Elk Stopped Play: And Other Tales from Wisden's 'Cricket Round the World'

by Charlie Connelly (Editor)

There are few parts of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack that embody the magic and appeal of the game more than Cricket Round the World . Elk Stopped Play is a carefully-chosen selection of stories from twenty years of one of Wisden 's most-loved sections. Combining the highlights of two decades of the Almanack's coverage of the game's further reaches, as well as original material that places the stories in context and expands upon the incidents and personalities involved, it is an original and eccentric examination of the sport's enduring worldwide appeal. There are extraordinary matches, great individual performances, stories of exceptional pioneering dedication and quirky incidents from all over the world, from games staged on tiny, far-flung Pacific islands to the frozen wastes of the Antarctic, from cricketers dodging mortars in Baghdad to Indonesian mud wickets on converted buffalo paddocks via fractured French skulls, Antarctic barbecues and untimely interruptions by Finnish elk. The perfect book to dip into either during the cricket season or during the long wait for the end of April to come round again, Elk Stopped Play is a fantastic addition to the Wisden bookshelf.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

160 pages, Hardcover

First published March 13, 2014

About the author

Charlie Connelly (born 22 August 1970, London, England) is an author of popular non-fiction books. In addition to being a writer, Connelly also appears as a presenter on radio and television shows.

Charlie Connelly is a bestselling author and award-winning broadcaster. His many books include Attention All Shipping: A Journey Round The Shipping Forecast, In Search of Elvis: A Journey To Find The Man Beneath The Jumpsuit and Our Man In Hibernia: Ireland, The Irish And Me. Three of his books have featured as Radio 4′s Book of the Week read by Martin Freeman, Stephen Mangan and Tom Goodman-Hill. Charlie was also a popular presenter on the BBC1 Holiday programme and co-presented the first three series of BBC Radio 4′s Traveller’s Tree with Fi Glover.
His book Gilbert: The Last Years of WG Grace was shortlisted for the 2016 MCC/Cricket Society Book of the Year. The book he wrote with his friend Bernard Sumner, Chapter And Verse: New Order, Joy Division And Me was shortlisted for Book of the Year at the NME Awards, while his most recent co-writing project, Winner: A Racing Life with the champion jockey AP McCoy is shortlisted for Sports Autobiography of the Year.
The audio version of Attention All Shipping came second in a public vote to find the greatest audiobook of all time organised by Waterstone’s and The Guardian. Romeo and Juliet was third, which Charlie takes as official confirmation that he’s better than Shakespeare.

Reviews

[JD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read with lots of interesting little stories about cricket enjoyed around the world in odd places. After reading this I have realized how privileged I am to live in a cricketing mad nation and how easy it is to get a bat and ball here. This book also made me visit the cricket field on Vis island in Croatia on my recent holiday there and if it wasn't for this book I would not know about that.

I read the book straight through, but it will also be a great book to just read a little story every now and then, but a true cricket lover will not be able to do that.

[Mike Sumner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gem of a book for any cricket fan.

Elk Stopped Play is a universal pleasure and a hugely enjoyable reminder of a game which combines unquenchable enthusiasm with incomparable eccentricity. And it's good to know that there is barely a corner of God's earth where you can walk without at least some chance of being hit by a cricket ball.

Elk Stopped Play is a selection of entries from Cricket Round the World, one of Wisden's most-loved sections and is an original and eccentric examination of the sport's enduring worldwide appeal.

And, yes, an elk did stop play, in of all places - Finland! At the central park ground of Ruskeasuo, Helsinki, when a giant, snorting half-ton antlered male thundered across the field during a Finnish league fixture. It then did an about-turn and headed off back into the forest. The players remained stoic in the face of such mammalian cricketing drama. "Play was not stopped for longer than an extended toilet break!"

I loved this little book.

[Gillian Kevern · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for more elks and less cricket, but while this wasn't as funny as I was hoping, I actually found myself impressed at how cricket has been a force for bringing people together, bridging cultural and political divides, and giving purpose to people who needed it.

[Dipra Lahiri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rapid journey through some of the outposts of world cricket, where the game is sustained or barely survives through the heroic efforts of small groups of cricket fanatics. Cricket is much more of a global game than we realise.

[Nick Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting idea - bringing together a number of 'cricket around the world' sections from editions of Wisden's, this was ultimately a little flawed because of a lack of depth in some cases, and a lack of variety in most. Though there's a fair amount of good travel writing in there, ultimately there's only so much you can get from reading "in this country with which cricket isn't readily associated, there are a number of fans of the game playing despite [insert appropriate adjective] weather, lack of kit [insert appropriate alternatives used] and the presence of amusing local quirk [insert appropriate animal or local distraction]" without getting slightly bored.

I may have enjoyed it more had there been fewer examples explored in more depth - as it was, it was nice to dip in to if you're a fan of the game, though.

[Nitin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Combining evocative vignettes of a travelogue with cricket whimsy - this is a must read for all who love the greatest sport of all and feel the stirrings of wanderlust from time to time.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Selections from Wisden's "Cricket Round the World" section. At times extremely humourous; at others deeply boring.

On balance, boring wins, just.