On Tour with Brian Booth: England 1961

The concept of this presentation "On Tour with Brian Booth - England 1961" is completely that of my good friend and encourager Ronald Cardwell. I must confess that initially I was not keen on the idea as diary entries are usually only relevant to the person making them. They leave out more than they say and act more as a memory prompt for the person writing the diary. This diary presentation came about almost by accident. My wife Judy was rummaging through a laundry cupboard and came across the diary. I was sitting at my desk when she came in and said, "Look what I have found", and placed the 1961 diary on my desk. I started to browse through it. In passing I happened to mention this to Ronald. He immediately showed great interest and said, "I would like to read that". The rest is history. All I have done is to provide Ronald with the raw material of te diary entries, photos, colour transparencies, items for additional photographing and the reading and checking of the script. The diary entries have not been changed apart from factual corrections and entries of some scores, where it was thought appropriate, or by the inclusion of an historical note. The insertion of 'stories' throughout the diary entries was the suggestion of my wife Judy and youngest daughter Jennifer. Wisely they thought this would give a "lift" to the diary presentation and help make it more interesting to read. .The diary entries themselves were never meant to be an analysis or detailed description of matches or a critique of personal performances, but rather brief notes as reminders of some things that occurred. At the end of the day's play I could never accurately tell a person the actual score. Perhaps the only exceptions in this presentation are the diary entries for the Fourth Test at Old Trafford, which happened to be my first Test match and therefore carried more personal significance. At that point it could well have been my last test. You can never take things for granted. However, I am still often asked the question, "What did you do on tour apart from play cricket?" Sundays were rest days. Hopefully the diary entries will give answer to this question. My thanks and appreciation go to the Captain of the 1961 team Richie Benaud for writing the Foreword and to his wife Daphne for her support and encouragement. The tour was a wonderful educational experience for me and I am Indebted to Richie especially, and the other members, for the valuable lessons learnt. Others who have contributed to this presentation have been acknowledged in another part of the document. However, my thanks and appreciation is also extended to them as well. I never cease to be amazed at the energy and ideas of Ronald Cardwell. We have been friends for almost fifty years. I know the time and effort he has put into this project. I hope for his sake it is well received and plays some small part to the historical significance of the game. He alone deserves all the credit. - B.C. Booth, M.B.E. June 2009 AUTHORS: Brian Booth played cricket for NSW and Australia between 1955 and 1967. He played in twenty nine tests, being captain on two occasions. Ronald Cradwell played grade cricket in Sydney. He is an Insolvency Practioner who enjoys collecting, writing and publishing cricket books. ILLUSTRATIONS b/w photographs throughout