Tom Cartwright: The Flame Still Burns, by Stephen Chalke

Tom Cartwright has led a full life as a player with England, Warwickshire and Somerset and a coach with the last. He should have played more for England. He should have coached his country.

That he never did so is England's loss. As this excellent book demonstrates, Cartwright has no need to blow his own trumpet; a queue of professionals is only too willing to sing his praises. To him, for instance, can be given credit for turning a talented upper-order batter at Somerset from a "joke" nets bowler into a world class all-rounder - Ian Botham.

A thoughtful man, Cartwright was able to draw on a wealth of knowledge that went back to the mid-Victorian era, via his mentor and "guru" Tiger Smith, the legendary Warwickshire batsman, wicketkeeper, coach and éminence grise. Cartwright's analytical brain helped him develop an understanding of the way the body moves long before the likes of Australia's John Harmer established the science of "biomechanics", something which Harmer acknowledged.

But in addition to being a coach of the highest calibre, Cartwright was also a principled man, a fighter for the individual with the courage to challenge the "establishment", which forever viewed him warily.

He pre-empted football's Bosman ruling in 1970, when he moved from Warwickshire to Somerset without the blessing of the Edgbaston administration. Two years earlier he had briefly been made an unwitting pawn in the Basil D'Oliveira affair, when he was put under a great deal of pressure to go on tour to South Africa. In the end injury and a shoulder operation meant that he pulled out, but Cartwright's anti-apartheid views almost certainly played a part in his decision.

Cartwright has lived a full life and a couple more volumes would be required to really do justice to his achievements. Sadly this book, which is intended as a celebration of Cartwright's life, is all the cricket public is likely to be left with. Shortly before its launch Cartwright was taken seriously ill. He is not expected to make a full recovery.

It is the saddest of ironies that this book, which was four years in the writing, should be published just as the flame of Cartwright's life begins to flicker. At least the torch he has held for coaching can be passed down to future generations - as fitting a memorial to the man as anything can be.