After his earlier success with Golden Boy, his biography of Kim Hughes, Christian Ryan has turned his attention to a series of players, unrelated, whom he has woven into Eleven We Burn Them in the Sun.

The cover photograph is interesting and is, I am sure, Greg Chappell batting at The Oval in 1977 in heavy rain where his unbeaten century helped Australia avoid a whitewash in the ODI series against England.

Amongst the players featured in the book who come from different eras and countries, some, to me, are familiar, others ring bells whilst some are new ones and both men and women feature in the XI.

I would say that the book is written in a conversational style. What was noticeable to me when I became more used to it was the amount and depth of the research which Christian has gone to in bringing these eleven people to life and back to life. The result is fascinating and so much can be learnt from the reminiscences of those interviewed who were close to their subject.

Some we can look up elsewhere in other publications and find a less personal resume. In Eleven We Burn Them in the Sun, we learn more about them and in a more tender manner. I did find myself needing to concentrate at times: some of the paragraphs stretch into pages, others into a line but it is eminently worthwhile.

One player mentioned, we may have to rely on views and comments of fellow friends and contemporaries for how good he might have been as his life was cut short by a road accident.

The case of John Watkins particularly interested me having read an article some years ago about his sole Test appearance - in which he finished with 6-1-21-0 - in which the author wrote that figures can be misleading. In this case, the article said, the figures do not look bad but that those there at the time saw instead a very nervy performance. Watkins was never given a further opportunity to earn a shot at redemption and to show what he could do. Christian, via the recollections of John Watkins, gives a more detailed account of what happened.

I saw also that another player who interested me also played the last of his six Tests in the same match as Watkins's only international match. Both combined in a late-order partnership which eventually gave Australia a sniff of victory. Bob Massie is not one of this book's subjects but is someone I wish more had been written about. Watkins's parting shot was to take the catch which completed Australia's improbable victory after Watkins and Massie joined forces with the bat.

Eleven We Burn Them in the Sun is, to me, enjoyable yet different and rekindles diverse and interesting experiences of players who deserve to be remembered fondly. Christian is to be congratulated once again.