How to be a Cricket Fan

This is a unique, nostalgic take on supporting the greatest sport, pre-internet. This relatable, universal story records how one cricketing obsessive encounters players from WG Grace to Ben Stokes, plus plenty of characters you’re unlikely to have come across. With running themes of Wisden, sportsman’s dinners and otterhounds, the book’s hero – who happens to be the late Edgar Appleby of Keswick – meets Ian Botham and Linda Lusardi on the A6, drinks red wine while showing Fred Trueman his priceless collection and drives his family mad by taking them on summer holidays to buy John Arlott’s old books.

The colourful images on cigarette cards and the yellow linen cover of Wisden succoured a wartime evacuee who spent a lifetime trying to bring back those memories. After facing ruin, his passion culminated in him finding happiness in a dream career. This is the story of an English eccentric’s journey from cricketing backwaters to entertaining the stars and becoming a leading authority on the game.

** Edgar Appleby,was president of Keswick Cricket Club for several years, and  was well known for running a second-hand bookstall with his wife Susan, at Keswick Market. They began trading in 1981 and retired in 2009. Edgar Appleby died in 2015.