Michael Simkins - The Last Flannelled Fool

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Review:

Very enjoyable 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Flannelled Fool. It’s not as out-and-out hilarious as Fatty Batter, but it’s often very funny and also makes some fine, sometimes poignant observations about cricket, the people who watch and play it and the way society is moving in general.

In the summer of 2010, Michael Simkins was prevented from playing any cricket at all by a foot injury. Instead, he spent much of the summer visiting places of cricketing significance either to him personally or in the history of the game. This involved watching County Championship matches, often in the company of the proverbial three men and a dog, as well as larger, more popular events. He meets some interesting, quirky people, reflects on how things have changed since his youthful obsession with cricket and has some well-informed and thoughtful things to say about all of it.

I found it a delight. Simkins writes very well and, while pointing out sad developments like the commercial vandalism which has destroyed a lot of lovely, history-laden grounds, has a willingness to be pleased with the things and people he sees. There’s plenty of engaging history and anecdote, and it’s a little as though Bill Bryson or Stuart Maconie were fanatical about cricket and went on one of their travels in search of its soul.

Obviously, you need to have an interest in cricket to enjoy this book. It may help if, like me, you are of a similar age to the author, who was born in 1957, and who therefore talks about a lot of the cricketers I saw when I was an enthusiastic watcher as a lad and after, but whatever generation you belong to I think any fellow cricket-lover would also love this and I can recommend it warmly.