da pinup bet： Will Luke reviews by Bill Frindall

da betsson： Will Luke16-Jun-2006

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I must confess to a sense of trepidation in being asked to review thisbook. Bill Frindall’s on-air style as the BBC’s scorer has a required taste; his dry, laconic wit andinsistence on correcting messers Blofeld and Agnew on any anomalies intheir commentary takes his role as the “straight man” to hitherto unseenlevels.Happily, albeit 309 pages later, my opinion had changed. His somewhatboorish banter with his TMS colleagues is nowhere to be seen in thishis first autobiography. In fact, quite the opposite; he is engaging,charming and it is mostly a thoroughly interesting read.Making his debut in the TMS box in 1966, the impression of Frindall isof a man born to work with numbers, statistics and so forth. Yet inthe first 80 pages or so, it is his playing career which receives thebiggest attention. We learn that it was his father, who is spoken ofin endearingly cherished tones, who introduced him to cricket, wheremost days the pair (like many father-son teams) would play on the backlawn and “naughtily, on a remote putting green on Epsom Downs”.If Frindall senior was the central figure in a young Bill’s life, theRAF (and, later, John Arlott) became his substitute father-figureduring the 1950s where, seemingly, very little work was done where atall possible. “…life in the RAF was a delightfully cushy numberindeed. Members of the station cricket teams could even have theirboots and pads whitened by delivering them to the sports section”.For readers not overly enamoured with the “art” of scoring, Bearders(known throughout as Bill, Sir William, Bearders or Frindalius)fortunately only spends a single chapter detailing the history behindsome of the scoring world’s legends. But in fact, it’s an enlighteningread. Did you know, for example, that his scoring method – the linearsystem – is based on John Atkinson Pendlington (1861-1914)? Or that in1972, Frindall devised an adapted version of “the Pendlington” whichis now in use by first-class teams around the world? In an agebesotted with speed; the internet; with words such as “verdana” and”qwerty”, the old-fashioned and painstaking manual process of scoringseems kitsch. But I quite like it, again, in fact; his love of its arttranslates itself strongly in the book, something which at times comesacross as a chore over the airwaves in the TMS box.John Arlott, the “Voice of Cricket from 1946 until 1980” receives anentire chapter which, while not to be missed, is nevertheless a touch too syrupy for an autobiography. Clearly (and understandably), Arlott played a significant rolein Frindall’s life and indeed helped shape him as a man – they met twoyears after Frindall senior died – not to mention his career. However,the common thread of his love for Arlott is a shared thirst of the red liquid. Barely a sentence goes by that Arlott’s love of wine isn’t mockingly mentioned; there’s almost a sense of pride, relish and jealousy that Arlott had such a capacity, and it becomes ratherweary. Nevertheless, as anyone who enjoys a bottle of wine or ten willtestify, drink has a habit of fuelling good humour and the pair evidentlyspent countless days – Frindall under Arlott’s drunken wing – tasting andenjoying the grapes of France and Australia.Of great interest are the chapters devoted to his colleagues. Arlottapart, Brian Johnston, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Jonathan Agnew,Shilpa Patel (production assistant to Peter Baxter with “a varies andfashionable wardrobe) all receive notable mention. Indeed, whileArlott and Johnners had a decidedly acrimonious relationship -recorded at length by the author – Frindall and Johnners had no suchproblems. In one particularly amusing anecdote, he transcribes acommentary stint between himself, Johnners and Fred Trueman whenwearing an Arabian headdress (ghutra an iqal).Humour, then, is the common thread running through the book. Devotedto cricket and to his colleagues, it was a welcome revelation into aman whose often grumpy interjections on the radio portray someone illat ease with his lot. Quite the opposite. Frindall, or Frindalius asAllott nicknamed him, has a hidden and infectiously witty side to himwhich, oddly, is almost like welcoming a new member aboard TMS. Cheers.Buy now from Cricshop