The best sports book I have ever read

This book is absolutely fascinating. I don't think I'll read
another book like this all year

A great read

It's such an honest book

It is fair to say there is nothing else quite like Wasted? on the
nation's bookshelves

Cricketer Paul Smith's life fell apart after he received a
drugs ban in 1996, which effectively ended his career. He was made a
scapegoat and still believes he was singled-out while several other,
favoured players were allowed to continue their careers. Paul lost his
house, his marriage, his children and, of course, his job.
How does a man come back from that?
In this extraordinary autobiography, Paul Smith tells the story of the
rock star lifestyle of a top cricketer, who produced Man of the Match
performances at Lord's to help Warwickshire to an unprecedented domestic
treble of trophies, which set him on the slippery slope to oblivion. He
then describes the torment of being an outcast, losing everything and
facing the stark choice of how to go on.
This is a modern morality tale with no holds barred and no quarters given
as Paul reveals the incredible sexual attraction that goes with being a
sports star, his descent into drug taking, the hero-worship that fans gave
him after his match-winning performances made Warwickshire the `Manchester
United of Cricket' and how he struggled to cope with this heady and potent
mix of adulation and demands on his time, body and emotional energy. And
how, eventually his life fell apart.
But Paul found redemption by using his own incredible experiences to
inspire inner city kids in both the UK and the USA to reject modern
temptations such as drugs, violence and guns. His work is testament to how
he has turned his own remarkable life around. He now works for the Prince's
Trust in Britain and with downtown youths in LA in tough, violent
districts, where he is the only non-black allowed. And his methods of
speaking to the kids about how he nearly ruined his life are working.
Nearly 50% fewer of those he spends time with in LA carry guns.
This book affirms that it is possible for a bad apple to turn good again
with mental strength, positivity and a hell of a lot of honesty.

"Review for Wasted?:
NO ORDINARY CRICKET AUTOBIOGRAPHY
It doesn't take long to realise Wasted is no ordinary cricket autobiography
Most have a cover star who looks like a vicar or middle manager, not a rock star; most have a foreword by Dickie Bird, or John Major, or Henry Blofeld, rather than the creator of Viz.
And while there are doubtless hundreds of cricket books with a chapter called 'Compton', I'll wager most of the others refer to Denis rather than downtown LA.
But Paul Smith was no ordinary cricketer; a thrilling strokemaker and genuinely rapid - if erratic - bowler, the Newcastle-born all-rounder was a key component of the successful Warwickshire side of the late 80s and early 90s.
But that success proved a double-edged sword for Smith, as success opened numerous doors marked 'temptation'.
His revelation upon retiring that he had taken recreational drugs throughout much of his professional career caused a storm that would ultimately cost Smith his livelihood, his marriage, his children and his home.
Certainly the ECB's decision to ban a retired player for two years smacked of embarrassed face-saving, but Smith is occasionally guilty of presenting himself as an innocent victim in his own story. He certainly devotes several pages to suggesting others got off far lighter than he did.
But generally, there is a refreshing honesty to Smith's tale and - unlike any number of Ashes 2005 winners - his is a story worth hearing.
The talk of carousing with the likes of Michael Hutchence and George Best may be entertaining, but they clearly come from a different time - a different man almost.
This book hits hardest when detailing Smith's darker moments, the homelessness, the dressing-room conversations he says ""appeared to be about me"".
Smith talks of returning to Birmingham after a Sunday game at Kent and being asked whether Warwickshire had won; he couldn't remember.
The usual dressing-room anecdotes are present and correct, but more often than not followed by a stinging barb that brings the reader sharply back to the pain and hurt that drive the story. Especially when team-mate Keith Piper - who had a long-running affair with Smith's wife - is involved.
Despite this, Smith's is ultimately a story of redemption; of rebuilding a life that appeared on an inexorable downward spiral.
Smith has devoted his post-playing days to using cricket as a means to help disadvantaged kids around the world. The fact he has such little contact with his own children is one of the book's most painful ironies, especially as his almost evangelical zeal for his current work rings through so strongly; his methods work, and he has undoubtedly improved the lives of countless youngsters in some of the world's toughest places.
Smith also dismisses the claims of those who suggest he failed to fulfil his talent. He points to seven trophies as justification but - as his own choice of title suggests - the question is a valid one.
Certainly, a player with his ability (he once scored over 1,500 first-class runs in a season as an opening batsman) should have ended with better than a batting average in the mid-20s and a bowling average in the mid-30s, regardless of selectorial whims or coaching incompetence.
They are disappointingly run-of-the-mill figures for such an exciting cricketer - the sport's first bimbo as Warwickshire captain Dermot Reeve put it.
As injuries took their toll, Smith was forced more and more to pick his moments to excel. He describes himself as an 'impact player'; a less charitable description might be bits-and-pieces player.
Wasted? is a cut above the average Freddie Flintoff biography (the sheer number of which in existence Smith dryly mocks in his introduction), and is one of the best rise-and-fall-and-rise-again stories you'll ever read.
Dave Tickner, Sporting Life

