A Lot of Hard Yakka

You won’t read a better inside story of cricket and the men who play it for a living. Vigorous, funny and full of insight from a gifted observer. It was a book waiting to be written and Simon Hughes has done it. - Michael Parkinson

Terrific. - Harold Pinter

A devastating account of English cricket and its shortcomings… The book describes the shocking lack of ambition, dedication, coaching and leadership in English cricket. - Mike Brearley, Observer

A brilliant commentary on the life of a county cricketer. - Mike Selvey, Guardian

You will never read a better book about the bizarre circus known as county cricket … a very funny, often outrageous book. - Ian Wooldridge, Daily Mail

Hughes may never have scaled the heights as a cricketer, but he has become a wonderful writer on the sport … gaspingly candid … One thing is clear from this book - he had a really good time. So will anyone sensible enough to read it. - Marcus Berkmann, Daily Telegraph

Sharp and funny … his book sails neatly between self-glorification and self-pity and lays bare the real truth of the athlete: a dark life of angst and self-doubt lit by sudden piercing shafts of transcendent adequacy. - Simon Barnes, The Times

May be the first cricketer’s autobiography ever to tell it like it is, from dressing-room to bedroom … Hughes is rivetingly unguarded. - Tim de Lisle, Wisden Cricket Monthly