FOLLOWING ON: A MEMOIR OF TEENAGE OBSESSION AND TERRIBLE CRICKET PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Emma John | 272 pages | 21 Jun 2016 | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 9781472916877 | English | London, United Kingdom Following on: A Memoir of Teenage Obsession and Terrible Cricket PDF Book If meeting your idols is dangerous, meeting them and writing about it is even worse. More Details But what kind of teenager is besotted with an entire sports team — when the players are even bigger losers than she is? By using our website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy. It's the story of growing up as a fan of the England cricket team in the s, a time when, at least according to the author although in the course of the book, she does come to question this , they were a truly awful, underperform [3. The tone, which starts out light and self- deprecating—the curse of many a book about English cricket and minority enthusiasms among the English in general—deepens, as we gain some insight into what it took to be a professional cricketer in a time when English cricket was woefully run and still dominated by notions of amateurism that weren't fit for purpose against much tougher opposition. Visit the Australia site. And of going back, the best part of a quarter century later, and talking the team's star players, to try to understand why they were so bad, if indeed they were. We're not getting into arguments. Emma John. Want to Read saving…. What I do remember from that game was two things: looking through the programme and picking out Ben Stokes and deciding he looked like Prince Harry not that I see the resemblance now and the moment that Stuart Broad was hit in the face by the ball never to return to his full batting capabilities. As she traipses back through her adolescence, Following On is also a personal memoir of what it was like to grow up following a team that always lost--and why on earth anyone would choose to do it. Not that she's counting. Which must have been properly niche The very writing of this book invites the question: why did English cricket in the Nineties seem more visible and important to the country at large than it does today, when the national side is so much more successful? Yet the disappointments only made her feel more protective about the team. Get A Copy. Download Now Dismiss. Within a fortnight, Emma was a full-fledged cricket geek. The primary object of her affection: Michael Atherton, a boyishly handsome captain who promised to lead his young troops to glory. Looking back on it everything seemed to come together perfectly. View 2 comments. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. RaGa rated it it was amazing May 18, Feb 05, Michael Speight rated it really liked it. This item can be requested from the shops shown below. Whether England triumph this summer or not, this book is a pleasing reminder that winning is less important than participating with good grace and the right attitude. She also interviews some of the players from that time to learn how dysfunctional or inadequate the team and the management were. I can relate to Emma John's obsession but as a girl living in the 21st Century my experience of that is perhaps slightly different. Essential for any cricket follower. Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App? If anything was going to get me into cricket a phenomenal and exciting spell from one of the only players I knew would. This was an age that lacked a cohesive team structure, when cricketers arrived to play burnt out from county duty. Mon 25 Apr It's one thing to be the class swot, and hopelessly infatuated with someone who doesn't know you exist. I remembered the emotional rollercoaster of hope and despair that the 90s England team had taken me on. Thanks for telling us about the problem. I have no idea why but at the time he seemed to be the only player I could consistently remember , How long is this going to take? This is a wonderfully enjoyable book if, like me, you masochistically spent much of the s following England's dismal story as they consistently lost the Ashes, valiantly struggled against the West Indies and were utterly bamboozled by Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan spin. Following on: A Memoir of Teenage Obsession and Terrible Cricket Writer My hunch, for what it is worth, is that they will. Like Emma John, I came of age as a cricket fan in the nineties, when the England team found wins hard to come by, and her evocation of the crushing despair of being a teenage cricket fan cricket was never a cool thing to be into who's doomed to follow a fairly hapless team as they lurch from one disaster to another is pitch-perfect. Sign up. Euro 96 had Three Lions; when England staged the Cricket World Cup in , the tournament anthem, a deeply embarrassing ditty by Dave Stewart , was released after the hosts had already crashed out in the first round. A good read. Read more. Nearly a quarter of a century on, Emma John wants to know why she spent her teenage years defending such a bunch of no-hopers. If anything was going to get me into cricket a phenomenal and exciting spell from one of the only players I knew would. I can't pretend I have ever understood teenage girls but I do understand cricket and cricket-related obsessions. Not registered? For us, the decade was one of unprecedented darkness and despair. Football fans have safety in numbers; there will always be others in the class who share your interest in the transfer deadline, who is in danger of relegation, and the mess that the national team are making of putting together a decent squad. As John track downs the sportsmen whose pictures she faithfully stuck into her scrapbook for candid chats, some of them behave according to type; Phil Tufnell is, naturally, interviewed in a pub, hungover, but has a surprisingly developed degree of self-criticism about some of his more outrageous antics. Nothing had prepared me for how strange it would feel to sit in front of men I had once worshipped, listening to them talk about events that had shaped my adolescence. The more I wrote, the more it became clear how cricket had grown and shaped our relationship; and how it had helped us through the awkward transition from mother and child to mother and friend. It could have been about Football or Rugby, it happens to be about test cricket. Fantastic and very funny. But it does a lot more than that, interviews with many of the protagonists of the period including this Somerset fan's boyhood hero, Andy Caddick go a long way towards illuminating that period when the game stood between the determined amateurism of the past and today's hyper-professional and arguably less fun sport. This was an age that lacked a cohesive team structure, when cricketers arrived to play burnt out from county duty. Friend Reviews. Chris Beard rated it liked it Sep 30, Really good memoir. Facebook Twitter Pinterest. With spectacularly poor timing, fourteen-year-old Emma John chose to fall in love with cricket and, mystifyingly, with that terrible English cricket team. Apr 21, Chloe rated it it was amazing. If meeting your idols is dangerous, meeting them and writing about it is even worse. May 07, Claire rated it it was amazing. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. The very writing of this book invites the question: why did English cricket in the Nineties seem more visible and important to the country at large than it does today, when the national side is so much more successful? Following on: A Memoir of Teenage Obsession and Terrible Cricket Reviews This item can be requested from the shops shown below. Aug 15, Andy Walker rated it really liked it. If they step out of line I tell them well at least I tell the TV. Not that she's counting. The question still remains unanswered, were they simply a fairly average bunch of players later to be eclipsed by the England stars of onwards, or were they made to look ordinary by playing two of the greatest cricketing sides WI and Aus in the history of the game? The primary object of her affection: Michael Atherton, a boyishly handsome captain who promised to lead his young troops to glory. The England team were a faithful companion, just not a very successful one. It's the story of growing up as a fan of the England cricket team in the s, a time when, at least according to the author although in the course of the book, she does come to question this , they were a truly awful, underperform [3. This book was significantly more emotional than This was an excellent book. Continue on UK site. Dec 29, Peter rated it really liked it. Call us on or send us an email at. Readers also enjoyed. For information on how we process your data, read our Privacy Policy. Open Preview See a Problem? Emma John tells the story through the eyes of a maturing teenag This is a wonderfully enjoyable book if, like me, you masochistically spent much of the s following England's dismal story as they consistently lost the Ashes, valiantly struggled against the West Indies and were utterly bamboozled by Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan spin.