Friday, February 16, 2007

Out of my Comfort Zone



Well, reading that certainly took me out of my comfort zone. It wouldn't even be far-fetched to say that the two best things about the book were the afterword by Lynette Waugh, describing life as a cricket widow, and the pictures.

I'd looked forward to this one for a while, albeit with the sort of apprehension that I once reserved for War and Peace as a precocious twelve year old. Turns out that Tolstoy spun a far greater yarn, and probably provided just as many insights as Waugh did into what made the Australians tick in the late 90's and through the turn of the century.

I've railed about the Prabhudesai biography of Rahul Dravid, but this was really only marginally better. The details of the odd on-field sledge aside, there just wasn't much in there that I didn't already know. There was little to help us understand the man, or his achievements, both as a player and as a leader.

There was even less when it came to his relationship with brother Mark - and you'd think a cricketer would have something to say about someone he played 108 Test matches alongside. I suppose the fact that most other teammates were referenced by first-names and nicknames, whereas 'Junior' was always referred to as 'Mark Waugh', tells a story in itself.

Bottom line - don't waste your money or your time.

No comments: