Zimmer Men: The Trials and Tribulations of the Ageing Cricketer [Paperback]

A book about, and for, anyone whose dreams outreach their abilities (GUARDIAN )

[a] humorous masterpiece to treasure (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )

Berkmann's observation and wit reveals all that's truly great about cricket and the spirit of the sport. The Game of Life as it should be played. (LADS MAG )

Berkmann's acute powers of observation, especially of the ageing male species, are cutting but accurate. And under his penmanship the generalisation is wholly reasonable. (INDEPENDENT )

'[a] humorous masterpiece to treasure'

'Berkmann brings a lively and innovative mind to the great game.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

‘There is an effortless ring to his prose … which makes the act of reading him a real pleasure’ --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The pains of the ageing cricketer revealed in the hilarious sequel to RAIN MEN (about the appalling Captain Scott Invitation XI - named after the model of heroic failure).

Ten years after his classic Rain Men - 'cricket's answer to Fever Pitch,' said the Daily Telegraph - Marcus Berkmann returns to the strange and wondrous world of village cricket, where players sledge their team-mates, umpires struggle to count up to six, the bails aren't on straight and the team that fields after a hefty tea invariably loses. This time he's on the trail of the Ageing Cricketer, having suddenly realised that he is one himself and playing in a team with ten others every weekend. In their minds they run around the field as fast as ever; it's only their legs that let them down. ZIMMER MEN asks all the important questions of middle-aged cricketers. Why is that boundary rope suddenly so far away? Are you doomed to getting worse as a cricketer, or could you get better? How many pairs of trousers will your girth destroy in one summer? Chronicling the 2004 season, with its many humiliating defeats and random injuries, this coruscatingly funny new book laughs in the face of middle age, and starts thinking seriously about buying a convertible.

Marcus Berkmann is the author of Rain Men. He writes regularly for the Oldie, Private Eye and the Spectator.