Turning Over the Pebbles: A Life in Cricket and in the Mind

Product Information

That impression continues here in this singular memoir that eschews the traditional model of linear life narrative, boldly going where few memoirists have gone before along a meandering route, free associating about life, experiences, literature, figures in philosophy and psychoanalysis (especially Wittgenstein and Wilfred Bion), all the while identifying the meaningful threads in the warp and weft, drawing them together into a pleasing weave. A strong merit is the depth in which various issues are aired, and the ability to articulate and appreciate different points of view other than his own – rarely is he opinionated or intransigent. Among those considered are the clash between sports lovers and culture lovers over which is the higher intrinsic value, the benefits or otherwise of studying Classics at university, and different interpretations of literary writers. He was sceptical about the attractions of working for the Civil Service, yet allowed himself to be interviewed for the position of a spy based overseas!

Deeply thoughtful, erudite and elegantly framed, this book seamlessly blends all aspects of Brearley’s life into a single integrated narrative. With wide-ranging meditations on sport, philosophy, literature, religion, leadership, psychoanalysis, music and more, Brearley delves into his private passions and candidly examines the various shifts, conflicts and triumphs of his extraordinary life and career, both on and off the field. In fact, he did not become an exclusive homo ludens, but is blessed with an open, playful approach to life in general. The blessings didn’t stop there: he also has a first-class mind, stable temperament, capacity for hard work, and a sharp eye for the chances sent by serendipity. He writes in this new memoir, Turning Over the Pebbles, that he had “by then developed a technique organised around a fairly sound defence, a somewhat limited range of strokes, and a rather tight kind of courage against fast bowling.” That combination of judicious self-praise and candid self-criticism is entirely characteristic of his style, both during his sporting career and afterwards in his rather unexpected choice of post-retirement vocation: psychoanalysis.Then I saw Sam Mendes’s film about Ben Stokes. I knew about the court case [when Stokes was charged with, and eventually cleared of, affray in 2017] and his father dying but suddenly you see the same thing in Stokes. He had also been depressed and he eventually overcame it by lifting the game to another level. I’m thinking particularly of the more optimistic, almost manic, side which means Stokes believes one should never play for a draw. I don’t agree as there have been some great achievements in playing for a draw and always going for the victory is a bit over the top. But that may be part of what enthused the team. I was really interested to read Stokes saying he would do the same against Australia.” If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month.

It was famously said of Brearley during his captaincy that he had a PhD in people. I can thoroughly recommend his earlier work, a distillation of leadership insights from that period, The Art of Captaincy. I first heard about it twenty years ago when teaching in London and have read it repeatedly: the model of an open-minded leader with a confident sense of self is one that I treasure. Can life ever be perfect? Of course not: that isn’t the point of life, but that shouldn’t stop us learning from and enjoying the ride. Towards the end of this hugely enjoyable book, we have a pithy anecdote on Wittgenstein: ‘Shortly before he died, [he] said, “Tell them I’ve had a wonderful life.” He also said that fear of death is a sign of a life not well lived.’ Why do we do this? Well, whatever your intentions were at the beginning of a year, six months later, any one of the following could have happened: Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial? The title of this book comes from a remark made about Brearley’s conversational manner by an American sports journalist. Brearley, he wrote, spoke “as though he had been turning over pebbles, searching for the clearest, most precise [...] opinion to plop into the pool of conversation.” Brearley’s accounts of half a life in sport followed by another half as a psychoanalyst share that quality.He laughs when I say I might suggest his new phrase of Benbuzz replaces Bazball as shorthand for England’s dangerously thrilling strategy. “You certainly can,” Brearley says in amusement. “It’s going to be fascinating, whatever happens.” Mike Brearley and Ian Botham walk off as spectators rush on to the outfield during the sixth and final Ashes Test in August 1981. Brearley remained undefeated in 19 home Tests. Photograph: Getty Images Was Brearley surprised how open Stokes has been about his psychological fragility? “Yes I was, but it was such a good sign that a big figure like Stokes could talk about it frankly. I have a lot of time for him and think there’s a great deal of resilience, self-confidence and a willingness to change in him.” There is unity, of a kind, in all this, but one needs to put oneself in Brearley’s hands to let him reveal it – and himself – in his own way. His reminiscences of the neglected Cambridge philosophers with whom he had once studied (John Wisdom, Renford Bambrough) will be new even to those who have heard all his tales of playing with Gower and Gatting. His gentle explanations of the theories of the philosophers and psychoanalysts who influenced him – Ludwig Wittgenstein and Marion Milner among them – are accurate and accessible without feeling in the least dumbed-down. Throughout these Memoirs, there is a refreshing use of language being employed in the way of everyday expression (perhaps a nod to Wittgenstein?). Liberal use is made of abbreviations such as: it wasn’t only, I don’t, I can’t recall, I’d read, we’ve all…Perhaps it is something that Brearley absolutely insisted on. Other publishers ought to follow suit: it’s far overdue!

Philosophy didn’t hurt either. Both for what it said and what it provoked in Brearley. Wittgenstein’s image of philosophy as a way of showing the fly out of the fly-bottle is unsatisfactory, says Brearley. “It sounds as though it might be done once and for all simultaneously. Reality is more complex; our reasons for being trapped are more deep-seated, and the ways in which resistance to insight and to change occurs are multiple.” This is followed by a revisitation of Brearley’s appearance on Radio 3’s Private Passions, exploring his choices of classical music, including a perhaps surprising selection of Birtwistle’s Punch and Judy, then onto a fascinating chapter on Bion, a seminal influence on Brearley personally and professionally. A World War One Tank officer, Bion won the DSO, laconically remarking: “I think I might with equal relevance have been recommended for a court martial. It all depended on the direction which one took when one ran away.” This could probably apply to everyone, in one way or another.You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. Turning Over the Pebbles is not as other memoirs. On the one hand, Brearley reveals little of himself. Who does he vote for? How does he spend his days? What of friendships and enemies? On the other, he reveals everything. We know who he is now – or, at least, in our own minds, we think we do. It sounds contrived, but Brearley’s skill as a knowing – although never self-deprecating – narrator makes it work. He admits to being regarded as an “odd fish” in a testosterone-fuelled dressing room, whether taking his blokey teammate Fred Titmus to see Benjamin Britten’s opera Peter Grimes (“Fred was taken with it”) or bearing the brunt of Geoffrey Boycott’s temper: “I don’t want any of your egghead intellectual stuff,” the Yorkshireman growled at him. We listen in at various points to Brearley’s thoughts on religion. Being a spiritual, open-minded atheist, he appreciates the many benefits of religion whilst not being personally persuaded of an afterlife or any divine ‘ultimate reality’. He wanders from Jesus to Billy Graham to Ezekiel, also introducing the analyst Donald Winnicott and his views of transitional objects. It comes as little surprise that Brearley knows and respects Rowan Williams, a previously (famously erudite and open-minded) Archbishop of Canterbury.