Author Description

This is the third volume in a series outlining the lives of each man who has playedfirst-class cricket for Somerset. The first two books, the award-winning SomersetCricketers 1882 - 1914 and Somerset Cricketers 1919 - 1939, were widely praised ashugely informative and very readable accounts of the history of cricket in the county,with engaging detours into social history. Somerset Cricketers 1946 - 1970 continuesin the same vein and is sure to delight anyone with an interest in this fascinating club.This time the story begins in the aftermath of the Second World War, with the clubstill under the control of men who had been involved with Somerset CCC since theVictorian era and espoused what they regarded as the virtues of amateurism.Professionals were seen as a necessary evil and the winning of trophies as an irrelevance.Slowly and surely the voice of the supporters was heard as they called forchange. And yet, Somerset still managed to call on their fair share of larger-than-lifecharacters whose exploits off the pitch were at times as compelling as the flurries ofexcitement on match days. Somerset Cricketers 1946 - 1970 offers insights into thelives and times of the 113 debutants in that era and in a number of instances we readwithin the pages the frank and entertaining accounts and fond memories of thosemen themselves. As one of the players - that grizzled veteran, the late Bill Alley -once wrote: 'While other teams fretted away worrying about the destination of theChampionships, we were content to earn a reputation as the best social team in thecountry. My word, how we enjoyed ourselves!'