Peter Oborne
Against the Grain
The Awkward Squad: Rebels in English Cricket
By John Lucas
Shoestring Press 211pp £9.99 order from our bookshop
The timing of this book could not be happier. It deals with rebels and subversives who have sought to undermine the cricketing establishment. This summer English cricket has been convulsed by the case of one such individual. Kevin Pietersen is unquestionably the most brilliant and charismatic English batsman of his age, but he has very publicly refused to conform to the expectations of the England team’s management. Should he have been brought back into the team to play Australia? Almost everyone has a view. For some, Kevin Pietersen is a romantic genius, for others a selfish brat.
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'The authors do not shrink from spelling out the scale of the killings when the Rhodesians made long-distance raids on guerrilla camps in Mozambique and Zambia.'
Xan Smiley on how Rhodesia became Zimbabwe.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/what-the-secret-agent-saw
'Thirkell was a product of her time and her class. For her there are no sacred cows, barring those that win ribbons at the Barchester Agricultural.'
The novelist Angela Thirkell is due a revival, says Patricia T O'Conner (£).
https://literaryreview.co.uk/good-gad
'Only in Britain, perhaps, could spy chiefs – conventionally viewed as masters of subterfuge – be so highly regarded as ethical guides.'
https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-spy-who-taught-me