Daniel Norcross's Top Book Recommendations

Daniel NorcrossThe single most exciting moment in English cricket was almost certainly the Bodyline series of 1932-33. To give you some idea of just how exciting, it almost led to the cessation of diplomatic relations between England and Australia. It went right to the very top. So my second book is a biography of the English hero of Bodyline, Harold Larwood by Duncan Hamilton. (Source)

Daniel NorcrossA Social History of English Cricket. Derek Birley points out a series of very interesting facts, not in a dry way but in a very easy to read way, starting with the fact that cricket began as a betting game in which one aristocrat would bet another that he could score more runs with the aristocrats doing the batting and the servants doing all the bowling. They’d place huge sums on the result. (Source)

David PapineauD’Oliveira was well-known within black South Africa and he was desperate to develop his sporting career. There was no way he could do this within South Africa. (Source)

Daniel NorcrossAnother biography. Basil D’Oliveira, a South African who played for England, was one of the most important men in cricket history, and this book makes a claim that he’s one of the most important men in 20th-century history, that one innings in 1968 against Australia of 158 runs resulted in the boycott of South Africa and ultimately the dismantling of apartheid. (Source)

Jeremy CorbynThis was the book I was talking about on @SophyRidgeSky https://t.co/IaktccaI1Q. A great read. #Ridge (Source)

Daniel NorcrossThese aren’t just my choices; I’ve asked some of the other commentators as well. I’ve discarded four out of five from one commentator, but almost everybody agreed on one book, which is Beyond A Boundary by C L R James. (Source)