Twirlymen
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Review
`It wasn't that I couldn't put [Twirlymen] down, more that I could not stop picking it up...It's the kind of book you end up reading as you walk along the street. One page draws you inexorably on to the next...diligently researched but written with wit and, most tellingly, an obsessive's eye for detail.' --Guardian online/ The Spin blog
`Full of compelling anecdotes and perceptive analysis, and I would heartily recommend it even if it didn't also include a few excerpts from my own encounters with notable characters from the world of spin.' --The Independent, Brian Viner's The Last Word column
`What breathes life through every page of Amol's wonderful book is his love for the quirky world of the spinner...Twirlymen is packed with anecdotes that fizz like a Murali doosra.' --The Spectator, Roger Alton
`Get hold of a copy of Amol Rajan's Twirlymen...This is a forensic and often lyrical examination of the history of spin.'
--Independent
`a wonderful book.' --Economist
`in Amol Rajan the twirlers have found a historian worthy of their deceptive art... a brilliant, revisionist book... which should be compulsory reading for anyone who claims to love the game even half as much as the author evidently does.'
--Independent
`a wonderful book.' --Economist
`in Amol Rajan the twirlers have found a historian worthy of their deceptive art... a brilliant, revisionist book... which should be compulsory reading for anyone who claims to love the game even half as much as the author evidently does.' --The Independant
`Amol Rajan provides a natty introduction to the spin bowler.' --i
'A charming history of spin-bowling.'
--The Lady
`An eloquent, page-turning series of biographies about cricket's finest spin bowlers.'
--Sunday Express
`Twirlymen is a splendid romp through the history of spin bowling. A delight from start to finish, it's a book I dearly wish I'd written myself.' --Spectator
`Full of compelling anecdotes and perceptive analysis, and I would heartily recommend it even if it didn't also include a few excerpts from my own encounters with notable characters from the world of spin.' --The Independent, Brian Viner's The Last Word column
`What breathes life through every page of Amol's wonderful book is his love for the quirky world of the spinner...Twirlymen is packed with anecdotes that fizz like a Murali doosra.' --The Spectator, Roger Alton
`Get hold of a copy of Amol Rajan's Twirlymen...This is a forensic and often lyrical examination of the history of spin.'
--Independent
`a wonderful book.' --Economist
`in Amol Rajan the twirlers have found a historian worthy of their deceptive art... a brilliant, revisionist book... which should be compulsory reading for anyone who claims to love the game even half as much as the author evidently does.'
--Independent
`a wonderful book.' --Economist
`in Amol Rajan the twirlers have found a historian worthy of their deceptive art... a brilliant, revisionist book... which should be compulsory reading for anyone who claims to love the game even half as much as the author evidently does.' --The Independant
`Amol Rajan provides a natty introduction to the spin bowler.' --i
'A charming history of spin-bowling.'
--The Lady
`An eloquent, page-turning series of biographies about cricket's finest spin bowlers.'
--Sunday Express
`Twirlymen is a splendid romp through the history of spin bowling. A delight from start to finish, it's a book I dearly wish I'd written myself.' --Spectator
Book Description
From W. G. Grace to Shane Warne, Twirlymen is an essential look at that most eccentric of cricketers - the spin bowler
Inside This Book
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Overall this is a fascinating and delightful look at cricket's leading spin bowlers, from the earliest spinners at Hambledon, through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, to Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and spinners in the Indian Premier League.
It is essentially a series of miniature case studies of each bowler, giving a flavour of his character and achievements, looking at his place in the development of spin bowling and analysing his technique - and is full of entertaining anecdotes. The technical analysis is perhaps the book's most distinctive quality and is clear and well done.
Two features of this technical analysis are particularly worth noting. The first is a series of diagrams showing how the various spinning deliveries - leg-break, googly, flipper, carrom ball, etc - are actually bowled. These are the best I've seen. The second is the author's research through early cricket literature and photography to identify examples of particular deliveries decades before they were generally thought to have been invented. This is fascinating and for the paperback edition it would be really handy if detailed page references could be added to help others examine the evidence.
