Cooper Not Out by Justin Smith - A cricket story, entertaining, but not great literature. Post contains spoilers.

Cover sourced from publisher's website, Penguin Australia

Cooper Not Out.
This post contains spoilers

I just finished my latest book on the commute home this afternoon; it was fine. That’s not really a glowing recommendation, and in part, that’s because I’m not really sure how I feel about it – but, I’d love for you to join me in exploring the novel by Justin Smith, Cooper Not Out. In heading to the publisher’s website, I’ve just read that the author is a journalist – and that starts to make sense.

You see, this story centres around country police Sergeant Roy Cooper – he’s 48, and with a bit of a belly, but every week he turns up at the local cricket club to bat for his local team, Penguin Hill. It’s the same routine he’s been doing for decades, and the curious thing about him, in that all that time of batting, he’s never ever gotten out. Funnily enough though, he’s also never made many runs, he just blocks the ball or ducks out of the way. However – young school girl, Cassie, completes a statistics assignment on her local hero – and she finds the curiosity of never getting out leads Roy Cooper to potentially being the statistically greatest batsman in history!

Cassie sends her project to a sports journalist in Melbourne, Donna Garrett – who takes up the story, positioning the fictional character of Roy into the real world events of 1984. In 1984 the West Indies cricket team visit Australia with a pace attack that was unbeatable – and they well and truly smashed Australia in that series. Justin Smith re-writes history with his novel, setting up the need for the Australian Cricket Selectors to pick Roy – an unknown player who has never played anything beyond country cricket – yet, through the journalism of Donna Garrett, he becomes a national celebrity – even Bob Hawke was giving him a thumbs up in fictional interviews with the press.

SPOILER MOMENT: This leads into Roy coming into the Australian team at the fourth test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Australia had already lost the first three games of the five game series – so it was seen as a bold move from the selectors – a novelty, and amid all the hype – Roy walks out to the middle of the oval – where he faces his first ever ball, and for the first time in his life, he is dismissed. The story of the cult hero is broken.

However, into the second innings of the test match, Roy again takes to the middle of the oval – and, he starts to bat, holding on to his wicket with unmatched determination, allowing batters at the other end to establish themselves and make some runs. Through the day and a half of batting, Roy has a few moments where the ball hits him, but he keeps his wicket as his teammates fall around him. Then, with two overs (12 more balls) in the game to play, the unthinkable has occurred: The unbeatable West Indies team, and Australia, are both tied. Roy Cooper is on strike, but he is hit again and he can barely hold the bat up – given the pain in his arm. The tension is built – and given his fallibility demonstrated in the first innings, the reader is on the edge of the seat – as the atmosphere and commentary of the game seems so real. Will Roy Cooper survive the over? But then, he doesn’t just survive, the ball hits Roy’s bat and floats over the slips – allowing Roy to score one run – the winning run, and his only score in the match, despite his longevity at the crease!

Roy Cooper is not out, and establishes himself as a national hero – he is celebrated all around the country, including a parade in his home town. But, he never plays again – he has jobs around the house to do, and shifts rostered on at the police station. Playing for Australia becomes secondary to his relationship with his mates – and his ability to take a bath on a Sunday afternoon!

The Verdict:
I’ll be honest, I didn’t initially think I would finish this book. The novels opening chapters were incredibly flowery in its language – simile on top of simile, throw in a metaphor, and wording which was a bit verbose. It all felt over-constructed and a bit unnatural. The humour was, the narrator wrote of the journalist in his novel, Donna Garrett, that she had to be mindful not to over-write with too many similes – I kept thinking: take on your own advice!!

But then, the narrative voice shifted – and it seemed to be more focused on telling a good story and painting his characters and the details of their lives – and all of a sudden, the novel took on a new life and it became rather enjoyable – to the point of the climax at the cricket match – it became brilliant in its ability to position me in the game.

That’s why I don’t know how I feel about it, or what I’d recommend it for. You see, I liked it, but I’d never read it again. It’s the kind of book that is incredibly forgettable – but, maybe didn’t deserve that title either. It was set in 1984 – and it’s cultural references from the time were able to powerfully transport me back to a bygone era. Do you remember television sets which had a remote on a cord? I remember having one of these in the early 90s – Dad was the only one allowed to use it. There were a number of similar references throughout which made me smile, but I now find myself forgetting them.

How about then I frame it like this: this book will sell a heap of copies while it stays on the new release list, but medium term I think this will quickly find itself on the discounted book pile – and in a couple of years time, I don’t know if the plot was powerful enough to give it the longevity to stay in bookshops.

The score: 5.5/10 – entertaining, but not great literature.
Would I recommend it: Nope – I couldn’t talk passionately enough about it.