That Will Be England Gone: The Last Summer of Cricket

Absolutely outstanding. If you enjoy cricket this Is the book for you. If you enjoy music this is the book for you. If you enjoy a slightly self-indulgent author then this is the book for you. If you enjoy a sometimes romantic description of England this is the book for you. If you were looking forward to The Hundred or think the ECB has the interests of English cricket at its heart this is not the book for you (I should reassure you that this book is not a long critical treatise).Henderson undertakes a mini tour, in part of life and in part of cricket grounds. As the tour unfolds so do Henderson’s musings about cricket, culture, cherished sentiments, music. Whilst it flirts with sentiment the book is never sentimental. I’d imagine Henderson would be very firm on this point, if asked! The author admits change sometimes produces a benefit but sees no merit in blind, ill-thought-out change.Nicely written, it has the sense of crispness that speaks of his journalistic trade yet is often wildly expansive - a segue from Wagner to Old Trafford is entirely to be expected in this book.The downsides? It is based on the premise that Test and county cricket are the most important parts of the game. A reader who doesn’t agree might feel he’s reading the wrong book. That’s not to say the author is against ODIs; he’s not. I paused for a few minutes at this point in my review to think of other downsides or criticisms. I really can’t think of any more.It’s impossible for me to exaggerate the extent to which I enjoyed this book. Some of the later chapters had me nodding vigorously in agreement.The book was written to memorialise cricket in the last season before The Hundred. Although for a terrible reason (corona) we may have a stunning result that The Hundred never happens.