Ashes to Dust: The Nightmare Before Christmas - Softcover

England's Nightmare Revisted. England's Ashes tour to Australia in the winter of 2006 was certainly a disaster on the field, but what was the trip like for the fans who followed the team throughout the series?In Ashes To Dust, Graham Cookson seeks to provide a colourful diary of exactly what it was like during the tour with celebrity spottings, verbal jousting with the Australian fans and, of course, humiliation in the middle all discussed in detail. The Australian fans are roundly criticised, not surprising when you consider just how grating it is to lose to your rivals. However, if Cookson is to be believed they were roundly beaten by the travelling fans in terms of their support for their side.The cricket is described, as you would expect given events on the field, through the eyes of a disgruntled fan.It is because of Cookson's acceptance of England position you warm to him as he describes the key moments of the series from his perspective, such as missing Ashley Giles dropping Ricky Ponting because he was in a queue for a beer.It is because of these pitfalls Cookson faces the book is such an enthralling read as I doubt many cricket books recall dumping a hired bike by a river and the troubles surrounding the 'Wiggles'.Cookson's account is certainly well worth a read, especially if like me you want to know exactly what it's like for a pom in Australia.But the one question that remains is whether Cookson will have the chance to write a diary on a successful Ashes tour? - Nick Hext

"Ashes to Dust" charts the disastrous 2006/7 Ashes Test series from the point of view of a member England's incredible phalanx of committed supporters - The Barmy Army. Many members of this dedicated, and some would argue, slightly crazed, group watched every ball of every day of the Ashes. But, as their cricket team failed miserably, the focus quickly turned to trying to at least out-doing the Australians in the one area where we are world leaders; sarcasm and humour - black, black humour. Rubbing shoulders with the Barmy Army, the Aussie cricket fanatics, as many celebs as possible, the stewards and police, and paying particular attention to engaging in banter with the 'irony-free' natives, Graham Cookson, who quit his job to embark upon the trip of a lifetime, saw his dreams of English victory turn into his biggest nightmare - total humiliation at the hands of Australians. Having become a national hero back in the UK thanks to his deadpan appearances as BBC Radio "Five Live's Barmy Army" correspondent as the Ashes lurched from disaster to even worse, and writing a hugely poplar blog on yahoo.co.uk, Graham also spent a night on the tiles with Sky TV's David Lloyd - Bumble to all cricketing fans - witnessed the dampest of squibs that was the Barmy Army Christmas party and tells how he watched England's only success of the tour - victory in the ensuing One Day international series - from the comfort of his home in Lancashire, having returned home battered and metaphorically bruised from his chastening experience. Bloody typical! "Ashes to Dust" is not written by a well-paid journo sitting in an air-conditioned press box wringing their hands at the horror. It is written by someone who has sung, shouted, drunk and exchanged insults with the Aussies on behalf of Queen and Country, and occasionally taken the spoils. It's about feeling real pain whilst watching the demise of your team, sometimes in blistering heat. It's about dreams turning into dust.