NEWSOld Citizen Mike Brearley publishes his memoir

Old Citizen Mike Brearley (Class of 1960) has published his memoir, ‘Turning Over the Pebbles: A Life in Cricket and in the Mind’. Described as a ‘masterclass from England’s smartest Test cricket captain’ by one broadsheet newspaper, it includes wide-ranging meditations on sport, philosophy, literature, religion, leadership, psychoanalysis, music and more, as well as delving into Mike Brearley’s private passions, candidly examining the various shifts, conflicts and triumphs of his extraordinary life and career, both on and off the field.

Here is how the publishers, Hachette UK imprint, Constable, describe the book:

‘If you carry on like this, you’ll do nothing but play football and cricket all your life.’ These were the exasperated words of Mike Brearley’s mother, as he once again trod mud into the family home after a long day playing outdoors. They were also an unwitting but half-accurate prediction, for Brearley would become one of the most successful sportsmen of his generation by playing cricket for Cambridge, Middlesex and then becoming one of England’s finest captains. But for Brearley, cricket wasn’t just a physical activity, it was also an intellectual game, offering the chance to bring closer together body and mind. When his cricketing career came to end – during his playing days he had had a hiatus as a philosophy lecturer – he eschewed sporting commentary for a career as a psychoanalyst. In Turning Over the Pebbles, which he calls a ‘memoir of the mind’, Brearley reviews his life with its attendant emotions, tensions and moves. It is also a book of his second thoughts and reassessments, allowing him to understand more fully things that were obscure to him earlier. After all, he says, ‘captaining ourselves, like captaining a team, requires a willingness to allow thoughts and feelings their space’. Deeply thoughtful, erudite and elegantly framed, this book seamlessly blends all aspects of Brearley’s life into a single integrated narrative.

'Turning Over the Pebbles' is available on Amazon UK and most bookstores.