The Cricket Captains of England, 1979-2025

There are few better qualified to write the sequel to Alan Gibson's masterpiece than Vic Marks, who played under four of the captains of whom he writes and has followed subsequent ones from press and radio commentary boxes. He begins this volume by reflecting on the idiosyncratic genius of Gibson. With a foreword by Gibson's son Anthony, the join between the two books is perfect. From Brearley to Stokes, there is almost more change in cricket and society in the 46 years covered here than in the 102 years spanned by the previous volume - and there are just as many characters and incidents. In his own gentle and ever perceptive way, Marks reflects on successes and failures, providing a quiet treatise on captaincy. Where Gibson ended by questioning whether Test cricket would survive, Marks suggests that no-one has done more than Ben Stokes 'to keep a format, still beloved by so many, alive'.