The Cricket Society 

Of all the books for review from 2009, this is almost certainly the most painful to review. Not for the quality of the writing, which is of the highest calibre, but because of the subject and the overwhelming feeling of a talent dissipated. The late Peter Tinniswood, in his tales of Witney Scrotum was wont to describe the centre of the village as containing a dignified memorial which, upon inspection, could be seen to have inscribed upon it the simple and affecting phrase, 'Died of Drink.' Bad taste? Certainly. But regrettably, this could well apply to Alan Gibson, the subject of this outstanding work, published by the admirable Stephen Chalke, with a commentary by Alan's son from his first marriage, Anthony, who manages to combine sympathy for a man never in control of his demons with a clear and encompassing understanding of how those demons caused those around Alan Gibson to endure great suffering. To declare an interest, when rock and roll began to loom large on the horizon and all a young man wanted to do was to find music and humour that reacted against the dreary background of the 1950's, it was still a matter of import to wake early on a Saturday morning, switch the dial to the West of England Home Service (a proper title that) and listen to Good Morning with Derek Jones and Alan Gibson. That gentle, witty programme with its shaggy-dog (shaggy-horse, actually) stories and its cast of characters, such as the itinerant Spanish labourer, Manuel Dexterity, seemed to be the only programme that could bridge the gap between post-war youth and pre-war attitudes.

The book begins with a brief family history which takes the reader up to 1967 when Alan Gibson began to report regularly for The Times. From then on, the book is chronological with each year having an introduction and description of the personal life contained within that year before the original extracts from that year's cricket reporting are set out. What we have in 1967 is old-fashioned, crackingly, good journalism from a literate man with a sense of humour and an awareness of the sometime ridiculous. Almost the first piece is on a Hampshire match with a minor essay on Roy Marshall. Within six paragraphs, there is everything that one would need to know about Roy Marshall. It's not too fanciful to say that Charles Dickens, who could draw the reader a written snapshot (apologies for that mixed metaphor) would recognise and approve of the skill and art of that brief piece. Interspersed through the book are other pieces of journalism, book reviews, obituaries and reviews of seasons and it becomes all too apparent that as time draws on, those reflective pieces are the things that Alan Gibson both could write well and enjoy. His journalistic standards begin to slip and although a faithful public enjoyed his travails with the railways (hence part of the title of the book) and his cast of characters, who took over the page when a match became boring, the reader, coming cold to this book, may not appreciate the in-jokes.

One of the great joys of the book and one of the rare slices of luck that Alan Gibson enjoyed was that odd things happened at matches, not in the crowd but on the field. Perhaps only Alan Gibson could be on hand to see such non-bowlers as Tony Lewis and Mark Nicholas suddenly turn a match on its head after taking the ball. Off the field, I defy anyone to deny that Anthony Gibson's description of the events leading up to Alan's second wedding and the aftermath is one of the great, brief comic set pieces. No need to quote more, the writing speaks for itself. The Demon of the title (as any fule kno) is the legendary Colin Dredge of Somerset and it's perhaps, amongst the sons of Somerset and Gloucester that Alan Gibson found his true enjoyment.

This review could be endless but to sum up, if you are only going to buy one cricket book this year, probably make it this book. Actually, add two others. Alan Gibson's own, The Cricket Captains of England and his unjustly overlooked, Jackson's Year. There may be painful memories for many in this new offering but there is true greatness here as well. Recommended.

review by John Symons

Publisher
Fairfield Books,
17 George’s Road,
Fairfield Park
BATH
BA1 6EY
£20

Please note: the views expressed in the Cricket Society Book Reviews are those of the author and not of the Cricket Society as a whole.

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