Batting on the Bosphorous
A Liquor-fueled Cricket Tour through Eastern Europe
- ISBN: 9781926812007
- Tags: Angus Bell, Sports & Recreation,
- Published On: 01/04/2012
- 352 Pages
"
In Batting on the Bosphorus, a hilarious and eccentric traveler’s tale, Scotsman Angus Bell leaves the Montreal magazine industry and sets off in his Skoda to discover a hidden cricketing world across central and Eastern Europe. From Estonia to Crimea, Bell learns that Slavs are playing the Englishman's game.
Between games, Bell is pursued by the KGB, becomes embroiled in a drug bust on the Midnight Express, and seeks emergency treatment from a Romanian dentist. His travel companions include a Guatemalan anarchist, a Ukrainian chicken, and a tobacco farmer who played cricket and rugby for Rhodesia.
""Like A.A. Gill, another Scottish-born travel writer with a gimlet eye, Bell's participatory journalism is immersed in snappy, concise observations that create genuine belly laughs."" -- Globe & Mail
""Bill Bryson meets Jack Kerouac, peppered with Judith Chalmers...Priceless!"" -- All Out Cricket
~"Agnus Bell is a 27-year-old, whisky-swilling Scotsman with a first-class degree in English, Flying Saucers and Space Studies. He has visited 40 countries, and has written for the South African Sunday Times, Inside Sport in Australia, the US Student Traveller, Cricinfo in India and The Wisden Cricketer in the UK. Originally self-published to great acclaim in 2006,
"Batting on the Bosphorous has an eye-catching cover, an explanation of cricket for the novice, and the glossary of terms. While it focuses on cricket, it is a travel memoir at heart, and readers will enjoy descriptions of places in Eastern Europe that they've been or would like to visit." -About.com
"Like A.A. Gill, another Scottish-born travel writer with a gimlet eye, Bell's participatory journalism is immersed in snappy, concise observations that create genuine belly laughs . . . Even if you've never picked up a cricket bat, Batting on the Bosphorous is a great read from a very funny wee man." -Globe & Mail
"The book is an incredible debut by Angus Bell, who jumped on this most unlikely of trips on a whim after being advised by a psychic. The result is a laugh-aloud mix of melodramatic comedy scenes and poignant observations about some of the world's most underrated destination . . . it's a trip about barriers and preconceptions, against the backdrop of the world's oddest sport. A great read." -Real Travel Magazine
"The cricket world is generally considered to consist only of England and its ex-colonies. Bell, prompted by a Canadian psychic, set out to disprove this by embarking on a cricketing tour of Eastern Europe . . . Crossing borders, dealing with corrupt officials and taking on all manner of opponents, this sporting Everyman undertakes a surreal odyssey and discovers the passion that cricket breeds in the most diverse people." -Books Quarterly
