Kirjahaku

A history of Northamptonshire County Cricket Club

This book looks back on Northamptonshire CCC's past, reflecting on the achievements of 100 players whose influence on the club was particularly significant. Each player biography is accompanied by detailed statistical information and illustrations. Among the players included are William Gunn, Tom Wass, Harold Larwood, Gary Sobers, Richard Hadlee, Clive Rice, Reg Simpson and Derek Randall.

The ‘faces on a wall’ in this book are Northamptonshire’s captains since 1878, whose portraits appear together in the pavilion at Wantage Road. An astonishingly diverse bunch, they represent the changing face of the county game over the past century and a half.As cricketers, they range from cheerfully hopeless to solidly competent, to world-beating. As characters they are an astoundingly varied group, encompassing a peer who went bankrupt, the husband of a famous artist’s favourite model, an England football international, an outstanding bowler (but with woods and jack), a gallant leader who died on active service, the man who revitalised both Northamptonshire and England teams after the Second World War and the shrewd skipper described by Mike Selvey as the best county leader of his time.This book reflects the unique flavour of county cricket and the remarkable assortment of individuals who have led Northamptonshire over nearly a century and a half.