I haven't read this book, but The Book of Kings by James Thackara is the subject of one of the great critical hatchet-jobs of all time; there's enough of a flavour of JT's masterwork in Philip Hensher's review that I'm always on the lookout for it in second-hand bookshops...
Oops, already noted, I see.
William Gibson's PATTERN RECOGNITION features the Buzz Rickson's MA1 jacket, which didn't exist at the time he wrote the book - now there's a whole line of clothing: http://tinyurl.com/257v8x
Fragano: pedantry, this, but actually a batsman who retires hurt has the option of returning to resume his innings at the fall of a later wicket. Colin Cowdrey had his arm broken batting at Lord's against the great West Indian quicks in 1963; he was the only man remaining in the dressing room when England were hanging on for a draw with two balls of the match remaining. The only way to save the match was for Cowdrey to resume his innings, so out he went with his arm in a sling, and England survived.
Albatross: no, because the batsman generally has no reason to be upset if he gets hit - it's a fair tactic. The only reason he'd be angry is if the ball failed to pitch: if it reaches the batsman without bouncing over waist height, that's an illegal delivery called a 'beamer'.
Terry: it typically loses around 10-15mph off the pitch (depending on how hard it is.)
Mary @190: Ah, but then the fielding positions in baseball are much further away from the bat. In cricket there are a whole set of positions right up close to the bat which are prefixed 'silly' - silly mid-off, silly point - because you're liable to get hit. You're right, though, in that when you see fielders struck in those positions they tend to get hit in the shins etc.
Hello Jakob! No offense taken I assure you. I have been known to knock pastiches together but have always been too in awe of ML's regulars to post anything...
The best cricket helmet story ever - stop me if you've heard this one - was at the 1996 world cup, in which the minnows of the United Arab Emirates were making up the numbers. Their captain was Sultan Zarawani, who'd played cricket at school in Pakistan but who wasn't a professional (or even a particularly good amateur, to tell the truth.) So it was somewhat surprising when he strolled to the crease against South Africa in a floppy sun hat. Now, Sir Viv Richards could get away with that, but the Sultan... Compounding the disbelief of the spectators was the fact that he had come in to face Allan "White Lightning" Donald, a man with a seriously nasty 95mph bouncer. It was a bit like he'd skated onto the rink in an NHL game wearing a costume from Blades of Glory.
Nine balls later he was on his way back to the pavilion - Donald's first ball cracked him unerringly on the skull. It was amazing that he hung around as long as he did.
I wasn't aware, but I was half just wittering out loud anyway... <relurk>
Whoops, 100 miles per hour, is what I meant. 100 miles per second, well, that's going to be dangerous, yes.
Dave Luckett @154: Anything you want to know about cricket can be obtained from the Wisden Almanac. I think probably player deaths would be an unusual enough occurrence to make it into the annual "Index of Unusual Occurrences" at the back of the book. Just browsing through 2004's edition, we have such gems as "Fine leg arrives by parachute" and "Umpire stops play to take photograph", so they probably wouldn't strain at a fatal accident.
I'm surprised that baseball should account for so many deaths. In baseball the pitcher does his best to avoid striking the batter; in cricket, the bowler is positively encouraged to hit him in the head. I've seen plenty of players struck in the helmet and chest by 90mph fast bowlers and nobody has looked in life-threatening trouble so far.
I suppose there's a difference in the speed that baseballs and cricket balls reach the batsman; they're about the same weight and leave the hand at anything up to 100mps, but the cricket ball is supposed to pitch before it gets there. I can't imagine that makes things a lot safer, though, especially if the pitch is hard and uneven.
Oh dear I'm wittering on about cricket aren't I? Sorry.
JC @446: Perec is my favourite modern author, just beating out Jack Vance. If you haven't already, get hold of LIFE A USER'S MANUAL and W: THE MEMORY OF CHILDHOOD - two of the great novels of the 20th century.
He recycled the 'e's left out of LA DISPAIRITION into a shorter lipogram called LES REVENENTES.
@Barbara - this came up on the TV last night: "When he brought out the food, I was gobsmacked. I was totally smacked across the gob." It's exactly the 'stunned' thing you suggest, like someone's slapped you across the face with a wet fish. The Cassell Dictionary of Slang dates it from the '80s, which is later than I'd have thought.
Wasn't Petsy Wyatt involved in a thing herself, with Conservative MP Boris Johnson? He memorably described the reports about his affair as "an inverted pyramid of piffle".
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