by Mayukh Ghosh

" The South Wales express sped through the Severn Tunnel and on into Glamorgan. I sat, chin cupped in palm, and brooded....and listened. The wheels clattered on:
"You'll never get a run. You'll never get a run. You'll never get a run." I heard them.
And, I suppose, I hated them.
Yet I hardly dared to contradict them. Cricket had brought me this far, and now I felt that I had failed it; or more correctly, that I had failed all those who had shown confidence in me.
I had failed them not only at the first time of asking, but at the second- and then at the third."

Not many cricket books with a better beginning. In fact, the whole book (Cricket for South Africa) is beautifully written.

Not many know of his skills as a writer. Just like not many knowing how good a batsman he was.

But Jackie McGlew was special. He was so special that despite having a two-for as his best bowling in FC cricket, he once took a FC hat-trick!

Jackie McGlew was born on Mar 11, 1929.