5 cricket books to read while you are in quarantine

#1 Golden Boy by Christian Ryan

Picture courtesy: footyalmanac.com.au

It's the winner of Wisden's Finest Cricket Book ever written and that says enough about the book. Somewhere in the yellowing pages of Golden Boy, Christian Ryan writes:

In this country, people mistrust vaulting ambition. Kim's ambition vaulted out of every net he lit up and every interview he gave, but politely, seldom boastfully, with a flash of head boy's charm. How much of his self-assurance was inbuilt and how much it metastasized under Mr Parry and his endless hosannas was hard to tell, but people and not just opponents, did not like it.

It is the story of Kim Hughes as a flawed batting genius, who is remembered more for his tearful resignation as Australian cricket captain, than for his endless array of square cuts, pulls and drives.

Golden Boy reminds you why history is always written by the victors. It is the grave of one of Australia's least popular cricket captains, one that unlike the masses, resides in paper rather than peoples' hearts. The book is sporting literature at its finest and one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences.