BOOK REVIEWS
Autobiography
Crazy: The Road To Redemption
Chris Lewis
We Rate:
BOOK SYNOPSIS
'Crazy' Chris Lewis played in thirty-two Test matches and fifty-three One-Day Internationals for England. At one point he was regarded as one of the best all-round cricketers the country has ever produced. However, feeling at odds with the middles-class nature of the sport, he regularly courted controversy off the field -and the tabloids happily lapped it up. His naming of England players involved in a match-fixing scandal led to his early retirement at the age of just 30. After this, he withdrew from the limelight until, in 2008, he was arrested for importing cocaine from the Caribbean and sentenced to thirteen years in Prison. From his arrival in England from Guyana with his parents, through his colourful cricketing career, his arrest and subsequent trial, his time in prison and how he finally put his life back together, here Lewis recounts his remarkable redemptive story.
OUR REVIEW
Before their was Ben Stokes, their was Freddie Flintoff, but before him their was Chris Lewis, arguably England's greatest all-rounder since Ian Botham but like with all the others before him and then after him, there seems to be an enigma about England Cricket all-rounders and Chris Lewis was the one that seemed to struggle more than any of them. Chris's story starts with a bang, a cricket player should be talking about cricket but despite his heady career in the game, the subject is his arrest for trying to import cocaine into the UK after getting mixed up with the wrong people. Understanding his actions and the shock and realisation of being sentenced to thirteen years in prison are explored straight up.
After this explosive start, we learn more about the upbringing of Lewis in his native Guyana and his life there which would ultimately be worlds apart from what he would face when he came to life in Britain like so many others, as his family sought a better life for not only Chris but for themselves and the rest of the family. Natural talent is a rare commodity but Chris was a latecomer to the game, particularly on the bowling aspect of the game which would arguably go on to be his strongest suit within the game. His school life is explored briefly with brief stories of his PE Teachers helping him to grow within the game before he begins his career within the domestic game, where he takes in a number of counties, some more successful than others but always interesting, with mishaps never far away.
From here we get his meteoric rise within the game as he quickly rises through the domestic game to earn England recognition. From playing in the Ashes to starring in the 1992 World Cup, and not forgetting getting sunstroke in the West Indies. His latter International career was cut short after the match-fixing scandal seemed to ostracise him from consideration which would ultimately see his disillusionment that saw him retire with more to give. The book charts a fascinating career that was left unfulfilled and evokes thoughts of what could have been and thankfully as the book is called, it is the redemption of a man that got caught up in a murky world but wants to be remembered for his cricket more than anything else!
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