To be honest I only bought this book because Alastair Cook was doing a signing and I had a deal to broker with him.On the one hand I found the book interesting; finding out how he became an international cricketer and what his thoughts on everything from the pressure of playing for England to what songs the team adopted on tours. On the other hand I think this was only the case because I'd not read any other England cricketer's book. Had I done so I'm fairly sure I'd have found this pretty bland and in all honesty; pointless. No disrespect whatsoever to Alastair Cook, he can certainly bat better than I ever will and has been a good player for the England team. He also seems like a very nice guy but well that's it; a good player and a nice guy. He's no Andrew Flintoff with stories of drinking aplenty and falling of Pedalos in the Caribbean. He's no Marcus Trescothick with harrowing stories of breaking down in Heathrow airport. In short he's just not all that interesting and he's also only 25 (23 when the book was published) I'm sure it makes perfect business sense to effectively release your autobiography in instalments as is certainly indicated by the title but really? Do we really need to hear your story so far? I for one would argue not.
I suppose the title makes a good recommendation in some ways and here's what I'd suggest; if you're just starting out reading cricketer's (auto)biographies, read this, then read about someone more interesting. The only good thing to come of this was the deal I made; I'll buy your book if you make sure we win the Ashes. And we did.
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