SUNSHINE, SIXES AND CIDER - A History of Somerset Cricket.**

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn, and no price-clip to dw/dj.B/w+colour photographic dw/dj with minimal creasing to edges.Black paper-covered b0ardds with gilt letters to spine/backstrip and plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn, 224pp includes b/w photographic frntis,profuse contemporary b/w photographs,an introduction,a bibliography and an index. Somerset County Cricket Club have,throughout their colourful history,been a byword for eccentricity and unpredictability.They've often been called 'most people's second favourite county',and the unwaveringly loyal West Country supporters would rate them even higher than that. David Foot traces the earliest stirrings,long before exploratory steps to form a county side were taken at Lansdown, Bath and later Yeovil. It was actually in 1891 that, as exciting upstarts,they burst onto the first-class scene.Those were the days under Sammy Woods' flamboyant leadership,when Lionel Palairet paraded his incomparable style and that magnificent and distinctive wicket keeper,the Rev 'Archie' Wickham,was one of the numerous men of the cloth to represent Somerset.In the first half of this century,success was usually elusive.But there were magnificent and surprising wins against top counties - and always a profusion of great characters,who make up the stuff of this book. From Herbert Hewett and Len Braund,through to John Daniell, 'Farmer' White,the Rippon twins,'Crusoe' Robertson-Glasgow, Arthur Wellard, Harold Gimblett and Bill Andrews: how many other counties could boast such a gallery of entertainers? There were low ebbs in Somerset's history,but the county were never dull and seldom out of the news.In the 50's and 60's they were cynically dubbed 'The League of Nations' as they imported fine overseas players like Peter Wight,Colin McCool,Bill Alley and even the great Greg Chappell.The whole story of elusive success changed with the arrival of Brian Close,coinciding with the spectacular emergence of the youthful Viv Richards and Ian Botham.Acclaimed for his biography of Harold Gimblett and other books on Somerset players,including Viv Richards and Jack MacBryan,David Foot has been a life-long lover and observer of Somerset cricket.As a journalist he has written about it for thirty-five years.Not merely a fully comprehensive and chronological account of one of our most discussed and warmly regarded counties; it is a sparkling human record,laced with anecdote and humour, that spans the generations.It also includes an invaluable up-to-date (then - 1986) statistical supplement.This edition is now out-of-print as the publisher ceased trading in the late 1980's. Please contact seller @ rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk , for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **