On Cricket

Fascinating * Choice *Delightful new book … Brearley has a knack for paying respect to the past without denigrating the present and for calmly considering the future * Mail on Sunday *Brearley is at his best in these quirky, delightful essays when he is exploring the human qualities of humbler players … Brearley’s admiration for his friends’ decency, craftsmanship and modesty seems to recall a golden age of county cricket * The Times *Brearley speaks with understated authority on the matter. His words are all the more powerful for that * Sunday Express *A treasure of recollections and reactions, talking heroes, controversies and big themes * i paper *Brearley has a gentle, measured intellect that is warming and intriguing rather than intimidating or irritating … Brearley has a rare ability to read the game and its participants with delicacy and precision, like a tailor unpicking a collection of knotted threads * Wisden Cricket Monthly *His relaxed, dextrous, style achieves what most authors aspire to do: make their narrative sound as though they’re speaking directly to the reader … His cumulative experience, humour and honesty make for a compelling read. Let’s hope for a second volume of On Cricket * Dorset Echo *A book full of wisdom and sharp observation * Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians *Brearley is best when writing about character and thought processes * King Cricket *His cumulative experience, humour and honesty make for a compelling read * Birmingham Post *Mike Brearley is a cultured and intelligent man … able elegantly to assess his colleagues and predecessors, as he does with customary grace in his latest volume – Robert Crampton * The Times *A box of delights containing bitesize pieces on colourful individuals, burning issues and memorable events – Shomit Dutta * Times Literary Supplement *

Mike Brearley OBE was educated at Cambridge, where he read classics and moral sciences, and captained the university. He played for Middlesex County Cricket Club intermittently from 1961 to 1983, captaining the side from 1971 to 1982. He first played for England in 1976 and captained the side from 1977 to 1980, winning seventeen test matches and losing only four. He was recalled to the captaincy in 1981 for the Ashes home series, leading England to one of their most famous victories. Since retiring from cricket in 1982, he trained and continues to work as a psychoanalyst, and is a lecturer on leadership and motivation. He is the author of the bestselling The Art of Captaincy and On Form, and has written on cricket and the psychology of sport for the Observer and most recently The Times. He lives in London.