Gleanings at their best

Parachutist at Fine Leg edited by Gideon Haigh (Aurum), 172pp, & £8.99

Another month, another book by Gideon Haigh. Or so it seems. One of the world's most gifted cricket writers is also, happily, one of the most prolific. For his latest offering he has turned his attentions to editing.

Editing is no less an arduous task - in this case this means the grunt work of grinding through 144 Wisden Almanacks to come up with the pearls of quirky happenings in cricket. Haigh explains: "Cricket is a funny game, but partakes of its fun seriously. Only a game so traditional, so formal and so ritualised could find so much scope for the odd, the unexpected and the ridiculous."

The very title Parachutist at Fine Leg gives you an instant insight into what's in store: referring to a Chilean cricketer-cum-parachutist - naturally - who lands into his position at fine leg. "The key to this story which gives it the authentic Wisden stamp is not, I think, the parachute, nor even Chile," says Haigh, "it is the insistent exactitude of the fielding position, fine leg."

The familiar Wisden yellow and typeface of the cover do the rest, while amusing understatement such as the following is also very Wisden: "The equanimity of the Lord's pavilion was disturbed when Gladwin, after being run-out by his partner, accidentally put his bat through the dressing-room window."

Other such gems, of best and funniest moments, abound, including my favourite: "The unluckiest participant was Watkin, who had his wallet stolen. He asked a member of the press to cancel his credit cards for him while he was in the field, leading to the unusual shout of 'Bowler's mother's maiden name.'"

But who would this book appeal to? Haigh told Cricinfo he didn't have a fixed idea of his reader (a refreshing admission) but believes it would be most suited to "the person who knows of Wisden as the Universal Source, but might never have troubled to browse in it." Even Wisden owners would welcome this book: as a detergent advert would have it, Haigh does the hard work so you don't have to: and, as ever, his endeavours pay off.

Being confronted with threads of so many different matches is a little hard going at first, but you soon warm to the theme. There's cricket played in Iraq and Basra; cricket interrupted variously by a snake and by a man in an Osama Bin Laden mask. All add to the charm.

Then again, even the most seasoned cricket fan needs more context for this - "Zimbabwe v South Africa, Harare, October 22, 1997 de Villiers opened what became the final over by bowling a paper cup." - though that's one of a few isolated examples.

A recent Guardian review described Michael Frayn's Collected Columns as "a toilet book par excellence, and that is in no way intended as a slight", and the same would apply here. Perhaps you would be better curled up on the sofa on a Sunday, as it is compelling reading.

For the record, Haigh's writing relatively ("relatively" being the key word) little cricket at the moment: more essay writing, including a 16,000-word effort on nationalism, general history and business. But cricket fans need not despair: he has another book out shortly - The (Green and) Golden Age, which collects a decade's worth of his thoughts on the Australia team.

In the meantime, get your Christmas stocking going early and fill-'er up with gleanings from Wisden at its quirky best.