Looking to read a couple very funny novels about cricket in America?

           Look no further than Sticky Wicket, Vol. 1, Watkins at Bat, and Sticky Wicket, Vol. 2, Watkins Fights Back.

            Written by Ewart Rouse, a former newspaper editor and a founding member of the Echelon Cricket Club in New Jersey, the two novels are part of a trilogy. The third volume in the series, Sticky Wicket, Vol. 3, Watkins' Finest Inning, is due out in April.

            "What I have tried to do is capture a way of life for thousands of immigrants from India, Pakistan, the West Indies and other former British colonies where cricket is the national sport," said Rouse.

            "I've tried to tell that story through the eyes of the main character, Freddie Watkins, the manager of the fictional Fernwood Cricket Club, and to tell it in a humorous way- the players' fights with their wives to get away on Sundays to play cricket, their quarrels over who gets picked for the team, over umpire decisions, and all the shenanigans of a typical game. But, on a more serious note, it's also about their battle with local politicians and others who don't like the idea of foreigners taking over their fields for an entire day."

Sticky Wicket Vol. 1: Watkins at Bat            CLICK HERE

Sticky Wicket Vol. 2: Watkins fights back        CLICK HERE

            "Sticky wicket reaches across boundaries, bringing people together in a game of cricket," writes Sandra Amede, a New York literary critic. "It addresses the longings, the challenges and the nostalgia associated with migrating from one's own country, yet desiring to hold on to the things of childhood days that we cherish."

            Here's what others are saying:

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            "Sticky Wicket, Vol. 1, Watkins At Bat is a wonderful addition to contemporary cricket literature. The plot weaves the age-old themes of the sport into modern life... This first volume is a strong opener for what should be a successful series."

            -Paul Hensley, president of C.C. Morris Cricket Library at Haverford

College in Haverford, Pennsylvania, the largest depository of cricket

memorabilia in the Western Hemisphere.

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            "The scheming plots involved in getting some of the players, both young and old, away from their wives to the playing fie...will surely give any reader who enjoys a good laugh lots to laugh about."

- Carol Quash, Trinidad Guardian

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            "Playing cricket in the United States presents unique obstacles not faced by cricketers in more established cricketing countries. Ewart Rouse has depicted these obstacles well in the process of telling a humorous and interesting story."

            - Ron Knight, umpire, Mid-Atlantic Cricket Conference, Chapel

Hill, North Carolina.

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            "A bit of Watkins resides in all our hearts and homes. An entertaining narrative about the interaction of cricketing families in the United States, chronicled in a jocular way that makes reading Sticky Wicket fun and a must read for all cricket enthusiasts."

            - Shelton Glasgow, president, Garden State Cricket League; regional

director, Atlantic Region of the United States of America Cricket

Association, and USACA board member.

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            "It was hilarious reading how these fellows got away from their wives on Sundays to enjoy a game that we all grew up playing. I also was moved to see how cricket brought so many different races together."

            - Adrian Rahim, captain, Jersey City Cricket Club, Jersey City,

New Jersey.

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            "I read the novel during a flight from Philadelphia to Jamaica and laughed so hard, and so often, that passengers near me must have thought I had lost it."

            - Paul Francis, co-founder, Echelon Cricket Club, Voorhees, New

Jersey.

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            "I thought I was reliving my playing experiences in America while reading of the exploits of Frederick Watkins. It was hard to put down once I started it. I finished the book in one sitting. I was glad I didn't have to go out to bat during that time!"

            - Dan Ruparel, president, The Littleton Cricket Club and Colorado

Junior Cricket Association and former president Colorado Cricket League.

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             "Watkins At Bat is an entertaining romp with a motley cast of characters by an author whose love of the game of cricket is evident on every page. A wonderful adventure!"

            - Glenn Walker, owner/moderator of Writer Circle:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/writercircle/

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 Rouse "The author has used his favorite game as a metaphor to bring his feisty characters to life in a sparkling and humorous manner that is a delight. Ride along with Rouse's imagination in Sticky Wicket, Vol. 1, Watkins At Bat, and hurry; the 'cricket

train' is about to leave the station. Be on it!"

            - Paul Gordon, author of "Concrete Solution" "Van Gogh's Last

Painting" and "Bogey-man on Gaston Street."

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            Although Watkins At Bat "may, at first, seem simply to entail a game of cricket, it embraces much more. The theme of power permeates it: power in the home, power on the field, power for the field."

            --Myrtle Aberdeen, literary critic, New York.