Kevin Pietersen's and 5 Other Cricket Autobiographies That You Must Read
With its allegations of bullying and character assassinations of former teammates, Kevin Pietersen's autobiography is the must-read cricket book of the year.
KP is the latest in a long line of players who have taken to print to settle old scores from the middle and off the pitch. Many a ghost-written offering provides more soundbites than substance, though. So just what makes a good autobiography?
It must offer insight, whether that be delving into the chemistry of the dressing room or getting inside the mind of the subject. It must be honest, too. What's the point of even writing a book if you're not searching for the truth? It doesn't have to be a literary masterpiece but if the prose rattles along, so much the better. Similarly, humour. Even the most serious subject matter can benefit from the odd joke or two.
Ranging from county journeymen to global superstars, here are five cricket autobiographies that are well worth a look.
Wasted? by Paul Smith
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Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll aren't standard fare in the autobiographies of county cricketers. Expect plenty of all three in former Warwickshire all-rounder Paul Smith's 2007 memoir.
Smith was an integral member of the all-conquering Warwickshire side that dominated English domestic cricket in the mid-1990s. Dermot Reeve's side had a reputation for partying as hard as they played and Smith was at the forefront both on the field and off it. Following a successful career at Edgbaston, Smith's life fell apart after he received a two-year ban for failing a drugs test in 1996.
After losing his house, family and career, Smith's tale could have easily turn into a misery memoir. The popular Geordie managed to step back from the brink in a truly extraordinary manner, taking cricket to inner-city youth in Los Angeles.
Packed full of big personalities, Smith reveals what it's like to seemingly have it all, only to let it slip through your fingers. Passionate, honest and moving, this is far from your standard sporting autobiography.
Coming Back to Me by Marcus Trescothick
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As a hugely successful international sportsman, loved by supporters and admired by his colleagues, Marcus Trescothick seemingly had it all.
But behind the facade, things were seriously wrong. It all came to a head on England's 2006 tour to India when the opener was forced to return home for what, at the time, was described as a "family reason." Trescothick sets the record straight in this frank and sometimes unsettling memoir.
The Somerset opener is brutally honest in recalling his mental health battles in Coming Back To Me.
"I didn't have a clue what was happening to me, or why. All I knew was that I couldn't deal with it, because I didn't really know what it was I was supposed to be dealing with, let alone how. I felt like something – or even someone – was taking over my mind and my body was trying to destroy me.
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Courageous and candid, Trescothick challenged taboos and deservedly won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year.
Given what happened to Jonathan Trott during the winter, Trescothick's book should be required reading for professional sportsmen everywhere.
A Lot of Hard Yakka: A County Cricketer's Life by Simon Hughes
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Before becoming TV's “The Analyst” Simon Hughes enjoyed a lengthy career on the county circuit. It's his adventures playing for Middlesex and Durham in the 1980s and early 90s that form the backdrop to his hugely entertaining memoir, A Lot of Hard Yakka.
Packed full of amusing anecdotes from a feisty Middlesex dressing room, Hughes lifts the lid on the precarious lifestyle of the county journeyman. Above all it's about the camaraderie of playing in a team and the highs and lows that come with it.
Enlightening, revealing and very amusing, A Lot of Hard Yakka has stood the test of time. It's no surprise that Hughes now enjoys a successful career in the media.
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To The Point: The No-Holds-Barred Autobiography by Herschelle Gibbs
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Controversial South African batsman uses autobiography to slam teammates and an allegedly divisive clique that divided the dressing room. Sounds familiar? It's not Kevin Pietersen but Herschelle Gibbs.
Readers of a more sensitive disposition may want to steer clear of the plentiful stories about sex and drugs that would make even a hardened Hollywood carouser blush.
Among the tales of debauchery, and there are many, are some perceptive comments on why the Proteas always seemed to underachieve in the biggest games.
The big-hitting opener used his autobiography to slam the conservatism that pervaded South African cricket culture (on the field at least):
"The team has been criticised for being run by a group of senior players – captain Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and, more recently, AB de Villiers – and this inner circle splits the team in two and makes any chance of developing true team spirit among the Proteas impossible.
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Unsurprisingly, Gibbs didn't make a single appearances for South Africa after the book was published.
Driving Ambition by Andrew Strauss
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Controversy isn't a prerequisite for a successful cricketing memoir. Anyone expecting a stream of blood-letting in Andrew Strauss's 2013 autobiography, Driving Ambition, will be left disappointed.
If you want a real insight into the thinking of a top-class international sportsman and all that accompanies it, then the former England skipper is your man.
Rather like Strauss the player, Strauss the writer (and it is him, not a ghost writer) is measured, assured and a little underrated.
The Middlesex man lifts the lid on dealing with the pressures of captaincy, the joys of Ashes victories and perhaps most pertinently, what it takes to create a winning side.
"Personal responsibility, the team coming first and focusing on ourselves – stayed with the team all the way through my captaincy. I believed in them strongly. So did Andy Flower, and I think the vast majority of the team bought into the ideas.
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There are few literary fireworks but in his own unfussy manner, Strauss has delivered a book that offers a real insider's view. The judges at Wisden agreed, naming it the 2014 Cricket Book of the Year.
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