Richard Heller

White on Green – A Brilliant Celebration of Pakistan Cricket

Peter Oborne is already well known as a political commentator, in print as well as on TV and radio, but he is a successful author, especially where cricket is concerned, in which he is already an award winner. Richard Heller is a successful author who assisted Oborne with his research for Wounded Tiger. They have joined together to write what I believe is a brilliant and incisive look at Pakistan cricket.

Like many English cricket fans my knowledge of Pakistan cricket is superficial at best, mainly ignorant not having to think about them until we have tests against them every couple of years. What Oborne and Heller do in White on Green is to take the reader on what is a fascinating journey in which is revealed the impact of cricket on the people of Pakistan. Most people already recognise that on the Indian sub-continent cricket is the sport, but I never realised the impact it has on the state of Pakistan.

What I like about this book is that it looks at cricket at all levels in Pakistan, not just at the test level, but also gives plenty of space for the history of the game. With insightful interviews with players such as Dera Ismail Khan who played in the side who played in the heaviest defeat not just for Pakistan but cricket at large.

All the greats of Pakistan cricket appear in this volume, both past and present as they describe some of the things the game has had to overcome in the country. Also how the game is still popular even though the test side now plays out of Abu Dhabi the game is watched on TV as well as being played out on the streets still.

The love and the passion that the Pakistanis have for the game comes through in the writing and research that has gone in to this book. Both Oborne and Heller write with a passion about a sport and a country that are often misunderstood by many, and they give us a stunning portrait of the nation and its game.

White on Green is one of the most compelling books that I have read about cricket in a long time, with great insight this is an evocative commentary on the country’s love of the game. If we are all honest we are all ready to criticise Pakistan and their cricket team, but with a little more understand maybe we will approach them with a more open mind, and this book will certainly help.… (plus d'informations)