Where should I spend my spare money?

[Kirsty Harris]

The Duncon Fletcher book is pretty good, actually - worth a read, Zainub. He has lots of nice things to say about Gilo, for one thing!! Also, he does give a bit of an insight into how he went about plotting the Aussies downfall, which is quite interesting.

Graham Thorpe's book is really good too, but not cheery christmas reading!

[Mongoose]

Originally Posted by Kirsty Harris

Graham Thorpe's book is really good too, but not cheery christmas reading!

One chapter is called 'I Don't Like Cricket, I Hate It. The wit of reworking of the song title (was it by the Specials?) is kind of lost in the sentiment. What price Thorpey and Willis having their own 'Grupy Old Men at Christmas' programme?

[Occasional Fan]

It's not on your list, but I am hoping Father Christmas will leave Richie Benaud's "My Spin On Cricket" in my stocking.

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by Mongoose

One chapter is called 'I Don't Like Cricket, I Hate It. The wit of reworking of the song title (was it by the Specials?) is kind of lost in the sentiment.

I'm told it was 10CC.. "Dreadlock Holiday". Some people are mines of useless information :-)

[Mongoose]

You're dead right, Rachael, thanks. I remember now.

[Zainub]

Mang,

You should not beg, I'm sure you'll find a good job. Start with brushing your hair. That would help, I'm absolutely positive it would help.

Vrock7,

I can't do that! Interest is prohibited for me.

[Mongoose]

Originally Posted by Zainub

You should not beg, I'm sure you'll find a good job. Start with brushing your hair. That would help, I'm absolutely positive it would help.

It's too short to cut! On the book front, I've heard lots of bad reviews about Ashes books. Fletcher's sounds quite interesting though. I'd still go for a video/dvd instead. Seeing is more exciting than reading about it.

[Zainub]

Yeah, I've heard good reviews of the Fletcher book too. But I kind of want to buy Fred's book. The DVD is a good idea too, but it could in the end be all down to availability. I'm certain not all these books are available in the local stores, and I'm a bit skeptical of buying things of the internet! I'll see. And I'll certainly let everyone know what I do. Thanks for all the suggestions.

And it's good that you have short hair. Giles has shot hair too. I very much like short hair.

[Maranello]

IMHO opinion Zainub, a lot of the Ashes books will be completely useless - nothing you don't know already, or cannot find out on Cricinfo or newspaper archives on the web, for free. There will be some silly glossy pictures to keep the kids happy, but very little for a serious student of the game - you are much better off waiting for next year's Wisden for some informed comment, and then for the 'real story' wait till one of the key players pens his autobiography (pens being the operative word, not ghosts).

In the meantime, if you have some cash rattling about in your pocket, you could donate it to a worthy cause, and there are few worthier than the Earthquake relief; a lot of small private charities are doing very good work, and it might be a good idea to choose one which has zero "admin" costs, so every penny donated is actually spent on relief work.

If you do want a book (or if someone generous wants to give you a gift ), I recommend Rahul Bhattacharya's Pundits from Pakistan, in the words of Frank Keating in The Guardian, "profound and sparkling in turn, [...] an enlightening revelation for anyone enjoying England's ongoing tour of the subcontinent, [... and] once the fuss dies down over Freddie and his white September mob, it will surely be logged as the year's cricket classic".

[Zainub]

I already have Pundits from Pakistan, M . And I take your point on what the books might reveal, but I quite like glossy pictures and all that - . I've donated before for the earthquake, but you are right, nothing can be too much, so I guess that's a good idea. In fact, I didn't know why I didn't think of it before! Really ought to have, may be I was just too preoccupied with the thought of buying a book!

And on the subject of the EQ, a 40 year old woman was rescued from Muzaffarabad from underneath the rubble yesterday, more then 2 months after the quake. On regaining consciousness she said she survived on scattered bits of food, and water from melted snow and rain. Doctors say she is stable now, although still suffering from acute fluid shortage. They reckon she lost 80% of her body weight in her time underneath the rubble.