, having been involved in management for a quarter of a century.

He remains the only Englishman to have won major trophies with three different clubs: Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa. At West Bromwich Albion, he was one of the first managers to promote black footballers, including Laurie Cunning- ham, who went to Real Madrid, Cyrille Regis, who became an England international, and Brendon Batson MBE.

After retiring from management, Ron evolved into one of the most familiar and forthright commentators on football. Yet that career came to an end in April 2004 with a single, unguarded comment about the Chelsea defender, Marcel Desailly. Atkinson was labelled a racist and driven from the game he loves.

Review: This is the autobiography, published in 1998, of the former footballer and football manager Ron Atkinson, a larger then life character universally known as “Big Ron”.

He played for a number of years for Oxford United, as they rose from non-league status up to the old Second Division of the English Football League. Following his playing career, he move into management with non-league Kettering Town and lower league Cambridge United, before managing a number of high-profile clubs such as Manchester United and Atletico Madrid. As a manager, he achieved the feat of winning three major trophies with three different clubs: the FA Cup twice with Manchester United, and the League Cup once each with Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa. Towards the end of his management career he spent some time as a TV pundit.

Throughout his career “Big Ron” was always a flamboyant and outspoken character, and this comes across in this book. There are numerous colourful stories about various characters on the field, in management and in the boardroom. These range from tales of a transfer deal in his Kettering Town days when a player was swapped for a lawnmower, to multi-million pound deals for players in the Premier League. His frankness comes across in the book, when he criticises certain players for their attitude, and there is a whole chapter devoted to certain individuals with whom he would not go on holiday.

Overall, this is an interesting insight into the world of football provided by a fascinating, if controversial, character and will appeal to all followers of the beautiful game.

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Review: Let's Do It. The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood by Jasper Rees

In her passport Victoria Wood listed her occupation as 'entertainer' - and in stand-up and sketches, songs and sitcom, musicals and dramas, she became the greatest entertainer of the age. Those things that might have held her back - her lonely childhood, her crippling shyness and above all the disadvantage of being a woman in a male-run industry - she turned to her advantage to make extraordinary comedy about ordinary people living ordinary lives in ordinary bodies. She wasn't fond of the term, but Victoria Wood truly was a national treasure - and her loss is still keenly felt.

Victoria had plenty of stories still to tell when she died in 2016, and one of those was her own autobiography.

'I will do it one day,' she told the author and journalist Jasper Rees. 'It would be about my childhood, about my first few years in showbusiness, which were really interesting and would make a really nice story.'

That sadly never came to pass, so Victoria's estate has asked Jasper Rees, who interviewed her more than anyone else, to tell her extraordinary story in full. He has been granted complete and exclusive access to Victoria's rich archive of personal and professional material, and has conducted over 200 interviews with her family, friends and colleagues - among them Victoria's children, her sisters, her ex-husband Geoffrey Durham, Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Dawn French, Anne Reid, Imelda Staunton and many more.

What emerges is a portrait of a true pioneer who spoke to her audience like no one before or since.

Review: I was a little unsure about this book just because I was so upset when Victoria Wood died and I still don't feel like I've moved past it. But I loved her work so much how could I not read this book? It begins and ends with her most famous song, Let's Do It, just like the title of the book and so for once I listened on regular speed so I could listen and enjoy her words and music. 

This is a long book, I'm normally a little put off by books this long but I will tell you I listened on audiobook and it absolutely flew by. I listened to all 20 hours over about 3 days during my drives to work, in the gym and whilst doing things around the house. I love the fact that this audiobook is narrated by so many different actors and comedians. Celia Imrie, Julie Walters and Duncan Preston to name just a few. I love the fact that these people all had something personal to add to their section of narration and could vouch for the events they were talking about because they were there. 

This book has a typical chronological structure for a biography and so we start with Victoria's childhood and the start of her career in writing and performing and then carry on through until the end. There are plenty of personal stories from people and memories along the way but I loved learning about her early work and the struggles she had as a child and then as a teen trying to fit into education. I feel like knowing all of these things about her past made her even more relatable. 

One of the things I loved about Victoria Wood was her unabashed exploration of sex, particularly within a marriage from a female point of view and her interest in this and its inclusion in almost all of her material is explored in the book. I can't help but feel that her attitude towards female sexuality was before its time and that fact that she talks and sings about it so openly in her ketches, stand up and songs was always something I admired. 

I was blown away by her attention to detail in everything she did, although I do feel like working with her would have been its own kind of challenge and not something I'm sure I could have handled but I definitely came away from this book with a greater depth of respect and admiration for this wonderful performer. When we got the the end of the book, even though I knew it was coming, I did cry, quite a bit and so just be ready for that if you are a fan of her like I am. I really recommend this book even though it left me in tears and took up most of my days whilst I was reading it!

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