Parachutist at Fine Leg

by John Wisden & Co., Gideon Haigh (Editor)

Peter the Lord's Cat, Aurum's 2006 collection of the most eccentric and unexpected obituaries from Wisden Cricketer's Almanack, was a delightful and elegant little hardback and a very successful fi rst collaboration with Wisden. Here is the follow-up.

At the back of every Wisden Cricketers' Almanack nowadays is an 'Index of Unusual Occurrences', referencing all the strange and indeed surreal things throughout that year's 1,600 pages: 'Ball lost in umpire's trousers', for example, or even 'Glamorgan defeat blamed on seagulls'.

Now Gideon Haigh, increasingly acclaimed as the best living cricket writer, has gone back through past Wisdens and compiled a selection of the best and funniest Unusual Occurrences since the nineteenth century. It will be another perfect gift at Christmas and for the tea interval at the Test Match.

Genres: Nonfiction

172 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2007

Reviews

[Dave Versace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of notable incidents culled from the voluminous pages of Wisden, cricket's annual almanack of basically every match played on earth. Arranged by subject and in chronological order, the books records unusual events, historical curiosities and amusing incidents without the reader having to wade through a couple of thousand pages per volume, going back 150 years or so.

Obviously one for cricket tragics only, but I enjoyed it.