Cricket's Greatest Rivalry: A History of the Ashes in 10 Matches

by Simon Hughes

The Cricket's Greatest A History Of The Ashes in 10 Matches [Hardcover] Simon Hughes

Genres: Nonfiction, History

304 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2013

About the author

Simon Peter Hughes is an English cricketer and journalist. He is the son of the actor Peter Hughes, and the brother of historian Bettany Hughes.


Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this a good concept for a book about the history of the Ashes, but unfortunately Simon Hughes wasn’t up to the task of writing it. The book is largely just a rehash of facts and lacks any in-depth analysis or insight. The author’s obvious English partisanship, writing style and lame jokes also start to grate after a while. Do yourself a favour and read something by Gideon Haigh instead.

[Mark Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. It brought some of the legendary games alive! The descriptions of the cricket itself were fantastic.

[Michael Brasier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just ok for me..a pleasant plane trip read on my way to some cricket..knew most the stories and did not add that much..writing was ok

[Martin Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book flushed from seeing an historic game of cricket between England and South Africa at Newlands, in Cape Town, from January 2 to 6, and so was primed to read a ripping story about cricket. The conceit of basing a book on 10 matches is merely that—there's plenty about the entire history of Ashes cricket and lots that has nothing to do with the matches themselves. Not surprisingly perhaps, the book came alive for me from the 1970s onwards (my personal history of cricket beginning then), although Hughes does his best to give you a flavor of the matches of the past. The book narrowly (and not always successfully) skirts falling into a report of match after match, and the characters can blur into a series of stats and adjectives, but Hughes manages to keep the whole thing going quite well. To my relief, Hughes is non-jingoistic and finds some of the rivalry and snobbery absurd, and the book recognizes that a lot of people have spent far too much time investing too much energy into what, in essence, is a game. I'm not a big aficionado of cricket books, but this strikes me as a worthy effort. One word of warning: my hardcover version contains neither the 2013 Australian loss, nor the 2013-14 Australian win, or the 2015 England takeback.

[Alan Draycott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hughes is a good writer and tells the tale well. The problem is that the story is so well known there is little to add. That said after the misery of the world cup campaign i was happy to read the 2005 chapter. What a series, it never disappoints. I think I'll dust off the DVD...

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

American readers won't understand a word of it, but this is a terrific condensed history of one of the greatest ongoing sports rivalries.

[Ian Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for cricket tragics

[Denis Southall · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first cricket book and very enjoyable too. Enjoyed the history, anecdotes and gripping descriptions of the matches, especially the more recent ones.