There are few better qualified to write the sequel to Alan Gibson's masterpiece than Vic Marks, who played under four of the captains of whom he writes and has followed subsequent ones from press and radio commentary boxes. He begins this volume by reflecting on the idiosyncratic genius of Alan Gibson, whom he befriended in the writer's later years. With a foreword by Gibson's son Anthony, the join between the two books is perfect.
From Brearley to Stokes, there is almost more change in cricket and society in the 46 years covered here than in the 102 years spanned by the previous volume - and there are just as many characters and incidents. How could it be otherwise with a cast list that includes Ian Botham, David Gower, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen? In his own gentle and ever perceptive way Vic Marks tells the story and reflects on the successes and failures, providing a quiet treatise on captaincy.
Where Gibson ended by questioning whether Test cricket would survive a further 100 years, Marks strikes a more upbeat note, suggesting that no-one in recent decades has done more than Ben Stokes 'to keep a format, still beloved by so many, alive.'
Published as a matching pair with Gibson's original volume, it contains 16 pages of photographs and an 11-page appendix of biographical notes.
