Picture perfect

Given cricket's new-found popularity, it is likely that the coming weeks will see a plethora of books finding their way to the bookshelves in a bid to milk that market. Few, however, will be as lavish or as well produced as Oval Reflections.

There have been a fair few books about The Oval. While David Mortimer's offering, published at the start of the summer, deals with the history of England's oldest Test ground in depth, its appeal is very much towards the specialist. Oval Reflections, a coffee table book with knobs on, will appeal to the gnarled cricket enthusiast and the convert alike.

Beautifully printed, the real strength of the book is its illustrations. Many will be familiar, but having raided Surrey's archives as well as most picture agencies, David Norrie has been able to find a large number of remarkable images which are not in common circulation. From an early publicity shot of an elephant ambling across the outfield, to the rock concert in 1971 (The Who topping the bill), to the stunning aerial view of the ground as England won the Ashes in 1953, the images provide the wow factor.

Norrie's narrative is interesting, but the text rather jumps around and my own view would be that there should have been more pictures and a little less written word. But that is a minor gripe, and it is worth a read as well as a look.

The ever-present logo of sponsors Brit Assurance might upset some traditionalists, but it is a small price to pay for keeping a book of such size and quality so inexpensive.

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