da bet vitoria： Stephen Chalke’s book on Micky Stewart is neither a biography nor an autobiography, but it works because it tells fascinating stories about its very likeable subject
da betcris： Paul Edwards14-Oct-2012Micky Stewart’s father, Hector, was a professional gambler. One day, just before the outbreak of the Second World War, he came home from the races having won a lot of cash, only to find that his success prompted a disagreement about money. So Hector Stewart took a £10 note and, to the consternation of his wife, told his young son to throw it in the fire. Micky did so. “Never let money be your god,” the father told his child.It was a curious command from someone whose life was filled with the intricacies of odds and the realities of financial loss, and one of the pleasures of Stephen Chalke’s book about the former Surrey and England player and manager is that its 300 or so pages are filled with such intriguing recollections, vividly and unfussily told. They help unpack the fascinating life story of a man who has been closely involved with cricket for over 60 years and whose outlook on the world was formed by his parents’ values of integrity, dislike of hypocrisy, and belief in hard work.Stewart needed a strong ethical code too, not least as England manager in the late 1980s, when he had to deal with foolish players, dictatorial TCCB officials, and rapacious journalists who were keen to report any scandal and not averse to setting one up if nothing juicy was immediately available. Indeed, after a summer in which off-field issues have been dominated merely by the KP affair, during which England’s Test captaincy passed from Andrew Strauss to Alastair Cook with the ease of a boardroom handover at a successful multinational, it is useful to be taken back to a period that saw rebel tours to South Africa, an on-field slanging match between a Test captain and an umpire, and a five-Test series against West Indies into which England contrived to squeeze four captains.Facing such a variety of pressures, Stewart reminded one rather of the character Jim Prideaux in John le Carré’s novel : an essentially decent man with simple loyalties who was betrayed by some of those around him. He found it difficult to understand those who would endanger the interests of English cricket for financial gain.”As an Englishman, are you proud of this?” he asked a tabloid journalist after the headline “GATT THE PRAT” had appeared in his paper. All these travails, as well as the successful 1986-87 tour of Australia, are faithfully recorded by Chalke. Stewart’s own recollections and observations, along with those of other players and administrators, are quoted at length. It may not be the definitive history of a troubled time – indeed, it is not intended to be – but it is a very good read and a revealing insight into the thinking of a man whose management style married the strict with the sympathetic.The book is full of forward thinking and fond reflection. Stewart’s ideas for the development of the English game were ahead of their age, and his stress on fitness foreshadowed the detailed physiological analysis and preparation of the modern era. Indeed, can almost be seen as a prequel to face did not change. Hector Stewart would be proud of his son.Micky Stewart and the Changing Face of Cricket
by Stephen Chalke
Fairfield Books