FOR quirky fascination it can’t beat JL Carr’s extraordinary Dictionary of Extraordinary Cricketers.

Nothing can. For absorbing, largely statistical, detail over the illustrious canvas of the first-class game it can’t equal Wisden. Nothing can. Still, once any cricket fan dips into this wide-ranging compendium, he or she will be unable to resist its inspired mix of records, biographies, and yes, sheer unashamed trivia.

“Out By a Nose” reads the heading over an item telling how a ball that struck Mike Gatting on the nose fell on to his wicket. “Botham the Leg Breaker” turns out to be Botham the mighty batsman, who broke Sunil Gavaskar’s shin with a literally cracking square drive. “Was Jack the Ripper A Cricketer?” asks the heading on another entry. Read on.