Peter Miller – who helped write Alan Butcher\'s new book The Good Murungu – talks about his experiences helping write the book. Butcher will be signing copies of the book in the Glamorgan Cricket club shop before the ODI in Cardiff on Saturday.
When I was emailed to ask if I was interested in helping Alan Butcher with his book about Zimbabwe cricket, The Good Murungu, I was delighted. First and foremost because the Butcher name is one that has been with me throughout my whole cricket-watching life.
I grew up going to The Oval as a Surrey member with my father and over the last 15 years of living in Wales I have become a follower of Glamorgan. As Alan was a player of some renown for both of those counties his cricketing exploits were well known to me, but growing up in the 1990s I had watched his sons Mark and Gary as players and heard about their dad.
That Alan is as well thought of at both Surrey and Glamorgan, and of course Essex where he was coach, says a lot about the impression he has left in the places where he has worked and played. I first met him in the press box at The SSE SWALEC where we talked about how I could help with the book. He was very keen for it to be his words and I felt exactly the same. My role would be to tighten up what was written, not change it. I sub-edited what Alan wrote, not wrote it for him. And there really wasn’t any need for me to be involved with a light touch, as shown by the articles that Alan has written for ESPNCricinfo, he is a fine writer.
This story was one I wanted to be involved in telling as soon as I read it. There is so much written about Zimbabwe cricket and not much of it is based on an intimate and inside knowledge of the cricket and culture of the country. As a man who lived and worked in Zimbabwe for three years Alan is ideally placed to help the reader understand this fascinating place that is beautiful and ugly, sensible and nonsensical, rigid and free-flowing.
With the obvious caveats of my very real bias I would highly recommend that you read this book. It isn’t as much a biography as a travelogue and diary of the day to day life of an international coach working for one of the more dysfunctional sporting administrations in the world. There are trips to see elephants, car crashes (yes, more than one), fights with bosses, issues with players and even the occasional victory in a game of cricket. I can honestly say that reading what Alan produced is one of the more rewarding experiences I have had in cricket.
On Saturday 2 July Alan will be at The SSE SWALEC signing copies of his book at the England vs Sri Lanka ODI. If you are looking for a book to tell you more about cricket in Zimbabwe and more about a Glamorgan cricket stalwart you could do far worse than to part with some of your cash for The Good Murungu. I have been told that those that have read it since it was published that it is an enjoyable read.