If they'd ever decided to add a volume of "Cricket for Dummies" to that ubiquitous and unfortunately-titled series of books, I think Rob Eastaway would have been the ideal person to write it. But there's no need for them to do that now, because Eastaway already has written the perfect introduction to the sport aimed at the utter novice--only he's given it the much nicer title, What is a Googly? Thorough without ever seeming heavy; light and clever without masking the author's serious affection for the game; this was the book that provided the breakthrough for me in terms of finally beginning to understand cricket.

I wonder how many of this book's original readers and reviewers could honestly claim that they had never seen so much as the tiniest fraction of a cricket match? That they'd never heard any cricket commentary (even by accidentally walking into the room while it was playing on television), nor ever had to politely endure opaque ramblings on the subject from some friend or relative who was a die-hard fan? Well, I can make that claim: the game had never really touched my all-American life before online friends recommended that I satisfy my curiosity about it by reading Eastaway's book. And yet soon after I read it, I could follow with some comprehension the cricket conversation of others-- and, with admittedly less comprehension but still much enjoyment, I made sense of the first cricket broadcasts I was finally able to tune in over the Internet. And now, with this book sitting ever beside my monitor, I am making cricket web pages!

And why do I think this book succeeds so well? It's because Eastaway isn't just a good writer who knows a lot about cricket; he's a natural teacher who appreciates that most new students are looking not only for explanation, but also for a bit of inspiration and motivation. That is, in this case, we want some reason to believe that it'll be worth the effort it's going to take to learn the rules of the game of cricket; we want to know not only how the experts do what they do, but why they bother to do it. No amount of description of the number of ways a batsman can be got out, for instance, will by itself tell the seeker why so many people love this game in which batsmen get out. But Eastaway tries to give the reader both: to tell how the game is played, and to sprinkle in some cricket lore and quirky factoids suggesting why the game gets under people's skin as it does.

Oh, and did I mention that What is a Googly? is very funny? Well, it is. It exploits the humor of cricket (and of trying to understand cricket) as only a die-hard lover of the game can do. And here, Eastaway is backed up by illustrator Mark Stevens, whose drawings not only clarify points in the text (the LBW illustration, for instance, and the one showing the difference between a leg break and a googly, are quite helpful), but consistently bring a smile, as well.

Highly recommended for all you beginners out there. And even if you are someone who tends to prefer the "no-nonsense" type of introductory text over the hearty-jokey approach of which this book is undeniably an example, you might still find What is a Googly?'s excellent glossary very useful.

[Note: I had to get my copy of this book from Amazon.co.uk. The original (1992) edition was also released in the US (under the title Cricket Explained), but it didn't quite find its audience here, and went out of print.]