Taradale features in book on Snell

"Hawke's Bay readers will enjoy [the] description of a Taradale crosscountry course Snell did as part of his build up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics."

When all the eating and drinking and the Christmas re-runs on TV become overbearing there's nothing more rewarding than finding a secluded spot for some quiet reading.

Hawke's Bay Today sports department offers a smorgasbord of books during the holidays when it becomes too hot and bothered in the backyard for cricket or petanque.

Tony Greig: Love, War and Cricket - A Family Memoir

Joyce Greig and Mark Greig

MacMillan

Okay, I started reading this book last summer and didn't finish it until the cricket season had come to an end. It was pointless reviewing it heading into winter but, like good wine, it's time to cork it now. The story on the late Tony Greig is a great insight into Kerry Packer and the birth of World Series Cricket in 1977.

With Australia and New Zealand co-hosting the ICC Trophy (one-day) World Cup early next year, this memoir has all the credentials of an epic TV series.

It actually succeeds in humanising what often many authors tend to unravel as mundane abstract snapshots of hard-core sports culture.

The story begins with Greig's mum, Joycie, who embarks on an extraordinary war-time love affair with a man not her husband, Sandy Greig, in South Africa.

It follows Greig to England where he became captain of the national team but got the sack when he forged ties with Packer in Australia.

-Anendra Singh

Peter Snell And The Kiwis Who Flew

Vern Walker

David Ling Publishing

Kiwi athletics great Murray Halberg gave his summation of this book with the following quote:

"A brilliant and highly descriptive account of the many thrilling races of the great era. The author colourfully describes the fear of defeat and the joy of victory."

Halberg was spot on. Author Vern Walker, a middle and long distance runner from the 1950s and '60s, has done a top job writing about many of his opponents.

Hawke's Bay readers will enjoy his description of a Taradale crosscountry course Snell did as part of his build up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics which Walker also completed.

"We raced past flocks of skittish sheep and over 30 high farm gates and hurdles, past guilty looking cows whose cowpats were laid out like steamy landmines," Walker wrote. This book, with its comprehensive statistics and rarely seen photos, would be a welcome addition to the library of anyone with a love of New Zealand sport. For athletics lovers it is a must.

-Shane Hurndell

Robbie Deans: Red, Black and Gold

Matt McILraith

Upstart Press

This book is of a similar ilk to Tony Greig, in that it gives you an insight on to excerpts of a tumultuous time in not only New Zealand rugby but also Australia.

It's a timeless biography of a man, Robbie Deans, who some believe should always have assumed the mantle of All Black coaching.

It traces the lineage of Deans five generations ago when unsuitable land in Wairarapa and Taranaki saw his ancestors gravitate to Canterbury where they spawned generations of All Blacks.

Deans, who was an equally adept at cricket as a youngster, reveals how he turned down NZ Rugby advances to coach the ABs.

He applied in 2001 but deep down knew he wasn't going to get a nod ahead of John Mitchell.

Later a self-deprecating Wayne Smith encouraged Deans him to go up against him. Deans doesn't speak evil of Mitchell but the book confirms, through Richie McCaw and Leon Macdonald, the worst-kept secret that the former should have been the head coach. The five years of turbulence with the Wallabies is more intriguing stuff.

-AS

Unsung Sporting Heroes

ABC Books

Those bloody Aussies ... they've pipped us again!

This book, which contains a selection of stories on unsung heroes from across the Tasman, is a tremendous idea. Listeners of the ABC Grandstand radio sports programme were invited to send in stories on their unsung heroes and this is a selection of the winners and highly commended entries.

I can't wait to see a New Zealand version. Because this is an Aussie book I don't expect it to be a big seller on this side of the Tasman.

However, those who do grab a copy won't be disappointed as there are some cracker stories. One on a runner who still crosses the finish line in spite of coming last, the cyclist who survives a paralysing bike accident to then compete as a Paralympian and my favourite about a budding AFL junior player who battles cancer twice in his teens to make a comeback before he turns 20.

-SH

-The Test - My Autobiography

Brian O'Driscoll

Penguin

When a footballer is an offspring of a generation of doctors, mental stimulation is a given. Brian O'Driscoll offers that in his autobiography to be released in New Zealand on January 5. I mean you've got a love a guy when he tells the cellphone generation where to go.

"Give me a picture! Sign this! Selfie!" is the standard request on the streets from Generation Y. O'Driscoll's reply: "I'll give you another go. Now try asking nicely ... "

The former Irish international, who toured with the British Lions four times and captained them once, takes the reader through his upbringing and work ethics. He reflects on that tackle from Tana Umaga that saw him stretchered off the field in several references to his trials and tribulations in New Zealand. It's always enlightening to read about an outside perspective of rugby, especially from the world's most-capped one.

-AS

The Cutting Edge

John McCrystal

Penguin Random House

Here is the perfect gift for those with teenagers who love driving fast on back-country roads and beating their mates in paddock races. Top form in those surroundings could lead to a career similar to that experienced by Kiwi rally legend Rod Millen. In other words, this book could prove inspirational for those back-country hoons.

Millen got serious about off-road racing as he travelled the back-country roads in search of the best surf. He went on to be New Zealand's best rally car driver, winning the New Zealand championship in 1975, '76 and '77 before leaving for the United States where he won the international Pikes Peak race six times.

Since then he has manufactured parts and developed vehicles for motorsport, the United States military and other industries which require specialised precision engineering. These days he divides his time between the United States and his Hahei estate on the Coromandel where he hosts the annual Leadfoot Festival which brings together a mix of classic cars, vintage motorcycles and motorsport legends.

Yes ... you never know where those paddock races will take you.

-SH