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Mike Atherton is the most articulate and perceptive captain of English cricket since Mike Brearley. He was also one of the most determined batsmen of the nineties, and as an opener, a vital component of the England team.
Atherton has played professional cricket for Lancashire and England for 15 years, despite a serious back complaint. He represented England in 115 Test matches and captained his country on a record 54 occasions. His recovery from a difficult situation in 1995 (when he was accused of ball tampering during the first Test match against South Africa at Lord’s) proved a tough hurdle, yet one that would strengthen his resolve.
His autobiography contains many serious observations about world cricket, as well as humorous asides and perceptive insights into the game. A born writer, this is Atherton in his own words.
Atherton has played professional cricket for Lancashire and England for 15 years, despite a serious back complaint. He represented England in 115 Test matches and captained his country on a record 54 occasions. His recovery from a difficult situation in 1995 (when he was accused of ball tampering during the first Test match against South Africa at Lord’s) proved a tough hurdle, yet one that would strengthen his resolve.
His autobiography contains many serious observations about world cricket, as well as humorous asides and perceptive insights into the game. A born writer, this is Atherton in his own words.
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Reviews
All an autobiography should be ... as an inspiration and blueprint to young men with ambition in sport it is exemplary.
Mike Atherton signalled that Opening Up would be his own work - and it shows. It's solid, structured, phlegmatic, intelligent and gently humorous - like his batting and, one gleans, like the personality he for so long sheilded from the media.
Outstanding. His ghost-free memoir is beautifully written, filled with considered argument, modest judgement of his own career, excellent observational anecdote and great humour. A brilliant book.
Opening Up reveals what his inscrutable face and deadpan accent have concealed all these years. Generosity, compassion, honesty, modesty, versatility... Opening Up is the most important book to emerge from the Engalnd camp since Mike Brearley's The Art of Captaincy. Its also the first by an England captain since Brearley that wasn't ghosted.
As considered and thoughtful as the man himself, it affords the reader a wealth of insights into the modern game.
His cricketing memoir is a triumph of clear thinking, honest assessment and beautifully straightforward prose. It is rare enough for a sportsman to write his own account; rarer still for one to lay bare his own inadequacies with such objectivity.
The book is outstanding. I commend this not only to avid cricket fans but to men and women who feel socially rejected.
Atherton has produced the best book by an England captain since Mike Brearley was redefining the role more than twenty years ago, and it was deservedly shortlisted for thr William Hill Sports Book of the Year.
[Opening Up] is a meeting with a most intriguing man: dogged decency, bloody-mindedness and a hefty taste for responsibility.