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Illustrated by Ken Taylor (of Yorkshire and England)

‘Caught in the Memory’ is a portrait of English county cricket in the 1960s.

As in ‘Runs in the Memory’, his volume on the 1950s, Stephen Chalke has interviewed the players themselves, and each shares his recollections in the context of a memorable match.

The book tells the stories of twelve such matches, as if the reader is sitting and watching them, with the old cricketers talking away alongside. They talk about the skills of the game, the amusing incidents, the characters of their team mates, their way of life, and they reflect on how it has all changed. As one says, ‘The cricketer who plays the game now is only a third cousin, twice removed, from the animal who played in my era.’

It is a time of change, of growing affluence and greater leisure. Though county cricket is struggling to retain its popularity, there are some enthralling matches recalled here, and the old cricketers look back with fondness on their playing days: ‘It was great fun. I would love it to start again tomorrow.’

Stephen Chalke reveals a sympathetic ear for his subjects, a sense of humour and a deep love of cricket. Each chapter is a tapestry, woven from memory and contemporary report, evoking time and place.

Ken Taylor, drawing on his own experience as a first-class cricketer, has again contributed twelve colour portraits of his fellow players.

It is a book that records the thoughts and feelings of the players of those days. Through them it reminds us how much not just the game of cricket but our whole way of life has changed in the last forty years.