Member SJFBOOKS99.94(Mr.)

Based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I have pulled together a home library of >1200 books (With c150 remaining to cover scan/add to the catalogue) dedicated to the game of Cricket, with all the books on or about the sport, its records, its history, its combatants and its players. My library houses >100 books published prior to 1925 (now all >100 years old), including volumes by Alcock, Ashley-Cooper, Daft, Fry, Gale, Grace, Jessop, Noble, Pentelow, Pycroft, Ranjitsinhji, Read, Routledge and Warner. From the 20th (& 21st) Century, I have multiple publications by renowned cricket authors/compilers from A to Z, e.g. John Arlott, Warwick Armstrong, Richie Benaud, Max Bonnell, Neville Cardus, Ron Cardwell, Greg De Moore, Phillip Derriman, Jack Fingleton, David Frith, C.B. Fry, George Giffen, Clarrie Grimmett, Greg Growden, Gideon Haigh, Wally Hammond, E.P. "Patsy' Hendren, Jack Hobbs, C.L.R. James, Douglas Jardine, Malcolm Knox, Harold Larwood, Arthur Mailey, A.C. 'Archie' Maclaren, Ashley Mallett, Ronald Mason, Bill O'Reilly, Alan McGilvray, Keith Miller, A.G. 'Johnny' Moyes, John Mulvaney, M.A. Noble, Bill O'Reilly, Roland Perry, Ken Piesse, K.S. Ranjitsinhji, E.L. Roberts, Ray Robinson, Alan Ross, Rick Sissons, Rick Smith, Sydney Smith, A.A. Thomson, Phillip Trevor, Frank Tyson, P.F. 'Plum' Warner, Roy Webber, Peter West, Bernard Whimpress & R.S. 'Dick' Whitington, right through to a biography on mid 1980's Australian Wicket Keeper: Tim Zoehrer.

Born in country Victoria, I became a cricket 'tragic' the moment my Grandfather, Father and I attended the magnificent Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in 1972 to see Australia play the "Rest of the World"; a series scheduled after a boycott prevented the South African's from touring. I witnessed the great Garry Sobers score a 'Duck' in his 1st Innings but also (& much more famously) 254 in the 2nd! My family moved to Melbourne early in 1973, and since then I have watched, played cricket (Club Cricket and State level Indoor Cricket), administered Club (Life Member of two Clubs), Associations and Veterans Cricket (Over 50's) at local, State & National levels and researched/recorded the sport and its history (I spent almost 15 years as a P/T Researcher in the marvellous sporting Library at the 'G').

Alongside my Cricket book library, I have also built one of the largest Cricket themed Cigarette & Trade card collections in Australia (or so I am advised by fellow collectors) as well as collected a myriad of other cricket related ephemera. Administering, playing & watching the game has consumed much of my leisure time from the age of 10 until today, and now, in my 60's, I still get a buzz from finding out things about the game, acquiring a new (or old) book or card to add to the collection and enjoy the cameraderie and friendship of others who do so likewise...