All-rounder Paul Smith was part of the most successful domestic
cricket team in the history of the English game. Warwickshire, under
captain Dermot Reeve, won every trophy in sight and were known as `the
Manchester United of cricket.'
Paul's contribution included a Man of the Match performance in the 1994
Benson and Hedges trophy victory, the year that Warwickshire won an
unprecedented domestic treble of County Championship, One Day league and
B&H Cup, while losing out agonisingly on the fourth and final prize, the
NatWest trophy in the final.
His world crashed around him after his hedonisitic lifestyle saw him
banned from playing cricket for admitting taking drugs, which while not
performance enhancing were illegal.
Paul rebuilt his life by using his own experiences to inspire inner city
kids in both the UK and the USA to reject modern temptations such as drugs,
violence and guns. He now works for the Prince's Trust in Britain and with
downtown youths in LA in tough, violent districts, where he is the only
non-black allowed. His work is bearing fruit. Around half of those he
spends time with in LA carry guns.

2007-10-10 Something of a wasted opportunity

Yes, I am glad that this book is not, in Paul Smith's words "another Freddie Flintoff auto/biography", and that it is what I would consider a "proper" sports book. Firstly it is clearly written by Smith himself as opposed to a ghostwriter from the field of journalism. However, I do feel he could have done with a little help in the book's general construction. It is as if Paul is recounting his memories in a chat, as one would in the pub, or dare I say it, after consuming a few drugs. It is extremely rambling, flitting from one memory and story to another almost paragraph to paragraph. I am still none the wiser as to who actually is the mother of Smith's first child. Sometimes he refers to "Caroline", sometimes to "the mother of my first child". Was Caroline his first wife ? Or the mother of his subsequent children ? It all gets very confusing very early on in the book. Similarly, at one instant Smith is describing working on his project "Cricket Without Boundaries" (CWB) in the USA, come the next line and he appears to be in Birmingham ! It drives the reader mad. That said, Smith appears to have undertaken some worthy projects since his leaving cricket and for that he must be applauded. It does take up a huge amount of the book though, at the expense of meaningful cricket anecdotes, of which there are surprisingly few.

Smith's chip on his shoulder weighs heavily on the book too, in many places - his resentment at having "carried the can" for every single drug taker in county cricket, his sadness and bitterness with regard to the custody of his children, and at times his self-pity mixed with a "so what if I took drugs" bravura. However, Smith refuses to "dish the dirt" on other cricketers on many occasions, preferring, albeit honourably, to tempt us with "I could name a batsman who used to get wasted every tea interval" recollections, only to proudly boast that he would never "drop his friends in it". Sorry, Paul, but a truly great read would have you naming and shaming all of them that you felt it necessary to do so. I understand his reluctance to "spill the beans" and admire it, but if one is to get beneath the skin and veneer of respectability of cricket then unfortnately, we as readers demand more. I really feel Smith has missed a trick here. I was looking forward immensely to reading this book, but found it to be something of a let down. Smith carps on endlessly about various perceived injustices to himself, missing the opportunity to write a really insightful look into county cricket. Simon Hughes' "A Lot Of Hard Yakka" does the job so much better.

Nevertheless, I stuck with it and would recommend others do so, as it is an extremely unusual book, not like any other sports biographies. Exactly what evidence there is of Smith being cricket's "first rock 'n' roll star" is questionable. A few passing references to Michael Hutchence and Van Halen and er, that's it. Not good enough I'm afraid. The book doesn't do what it says on the cover.

Finally, it's funny how the same review of this book by two different reviewers has appeared twice each among this book's reviews. One of the "reviewers" also reviewed a book about fathers for justice. You haven't been reviewing your own book in different guises have you Smithy ?