I did wonder if the author really wanted to write a history of wrist spin and its associated mystery deliveries alone, rather than also cover finger spin. Leg spinners generally receive more extensive and insightful coverage than finger spinners - there are more pages on John Gleeson than Wilfred Rhodes, for example - and I would query why certain great finger spinners have been omitted altogether, perhaps most notably Colin Blythe.
My major reservation, though, is about the book's tone and its tendency to exaggerate its arguments. It really plays up the quirky and eccentric features of the great spinners with a "golly-gosh" flavour rarely far away. Spin bowlers are described as the "revolutionaries" of the game, which I would question. There are clearly revolutionary moments in the history of spin bowling but to brand spinners generally as revolutionaries seems wrong. And to dismiss all medium and fast bowling as having "all the romance of genital warts" is plain perverse.
These faults are particularly evident in chapter two "The Spinner's Spirit", where the author tries to draw more general conclusions about the nature of spin bowling. I suggest you buy the book and see what you think about these conclusions yourself, but I found them the least satisfactory aspect of the book. Too often a couple of examples are considered sufficient to "prove" a point when there is clearly much evidence to the contrary. To take just one example, in pursuit of the argument that spinners have a tendency to be "intellectuals" more than any other category of cricketer, it is put forward that Phil Edmonds "took a First from Cambridge". Maybe so, but then so did Mike Brearley, Peter Roebuck and Ed Smith...
Nevertheless, this is an enjoyable and thought-provoking book that is definitely worth reading. Recommended.
It is essentially a series of miniature case studies of each bowler, giving a flavour of his character and achievements, looking at his place in the development of spin bowling and analysing his technique - and is full of entertaining anecdotes. The technical analysis is perhaps the book's most distinctive quality and is clear and well done.
Two features of this technical analysis are particularly worth noting. The first is a series of diagrams showing how the various spinning deliveries - leg-break, googly, flipper, carrom ball, etc - are actually bowled. These are the best I've seen. The second is the author's research through early cricket literature and photography to identify examples of particular deliveries decades before they were generally thought to have been invented. This is fascinating and for the paperback edition it would be really handy if detailed page references could be added to help others examine the evidence.
I did wonder if the author really wanted to write a history of wrist spin and its associated mystery deliveries alone, rather than also cover finger spin. Leg spinners generally receive more extensive and insightful coverage than finger spinners - there are more pages on John Gleeson than Wilfred Rhodes, for example - and I would query why certain great finger spinners have been omitted altogether, perhaps most notably Colin Blythe.
My major reservation, though, is about the book's tone and its tendency to exaggerate its arguments. It really plays up the quirky and eccentric features of the great spinners with a "golly-gosh" flavour rarely far away. Spin bowlers are described as the "revolutionaries" of the game, which I would question. There are clearly revolutionary moments in the history of spin bowling but to brand spinners generally as revolutionaries seems wrong. And to dismiss all medium and fast bowling as having "all the romance of genital warts" is plain perverse.
These faults are particularly evident in chapter two "The Spinner's Spirit", where the author tries to draw more general conclusions about the nature of spin bowling. I suggest you buy the book and see what you think about these conclusions yourself, but I found them the least satisfactory aspect of the book. Too often a couple of examples are considered sufficient to "prove" a point when there is clearly much evidence to the contrary. To take just one example, in pursuit of the argument that spinners have a tendency to be "intellectuals" more than any other category of cricketer, it is put forward that Phil Edmonds "took a First from Cambridge". Maybe so, but then so did Mike Brearley, Peter Roebuck and Ed Smith...
Nevertheless, this is an enjoyable and thought-provoking book that is definitely worth reading. Recommended.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have read every cricket book going and this is without doubt the wittiest, most charming, and most vividly described I have come across. Packed full of insightful and hilarious anecdotes both from the game itself and from the lives of these tremendously interesting characters, this is a series of bite-size biographies that reads with the flow and gripping narrative of a novel.
It covers a huge range of player's and their personal journeys; from modern great like Warne and Muralitharan to the Golden Age of post war cricket when Jim Laker was taking 19 on a turner at Old Trafford.
The loving manner in which the stories are told makes this book equally accessible to the cricketing novice and the MCC member and would make a great gift for a friend or family member. I'm getting my old man a copy of his birthday. I know he'll love it.
I await Mr Rajan's next publication with baited breath. If he could bowl wrist spin like he writes, I'd be tipping him for an England cap....
It covers a huge range of player's and their personal journeys; from modern great like Warne and Muralitharan to the Golden Age of post war cricket when Jim Laker was taking 19 on a turner at Old Trafford.
The loving manner in which the stories are told makes this book equally accessible to the cricketing novice and the MCC member and would make a great gift for a friend or family member. I'm getting my old man a copy of his birthday. I know he'll love it.
I await Mr Rajan's next publication with baited breath. If he could bowl wrist spin like he writes, I'd be tipping him for an England cap....
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I was given this book as a present and having read some of the author's articles in the Independent, I was looking forward to it.
I found the introduction so heavy going (flitting back and forth in time and a little self-indulgent) that I almost gave up. Fortunately I persevered. From the start of chapter 1 on page 20 onwards, I found it a fascinating book and an easy read with a lot of detail about the off-the-pitch characteristics of the spin bowlers. The attempts to explain the different deliveries were useful - I'd love to see them on YouTube.
The chapters though were a little long. Am I the only person who thinks, 'I'll just finish this chapter'? Chapter 10 was over 80 pages!
I found the introduction so heavy going (flitting back and forth in time and a little self-indulgent) that I almost gave up. Fortunately I persevered. From the start of chapter 1 on page 20 onwards, I found it a fascinating book and an easy read with a lot of detail about the off-the-pitch characteristics of the spin bowlers. The attempts to explain the different deliveries were useful - I'd love to see them on YouTube.
The chapters though were a little long. Am I the only person who thinks, 'I'll just finish this chapter'? Chapter 10 was over 80 pages!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
No googly here
I got this for a cricket-mad friend on the recommendation of a review in The Oldie magazine, which raved about it. So did my friend, so I was not disappointed.
Published 1 month ago by L. E. Metcalfe
only if you are a twirlyman
This book tries to combine a historical perspective of spin bowlers with a scattergun of anecdotes about a range of famous cricketers. Read more
Published 4 months ago by M. French
Fascinating
Bought this for my brother - very pleased except for lack of mention of Lancashire stalwarts Roy Tattersall and Tommy Greenhoulgh
Published 5 months ago by John D. Griffin
A Magical book
This history of spin bowling,with its useful guides on how to do it, will be a magical Christmas present for any one who is a lover of the really beautiful game.
Published 6 months ago by Christopher Boddington
brilliant
Such a great book it makes me want to go out and rekindle my leg break bowling
I enjoyed this book so much I can even overlook the fact that the author picked Warne over... Read more
I enjoyed this book so much I can even overlook the fact that the author picked Warne over... Read more
Published 10 months ago by mikebirty
Twirlymen
Great gift for a UK ex-pat who loves cricket. Lots of details that cricket-crazy folks exchange among each other--facilitates one-upmanship!
Published 11 months ago by akhennessey
Definitely overegged
Alot of exagerration and and the main theme both didactic and difficult to follow. And unbelievably no mention of Danish Kaneria the purest leg beak bowler of the modern era with... Read more
Published 11 months ago by RGW
Twirlymen
I saw a review of this book recently and decided it would be ideal for my wife's uncle who will be ninety in a few weeks. Read more
Published 11 months ago by B F Booby
Mind Bowling
This is a brilliant book. There are a lot of cricket books coming out at the moment but very few have this quality of writing, or this much charm. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Pradeep Menon
Give us a twirl
THAT'S it. It's cricket or nothing for you lads now the football's over, bar the tennis babes and long dozes in front of the golf. Read more
Published 12 months ago by J. Wise
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