'To describe Alan Ross as a polymath does scant justice to the eclecticism of an extraordinary man . . . Ross was a war hero, poet, bon viveur, travel writer, incorrigible gossip, racehorse owner and brilliant magazine editor.' Richard Whitehead, ObserverAlan Ross (1922-2001) - distinguished poet, travel writer, and editor of London Magazine - also managed to excel in the role of cricket correspondent for the Observer, in which capacity he followed England/MCC on tours of Australia, South Africa and the West Indies. In the book-length accounts he published of these tours, his lifelong love of the game found glorious expression. Cape Summer and the Australians in England (1957) treats the 1956 Ashes series, memorable above all for the bowling performance of Jim Laker; and the following winter's MCC tour to apartheid South Africa, where one of England's strongest ever sides had an unexpectedly tough contest and where, as ever, Ross's discerning eye and finessing pen were alive to dimensions of the game beyond the boundary rope.
