Michael Simkins

Post-"Fever Pitch" memoirs by amateur sports fans and players are getting to be quite a substantial genre and not restricted to football. Cricket, with its arcane and complex rules, eccentricities and associations has produced several fine examples such as Marcus Berkmann's "Rain Men" and the late Harry Thompson's "Penguins Stopped Play". However, "Fatty Batter: How Cricket Saved My Life then Ruined It" was nominated for the Costa Biography Award in 2007, suggesting it might be one of the show more best examples of its kind.

Simkins, an actor by trade, does everything right. The son of Brighton confectioners, he naturally develops an addiction to sweets at an early age and we first meet him as a rotund 10 year old in the mid-1960s. Being the languorous sport that it is, cricketers can be on the large side for sportsmen and Simkins is first attracted to the game upon seeing the swashbuckling yet portly England batsman Colin Milburn in a televised Test match. The flames of his nascent addiction are fanned by his Jack Hobbs-adoring father and by the discovery through a school friend of the dice game "Howzat!" a forerunner of the kind of fantasy games so popular today, which he becomes so obsessed by it almost ruins his education.

Simkins is determined to become a cricketer and so sheds weight but, like the authors of many books in this genre, discovers he has little aptitude for the game, with his bowling action in particular being a source of much derision. Nevertheless, he eventually forms his own team, Harry Baldwin's XI (Baldwin being a luxuriantly moustachioed and tubby Victorian cricketer), which he turns out for most weekends for more than 15 years and assorted match reports form more than a third of the book. Some are almost catastrophic, such as the match which results in him missing his wedding anniversary dinner, and some sublime, like the one in which he scores his one and only century, or when the director Sam Mendes, a very talented cricketer, turns out for the Baldwins and his partner, Kate Winslet, charms all concerned out of a potentially sticky situation.

All this is related with a comic charm but Simkins also handles more serious events very sensitively, particularly his mother's declining health and eventual death and it is perhaps this element which sets "Fatty Batter" apart from the pack. show less

Being one of those people who can never remember names; who is who; or who played what, I never expected to enjoy this book as much as I did and rate it a good 4 stars. I enjoy all things theatrical and read it because the title took my fancy, but also because of a friend who is involved in local theatre stage management, secretly would love to be on stage, and want to understand this desire.

Not only is Michael Simpkins talented as an actor, he is also a talented writer. This is a book full show more of real information about the world of acting. All the questions a budding young thespian could have are answered in a humorous and accurate way. Each step from which drama school, the do’s and don’ts of auditions, theatrical etiquette, the highs and lows, successes and failures and reaching Hollywood, is covered in a logical progression by Simpkins. I think The Rules of Acting is a real guidance about the industry covering small details that can only be given from the inside. As Simpkins shares the details directly with the reader, I found it a humorous book making me laugh out loud.

If you seriously have a desire to join the industry then you must read this book. It is honest, and encouraging to those wishing to do so. show less

Light and funny. Having acted in one whole community theatre play, I can attest to some of the stories, though my lack of fame precludes me from weighing in on the whole of Michael Simkins' experiences. Definitely worth reading for anyone who has a modicum of acting interest, or who wants a peek under the curtain

An ode to cricket. Forced to miss playing for his own side, due to injury, Michael travels around the country watching cricket in all sorts of places. A Sussex supporter. Lovely read...