Customer Reviews
Very Poor and Boring - By: Mr. Leslie R. Berry, 28 Apr 2006 
I admit I never finished this. It was so poor I couldn't stand any more of the anecdotes. It was about as much fun as a duodenal ulcer. If you find "I went to Ilkestone one day. It was so windy my hat blew off" (readin a dour Yorkshire accent) at all funny, then you will probably enjoy the book. For the rest - avoid like the plague.
A travelogue of the cricket grounds of England and beyond - By: J. N. Shecket, 26 Nov 2001 
White Cap & Bails follows a different format from Dickie Bird's autobiography. Rather than being a chronology, it is a sort of travelogue, with a chapter devoted to each county followed by similar content regarding international grounds.
For each county, Bird gives his best anecdotes about the club, its grounds, & his personal experience with it, both as a player & an umpire.
I think the international section is a bit unneccesary, as it does not go into anywhere near the depth of the rest of the book. That would be better suited for another Dickie Bird release.
The most remarkable thing about White Cap & Bails is that, for the most part, it avoids repeating the same information from Dickie Bird: My Autobiography.
I reccomend this book to anybody who loves cricket.
A superficial, glib rehash of old stories. - By: , 10 Jan 2001 I admire Dickie Bird as an umpire & have memories of seeing him as a batsman for Yorkshire, & very promising he was too. I still see him nowadays when he visits Scarborough cricket club for Yorkshire matches, & he is a deservedly popular figure. However, this book is a grave disappointment. It is a highly superficial skim through the first class counties & major test playing countries, purporting to be Dickie's memories, but more often than not rehashing old stories of cricketers of the distant past. These can be foundin other publications, & those that can't are not worth repeating anyway. Some of the stories are so thin & lacking interest you wonder how they could be includedin a supposedly serious book. This reads like a publisher's attempt to milk Dickie's popularity, by throwing together a book of slender content, with nothing new to offer a cricket fan. It is not a worthy tribute to Dickie & it is a shame it bears his name. Avoid this one.
Amusing anecdotes of county and country cricketers - By: david.m.ringland@baesystems.com, 05 Jan 2001 
Dickie (with the help of a quite a few friends with long memories) details each individual county, recalling many of the characters through his own first-hand experiences & those of others. All the past greats of cricket are mentioned, each with their seemingly own personalised tale from a career that spanned many decades & even more countries. Umpires too are not excluded & are proven to be human after all! He also recalls many overseas players representing counties, & eventually goes on to reminisce his memories of all the current Test playing countries, players & places he has visited. For all the statistitions amongst us, there is contained general information precluding to all the county & country playing cricket teams. On the whole an easy to read book with plenty to keep the enthusiast entertained.
