VIOLENCE and mayhem isn't normally what people associate with the gentlemanly game of cricket ? which normally conjures up an image of the gentle thud of leather on willow on a lazy summer day. Yet the game has more than its fare share of drama, controversy and downright skulduggery as evidenced by a book written by former journalist Nigel Henderson.

The covers deaths at the crease, fisticuffs, slashed jugulars, riots, streakers and cheating.

It is the first book for Henderson, a cricket fanatic, who now works on sports desk of after leaving Bermuda in 2000.

He says: "I was tired with reading stuffy cricket books, rehashes of old 'great innings' as chosen by an ex-cricketer looking to make a quick buck to help them through retirement. I wanted to write the kind of book I would enjoy reading myself.

"And as anyone who has played the game knows, it is an often unforgiving one, but those serious moments on the pitch are often laughed about in the bar later on and I wanted to reflect that kind of dark tone in a humorous way.

"I should stress all the examples come from what I would term 'first-class' cricket because so many cricket stories are merely apocryphal and I wanted their to be a strong element of truth in the stories I have told, although I admit there is an element of journalistic licence in some of them. Despite the title, I believe cricket is a great game, but part of its fascination is its shadow side and sub-plots, sometimes ones that take place away from the pitch itself.

"I also wanted to finally nail the myth that cricket has always been this 'gentleman's game'." Things may have got worse in the last 20 or 30 years, but it was never as pure as has been portrayed, as plenty of examples from the 19th and early 20th centuries in the book show.

The book was compiled after long hours poring over microfilm in the Newspaper Library in London, checking the stories had some foundation in truth and filling out the background.

Some examples came from memory from following the game from about 1970, says Henderson, while others came from the vast volumes of cricket literature that exist.

It took him about a year while working full-time at ; although some of the groundwork had been laid about eight years ago, before he came to Bermuda, in a couple of articles he'd written for , a now defunct English cricket magazine.

Henderson has played for years, starting with the Surrey Young Cricketers and Surrey Club and Ground (a one-day side made up of Surrey second XI players/fringe first-teamers and promising younger players) in early 1980s. He went on to play club cricket in the Surrey Championship and the Yorkshire League, playing with and against players such as Alec Stewart, Devon Malcolm, Ken Rutherford (former New Zealand captain) and Wasim Raja.

"In fact I scored my first hundred in club cricket when Alec Stewart was keeping wicket for opposition."

He was disappointed not to have had the time to played more than a handful of games for Forties in Bermuda due to work commitments, which also prevent him playing much now.

But he has fond memories of covering sport in Bermuda which provide a contrast to life on .

"It's a question of resources really. At a major paper like , they'll think little of sending nine or ten journalists, plus photographers, to an event like the Olympics, and then there'll be a team of probably ten to 12 editors working back at the office on the material that they send.

"can usually only send one person to such events and needs to rely on wire services such as AP and Reuters for any information not directly connected to the Bermudian team.

"If Bermudian competitors are taking part in different events at the same time, it's hard for the reporter to be in two places at one time, so obviously has to make alternative arrangements to get the information."

He faced that problem when covering the CAC Games in Venezula for the in 1998.

"While a lot of the focus was the athletics stadium, we had cyclists and triathletes taking part in events on the outskirts of the city in Maracaibo, sailing taking place an hour's flight away and the women's hockey team up in Caracas.

"It meant liasing on the phone with a lot of different officials from the various sports and trying to make it sound as if you had been there to witness it all!

"When you're taking notes, you can miss something crucial. I remember rather embarrassingly getting the score of a football match I was covering at Devonshire Rec wrong.

"I hadn't noticed, as I had my head down scribbling notes on a goal that had just been scored, that in the meantime, the referee had disallowed the goal and awarded a free kick that had been quickly taken. There were a few disgruntled calls to on the Monday!"

He still keeps a keen eye cricket in Bermuda and was very disappointed to read Bermuda had missed out on selection as a venue for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

"I think it would have brought a great deal of positive attention to the island in the build up, and a realisation of the cricketing heritage the island has. I'm sure the history of Cup Match would have got a lot of coverage in the media over here."

He still remembers the buzz, colour and heat of covering his first Cup Match, in Somerset.

"I still have an image of a man walking around in pads in a huge blue hat during the lunch and tea breaks.

"I possibly didn't appreciate the amount of feeling the match provokes among islanders.

"I remember one letter writer to chastising me for criticising what I felt was quite negative cricket on the second day.

"He suggested I wouldn't have been worried if it had been England trying to get a draw in an Ashes Test and he was probably right. The result of Cup Match gives one team bragging rights for a whole year.

"I hope Bermuda can make an impact in the World Cup qualifying competition in Ireland. It was good to see them do so well in the recent Americas competition.

"I would love Bermuda to qualify for the tournament proper ? that would probably have a greater impact than staging a game on the island.

"I can remember when I was younger that Bermuda was always a name that you were aware of in a cricketing sense; that has probably diminished in recent years, probably because other associate members such as the US and Canada have got stronger.

"But from what I have seen there is plenty of talent on the island. You didn't have to watch players such as Clay Smith, Albert Steede and Charlie Marshall for long to see that, in their different ways, they had/have a lot of class."

"Of course, I am reminded of Cup Match almost on a daily basis by the presence of Dexter Smith, the former St. George's and Bermuda opener and sports editor, as a journalistic colleague in office."

Smith is a fellow sub editor on the desk.

"He shows no sign of slowing up," says Henderson. "In fact he seems to be scoring runs for fun for his team Southern Railway, in the Surrey Championship third division. Maybe he's got half an eye on the Caribbean in 2007!"

Smith played in five Cup Matches, although none were worthy of inclusion in a book of controversies.

He says: "The 1994 match was memorable for St. George's, my team, winning the match in the fourth innings having been set 240 in a hour and 20 overs. That innings produced my highest score in Cup Match, 74."

Smith is in his fourth season in the home of cricket, playing in the Surrey Championship.

"It's been my best to date, averaging a shade over 50 with about seven matches of a 19-match schedule remaining."

In fact, there's a strong Bermuda connection at , with the head of sport, Keith Blackmore, having worked at and . Adrian Drummond, who also worked for , is night editor.

Henderson's amusing and interesting book is going down well in the UK and he has already been commissioned to write a football book for publication August 2005, and possible book for World Cup 2006.

He says 'The Worst of Cricket' would make a great Christmas gift for folks back in UK and he is happy to arrange it if any Bermuda bookstore would like to stock it.

'The Worst of Cricket' hardback costs 6.99 (pound sterling). To order visit amazon.co.uk (not amazon.com)