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Book Of The Year Award > 2011 >Inns and outs
Anthony Collis & Geoff Wellsteed, Square Leg Publications
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 Firstly, a word about what this book isn't. It's not a guide to pubs with recommendations of beer and food and it doesn't necessarily mean that a pub called 'The Cricketers' has any cricket memorabilia, nor does the book claim to be any of the above. What it sets out to do, is to list all the pubs with a cricket or cricket-related name that the authors could find and where possible, include a photo of the inn-sign or signs that have accompanied the pub over the years.
There's no doubt that this is one of the most, if not the most, comprehensive listing of cricket-related pubs ever compiled and it is a thing of joy. With a foreword by David Frith and set out county by county in alphabetical order, it is a book where most readers can start out with their local hostelry, move on to haunts from their workplaces or holidays and finally, spot a pub that would be good to visit. If you don't drink - it's still a lovely book to own and explore. The centre of the book has 484 photos of inn-signs, all in colour and either side of the illustrations, there is the text to accompany the entry with cross-referencing to help the navigation.
One of the true joys is to start with the in-sign and see if the cricketer depicted can be recognised before you source the text. Try to spot Lord Hawke, Philip Mead, Brian Lara and Peter Thomas for example. The last-named, which might puzzle some, is a local player at Swardeston and is a rare and very welcome example of a local player being honoured. Throughout the book, every pub has an accompanying text entry which goes into remarkable detail and demonstrates the work that has gone into this handsome publication. Production values are uniformly high and the book itself is of the kind routinely dismissed as a 'coffee-table' book but in this case, it is exactly the kind of book that, left on display, will be fallen on with delight by visitors and is likely to be turned to, by anyone in the household when passing.
As purely social history, the book would have been a worthwhile effort but love of cricket is the thing that elevates this above the level of a mere reference book. Sadly, the stories and photographs are also a chronicle of the depredations made by avaricious property developers, lazy brewery owners and unthinking town planners as the list of extinct pubs and breweries grows through the pages. O my Ushers and my Benskins long ago (with apologies to Francis Thompson.) Mercifully, we have the diligence of the authors to remind us of our history and they deserve our thanks and praise.
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