Tall stories and true are the game’s oxygen, he says.

From an officiating umpire listening to a Test match with a transistor radio and earplug and asking the batsman if he had hit it, the first 100 years of the Victorian Country Cricket League are notable for legends, laughs, larrikins and local rules.

One bush umpire from Gisborne was known as ‘Santa’, so many lbws would he give each week. His personal best was nine… in one innings. 

Another mulled over an ever-so-close lbw appeal and finally said: ‘Not out.’ It was the last ball of the day. The following week the batsman was buckling his pads ready to resume when the umpire approached: ‘Eddie,’ he said. ‘It has been troubling me all week. You’re out!’

Stories, reminiscences and great moments flow through these pages. You will love it.