This is an interesting book, with its central theme, the rise of Ian Botham and Margaret Thatcher in 1981.
Apart from politics – and as a child of mining communities it is fair to assume that I am never confused with a Thatcherite – the most important problem with the book is that there are significant sections that have no real relevance for cricket.
As a social history it is a considerable reading and it brought me back to the year that my first summer was north of the border, also a memorable one for Derbyshire of course.
I think it could have done with a little more primary research, because the book is about how other writers have observed the two very different ‘giants’ of that time. There was the chance, in view of the commentary of events, to get the thoughts of contemporaries of both who were not taken.
There were parallels, as the author notes, in the career and the fortune of the two protagonists, but I would not only recommend them as a cricket book. The Ashes series is often covered by others and cricket fans would be better off with one of the many other parts.
But as a social history of more recent times, it is worth it.
Something has changed: Beefy, Boadicea, Brixton, Bunting and how Cricket helped the nation is written By Ben Dobson and published by Pitch Publishing
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