Reviewed by Steve Cowton (the White Rose bibliophile)

Morning Everyone – An Ashes Odyssey
Simon Hughes
(Orion Books Ltd 2005)

In addition to sharing his name with a Liberal Democrat MP, Simon Hughes is perhaps best remembered as the utterly reliable Middlesex seamer of the 1980’s who rarely shone in a team bursting with high quality Internationals. In a career spanning 13 years he won four Championship Titles with Middlesex before ending his days with his native County Durham upon their entry into First Class cricket.

He also - however – found time to write one of the finest cricket books of the last twenty years. “A Lot Of Hard Yakka” is a blisteringly honest – and very funny – account of the life and times of an honest (?) county Pro. It details a life of humdrum travelling, constant injury, dressing room friction and occasional excellence on the field of play.

Since retiring in 1993, Hughes – like many former Pros – has sought a career in the media and this book is a chronicle of his attempt to make a smooth transition from successful cricketer to successful journalist. As such, cricket provides the backdrop to this book rather than it’s primary subject matter. It follows Hughes through divorce, re-marriage and parenthood and delivers a touching portrayal of the author as a man. He spends many months working on a novel – only to see it rejected by every known publishing house in the Western world – and accepts commissions from various disreputable lads’ mags to cover Grand Prix in far off exotic lands among deeply unsavoury company.

As such it’s a pleasant enough picaresque read – our likeable hero follows an erratic path through life’s highways and byways – with cricket and cricketers always providing the bed rock to which he returns. He harbours an ambition – thus far unrealised - to join the Test Match Special Commentary team and describes turning up at cricket grounds with his own personal microphone in the boot of his car in case one of the current elderly incumbents should drop down dead on his way to the ground. Hughes is not a great writer – but he’s witty and engaging, and the book bowls along in an agreeable enough way.

He – and the book – finds its salvation when Channel 4 secures the rights for live Test Match Coverage. By happy accident, Hughes is in the right place at the right time, and develops the role of Analyst which becomes an integral part of Channel 4’s innovative and accessible coverage. We are given a fascinating picture of the various commentators – the urbane Mark Nicholas, garrulous Mike Atherton and the sublime Richie Benaud. Hughes is unstinting in his admiration for Benaud and some of the book’s most touching and effective passages describe Richie’s particular – and irreplaceable – mastery of finding the perfect language to complement every picture. Hughes is less charitable towards Boycott who is clearly not the easiest person with which to work – even if his technical knowledge of cricket and cricketers is unsurpassed.

Hughes was the first to fully realise the potential of modern technology to illustrate the mysteries of the great game to a wider audience, and his role as Analyst developed its own cult following. Channel 4’s coverage reached it’s apotheosis with the Ashes Series of 2005 and you sense that the title of this book was hastily amended to cash in on the cricket fever that gripped the nation after England’s triumph. Hughes provides an excellent overview of the series – concentrating on the effect it had on the country at large and the possible long term benefits for the vitality of the game in general.

Ironically, this was to be Channel 4’s last series before the ECB sold the right’s to Murdoch’s satellite channel and put an end to sixty years of free-to-view national cricket coverage. It is perhaps salutary to speculate that the huge impact which the 2005 Ashes had on the Nation would have been impossible under the current broadcasting arrangements – and it’s doubtful whether our greatest “national” game will ever again receive the genuinely “national” coverage it deserves.

The book provides an interesting insight into the relationship between cricketers and the journalists who derive a living from their exploits. It’s far from being a parasitic arrangement – cricketers rely on coverage as much as journalists rely on subject matter – and there’s a fascinating account of a meeting between Botham and a young Pietersen who share the same management company, outsized egos, and much else. The saddest conclusion of all perhaps, is that the media now leads and shapes the game which it once sought merely to report. I came away from the book greatly saddened that the safe custodial days of the BBC had been lost and the integrity of he game sold to new paymasters at Sky TV who will mould our game for as long as it pleases them.

Hughes was last seen working for Channel 5 and still writing for the Telegraph. He’s a decent writer – and I hope he’s working on another – more successful – novel. I suspect the role of Analyst may have passed with the passing of Channel 4. It was part of an exceptional Summer of cricket – but the World has moved on. Perhaps one day Hughes will find a vacant seat at TMS and make it his own. I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of him.

- Steve Cowton (For the White Rose Yorkshire Cricket Forum)

Fascinating review, Steve. Fair, balanced and informative. I think I will give this one a try.

Good interesting stuff - I already possess “A Lot Of Hard Yakka” which is a very enjoyable read. I think I've previously mentioned one of the stories but it bears repeating.

Our Geoffrey was walking along with one of his county colleagues and voiced the question, "Why do people take an instant dislike to me?" "Because it saves them time."

A very cogent and enjoyable review, Mr. C.

More, please!