It's the sacred game; the secret (and not-so-secret) obsession; it's the world game that isn't football (i.e. soccer). For half the world, it's tantamount to religion; to the rest it's a bewildering pastime that looks like afternoon tea dressed up as a sport. Whatever you feel about the sound of willow on leather, it's undeniable that a lot of books get published about it. Here at Morocco Books and Collectibles, we have amassed quite the selection, so if cricket is your thing - or if you know someone whose thing it is - take a look at the following range (and contact us at moroccobooks1000@gmail.com if there's anything you need to know more about).
*****
The Game:
(73739) L.R. ("Lou") Benaud (Foreword and Photo Demonstration by Richie Benaud; Greg Weight, illus.), The Young Cricketer, Angus & Roberston Publishers, Sydney NSW, 1976.
Revised: quarto; hardcover, with illustrated boards; 87pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Moderate wear; boards a bit rubbed and creased with some corner-bumping; spine extremities softened; a few tears to the bottom edges of some of the early pages, now professionally repaired using archival materials; some tape stains; text block edge toned with some spots. No dustwrapper as issued. Very good, withal.
$25
(73731) Bill Frindall (ed.), The Wisden Book of Test Cricket - 1876-77 to 1977-78, Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., London, 1979.
Thick octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine titles; 1,024pp. Ex-library: moderate wear; the usual cancelled library stamps and accoutrements; text block top edge dusted. Dustwrapper a little rubbed and edgeworn; some sunning to the spine panel; covered in non-adhesive plastic wrap. Good.
$20
(77059) Alan McGilvray, as told to Norman Tasker, McGilvray - The Game is Not the Same, ABC Enterprises/Ausytral;ian Broadcasting Commission, Sydney NSW, 1986.
Reprint: octavo; hardcover; 188pp., with 28pp, of monochrome plates. Minor wear; spine heel lightly softened. Dustwrapper is a little rubbed and edgeworn. Very good.
$20
(75253) Various (Simon Barnes, ed.), A La Recherche du Cricket Perdu, Macmillan London Ltd., London, 1989.
Octavo; hardcover, with silver-gilt spine titles; 138pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; text block and page edges toned. Dustwrapper a little rubbed and edgeworn. Very good.
It's highly unlikely that Homer would have seen a game of cricket but, if he had, he might nave been moved to write the piece attributed to him within these covers. Herein are witty cricket tales and paeans to the game, penned in the style of the great writers: parody writing at its best!
$12
*****
The Players:
(73734) Dennis Lillee, My Life in Cricket, Methuen (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., North Ryde NSW, 1982.
Octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine titles; 220pp., with 32pp. of monochrome plates. Minor wear; some spotting to the text block edges and top edge dusted. Dustwrapper is a little sunned along the spine panel; now professionally protected by non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good.
$18
(73735) David Frith, The Slow Men, George Allen & Unwin (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., North Sydney NSW, 1984.
Octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine titles; 199pp., with 24pp. of monochrome plates. Mild wear; a bump to the spine head; text block top edge lightly dusted. Dustwrapper a little chipped to the spine panel head; now professionally protected by non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good.
Slow bowlers have brought to cricket a charm, a mystery, and an excitement that are not part of the other departments of the game. In the guile and humour, the courage and the occasional heartbreak of the slow bowler, from the earliest innovators to the wizards of modern times, there is a story not previously told with such continuity and gripping detail.
$28
(77067) Sir Donald Bradman, The Bradman Albums: Selections from Sir Donald Bradman's Official Collection - Volume 1, 1925-1934; Volume 2, 1935-1949, Queen Anne Press/Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., London, 1988.
Two slipcased volumes, quarto; hardcover, full cloth with gilt upper board and spine titles and marbled endpapers; 800pp. [424pp. + 376pp.] with two monochrome frontispieces, with 51 full-colour and monochrome plates and many monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; a few marks to the spines. Decorative slipcase is a little rubbed and scuffed. No dustwrappers as issued. Very good to near fine.
$80
(74197) Mike Coward (ed.) (Foreword by Richie Benaud), Sir Donald Bradman A.C. - Ironbark Legends, Ironbark/Pan Macmillan (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Sydney NSW, 1998.
Quarto; hardcover, with illustrated endpapers; 119pp., with many monochrome and one colour illustration. Minor wear; spine extremities lightly scraped. Dustwrapper a little scuffed. Very good.
$35
(77060) Roland Perry, Captain Australia - A History of the Celebrated Captains of Australian Test Cricket, Revised and Expanded, Random House (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Milson's Point NSW, 2000.
Octavo; paperback; 387pp., with 24pp. of full-colour and monochrome plates. Minor wear; text block and page edges toned. Very good.
$16
(77063) Steve Waugh, Out of My Comfort Zone - The Autobiography, Viking/Penguin Books (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Camberwell Vic., 2005.
Octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine titles and decorative endpapers; 802pp., with a monochrome portrait frontispiece, 80pp. of full-colour and monochrome plates and many monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; slightly shaken. Dustwrapper is a little edgeworn. Near fine.
$30
(71684) Glenn McGrath with Daniel Lane (Foreword by Dennis Lillee), Line and Strength - The Complete Story, William Heinemann Books/Random House (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., North Sydney NSW, 2008.
Octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine titles; 428pp., with 32pp. of full colour and monochrome plates. Mild wear; spine extremities softened; text block edges toned; mild scattered foxing throughout. Dustwrapper is rubbed and edgeworn. Very good.
$25
(77061) Richie Benaud & Friends (Foreword by Michael Parkinson), Remembering Richie, Hodder & Stoughton/Hachette UK, London. 2015.
Reprint: octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine titles; 334pp., with 16pp. of full-colour and monochrome plates. Mild wear; somewhat scuffed; text block and page edges lightly toned. Dustwrapper is a little rubbed and edgeworn. Very good.
$25
*****
The Ashes:
(73740) Robin Bromby (ed.) (Foreword by Arthur Morris), A Century of Ashes - An Anthology (signed), Resolution Press Pty. Ltd., Neutral Bay NSW, 1982.
Octavo; hardcover; 334pp., with a monochrome frontispiece and many illustrations likewise. Minor wear; spine heel lightly softened; text block edges lightly spotted and top edge dusted; signed by Rod Marsh in ink to the flyleaf. Dustwrapper is lightly sunned along the spine panel; now professionally protected by non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good.
$60
(73741) J.B. Hobbs, The Fight for the Ashes, 1932-33 - A Critical Account of the English Tour in Australia, George G. Harrap & Company Ltd., London, 1933.
Octavo; hardcover, full cloth with upper board rules and a blind-stamped decoration; 300pp., with a monochrome portrait frontispiece, 30 plates likewise and other diagrams. Moderate wear; spine sunned and extremities pulled; some mild moisture damage to the boards and spine; text block edges toned and top edge dusted; previous owner's name in pencil to the flyleaf. No dustwrapper. Very good.
Back in 1932, there wasn't a TV network pumping out every swish of leather and thwack of willow - at that time, reportage was done by a guy, field side in a hat, with a pair of binoculars and a notepad, painstakingly recording each and every over. There's probably a few radio recordings of this Test lying around somewhere, but with this book you could read your way through the entire 1932 Ashes test and feel like you had time-travelled there for each innings.
$120
*****
Ephemera:
(75175) [English Cricket Board] Australian Test Tour '77 - Souvenir Programme: Pen Pictures Records, English Cricket Board, London, 1977.
Royal octavo; paperback, stapled booklet, with printed wrappers; 8pp. with many monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; wrappers a little rubbed and edgeworn; some minor tearing along the spine; some mild internal foxing. Very good.
A souvenir programme for the Ashes competition, which followed the Centenary Test in March 1977 at the MCG; this programme was produced for the match held at Lord's in August of the same year. Contents include a welcome to the Australian touring team with a list of players and their specialisms; facts and figures concerning the history of matches between England and Australia; the list of Australian Tour fixtures; player photographs; and two pages with printed tables for keeping score during the upcoming match.
$45
(75176) [The Australian Cricket Board] (R.J. Parish, R.C. Steele & I.V. Maddocks, eds.), Centenary Test, Melbourne, March 12-17, 1977 - Official Souvenir Publication of the Australian Cricket Board, Australian Cricket Board/Sportsplan Marketing Pty. Ltd., Melbourne Vic., 1977.
Quarto; paperback, stapled booklet with illustrated wrappers; 100pp., with many monochrome and full-colour illustrations. Mild wear; covers a little rubbed and edgeworn; some splitting along the spine; text block edges a little toned. Very good.
$20
(75177) Ian Chappell (Vivian Jenkins, illus.), The Thunder Down Under Pictorial Review - The Tests: Australia v. Pakistan 1983-84, Official Pictorial Review, PBL Marketing Pty. Ltd., Sydney NSW, 1983.
Quarto; paperback, stapled booklet with pictorial wrappers; 82pp., with many full-colour illustrations. Mild wear; some light creasing and rubbing to the covers; some light spotting to the preliminaries. Very good.
$20
(72453) [Australia Post] Sir Donald Bradman - Australian Legends First Day Cover, Australia Post, Fortitude Valley Qld., 1997.
Printed, unused envelope with two franked stamps. Minor wear; some light foxing, not affecting the stamps. Near fine.
$25
*****
NB: All prices are in Australian Dollars (AUD) and DO NOT include postage, which will need to be calculated according to individual circumstances at the time of sale.
Morocco Books and Collectibles is located within the Country of the Dharug and Gundungurra peoples.
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