A Thirst For Life - with the Accent on Cricket

An autobiography by Henry Blofeld

(Hodder & Stoughton, £18.99)

Autobiographies, by their very nature, follow a similar format. You know what you are going to get.

The quality of the publication is often dictated by the quality of the person's life.

Henry Blofeld's book, A Thirst for Life - with the Accent on Cricket, is as rich in quality as the lifestyle he has chosen to lead since his rather strict upbringing in Norfolk and Eton.

The book echoes his Test Match Special commentaries, full of the English language used as it should be, and not lacking in substance, with more than 400 pages.

It may be a large book, but the prose flows like his favourite wine and before you know it his 60 years of living life to the full (so far) are over.

He regales you with stories of his passage to Asia in a classic car. He always seemed to be bumping into an old friend in whatever corner of the globe he happened to be covering cricket.

In fact, you get the feeling that the sport was almost a means to an end, as it provided the ideal chance for the Blofeld social circle to ever increase, although his outgoing manner means this was always likely to happen even if he had remained at his first job in the City.

The autobiography endorses the public image one has of "Blowers" and he never really delves into the private life that he evidently intends to keep that way, particularly in respect of the break-up of his first marriage which he touches on only briefly.

Because of this brick wall that he is, of course, fully entitled to keep up, you never really find out anything new about the man that wasn't already apparent from his public persona.

However, it is obvious who his least favourite people are (Geoff Boycott, Kerry Packer) and he doesn't mince his words, particularly in reference to Packer who feels the full force of Blofeld's often wicked prose.

A book this full of delicious anecdotes makes you pine for the life of a cricketing journalist and the perks, which seem to outnumber the downsides, that go with it.

Andy Holmes