Hello and welcome back to the Bishop and Bear. Now who do you think of when you think about a hard man? Vinny Jones, Norman Hunter? Mike Tyson? Nigel Walker?

Well, it’s none of those that we are discussing in the old B&B today. We want to focus on Cricket’s Hard Men – the Toughest Characters from the History of Cricket and our guest on the barstool of bravado is Richard Sydenham, sports journalist and author of a book which is all about that very subject – Cricket’s Hard Men. 

So, what actually constitutes a hard man of cricket? The truth is there is no simple definition. Whether it's resilience to defy injury from players like Kepler Wessels, Mike Atherton and Allan Border; sheer physicality from cricketer turned cage fighter Adam Hollioake; the bloody-mindedness to snub tradition by Douglas Jardine and John Reid; a chest-thumping need from Arjuna Ranatunga to show pride for a flag that had a reputation of being soft in the cricket world; or the blind courage of Brian Close, each player has his own unique story.

Cricket’s Hard Men is a cricket book with a difference, not focused on runs, wickets and averages but on the characters who have excelled in the challenging environment of professional cricket, through the generations. Richard has picked 22 of them and mad a very good case for their inclusion. Here is the full 22:

Mohinder Armanath, Michael Atherton, Eddie Barlow, Allan Border, Brian Close, Brian Davidson, John Edrich, Andy Flower, Roy Fredericks, Adam Hollioake, Douglas Jardine, Javed Miandad, Anil Kumble, Bruce Laird, Dennis Lillee, Arjuna Runatunga, John Reid, Viv Richards, Graeme Smith, Steve Waugh, Kepler Wessels and Peter Willey.

But who is the ultimate Hard Man of Cricket? Listen here to find out who we think and let us know who would make your cut!

You can find the book here But of course, other retailers are available.

Cheers!

Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman

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