Guest Review: Around the World in 80 Pints by David 'Bumble' Lloyd

Bestselling author and hugely popular commentator David 'Bumble' Lloyd takes the reader on an unmissable and hilarious tour of the cricketing world as he searches for the perfect pint.

After more than 50 years involved with cricket as a player, international, umpire, coach and now commentator, David Lloyd has travelled the world. It's all a long way from his childhood, growing up in a terraced house in post-war Accrington, Lancashire. But cricket has taken him all over the globe, and he has experienced everything from excruciating agony Down Under to the Bollywood glamour of the IPL - he's even risked it all to cross the Pennines into Yorkshire. 

In Around the World in 80 Pints, Bumble relives some of the most exciting and remarkable periods in his life, showing how his travels have opened up new and exciting avenues for him. The book is packed full of brilliant stories from famous Ashes matches and Roses clashes, sharing the commentary box with Ian Botham and Shane Warne, and much else besides - all told in his idiosyncratic style that has won him so many fans the world over. His previous autobiography, Last in the Tin Bath, was a huge bestseller, and this one is sure to appeal to anyone who shares Bumble's unquenchable love for cricket - and life!

Review: David Lloyd is a former cricketer who represented Lancashire and England, went on to coach the England cricket team and, currently, is a much respected commentator on the game. This book relates his journey as a cricketer, but also describes the important role played by the social side of the game. As the title of the book suggests, much of this socialising takes place over a pint in the club bar or a nearby hostelry once the day's play has finished.

The book is divided into three sections. In the first section, the author describes how he first started playing for Accrington Cricket Club in the Lancashire League, and the experiences of club cricket, before progressing to playing for his native county of Lancashire. He goes on to describe the various Test Match venues in England and Wales and the nearby cafes and pubs that he favours. The second section of the book describes his travels around the major cricket-playing nations of the world and the attributes that the various countries have brought to the game. In the third section, David Lloyd discusses being part of a broadcasting team, what improvements in the game he would like to see and where he thinks cricket's future lies.

As in his previous book that I read, this volume is full of the author's trademark impish sense of humour, with plenty of anecdotes and descriptions of many of the characters that inhabit the world of cricket. For an insight into the world of club, county and international cricket, the social side of cricket clubs and the life of a cricket broadcaster, I would recommend this book as a very interesting and amusing read.

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US