Book Review: The Ultimate Test

It doesn’t take long after any Ashes series for the associated memorabilia and publications to start doing the rounds. So, in case you can’t remember, or you spent this summer under a rock, or you are ready to be nostalgic, here is an excellent day-by-day account of the 2009 Ashes series.

Gideon Haigh is one of the finest cricket writers around. So it comes as no surprise to find that he provides an excellent analysis of how the series was won and lost. If you followed the Times, Wisden Cricketer, or any of the other publications Haigh contributed to this summer, some of the contents of this book may be familiar, this being an edited version of all of those columns combined.

Many post-Ashes accounts fail to capture the nuances of the action, settling instead for an identikit blow-by-blow account. This is no such book. Haigh’s accurate analysis of each Test shines through, as does his attention to the sub-plots – such as the media campaign for Mark Ramprakash’s recall or Justin Langer’s dossier, for example – and the virtues or frailties of the characters involved. It is this narrative, which transmits the flavour of the series so well, that makes this book worthwhile rather than any description of the action.