At a time when Wimbledon 2018 has reached the halfway stage, face of ‘The Championships’ for Indian television audience until a couple of years ago, Alan Wilkins, was presenting India’s cricket tour of UK. Wilkins is a multi-faceted personality, having made a mark in sports as a player but has left a greater impression as a television broadcaster for more than two decades.

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Viewers in India know the Welshman more for presenting Wimbledon with the legendary Vijay Amritraj – an entire chapter is devoted for the Indian tennis ace as a mark of respect and admiration – for more than a decade for ESPN-Star Sports than for his exploits in the English county circuit in the 1970s until the early 1980s as a left-arm seamer for Glamorgan and Gloucestershire.

The moment Wilkins realised that he was not progressing further in his cricketing career, he did not waste time in making the shift to presenting sports that has enabled him travel the world and bring the best of sporting action from cricket to tennis to golf and rugby and even squash to the drawing room with his inimitable, admirable manner. His knowledge of the sport cannot be doubted. Having played rugby and cricket at the first-class level, Wilkins has made the smooth transition from playing to broadcasting.

Wilkins brings his story in an interesting manner in his first attempt at writing a book, ‘Easier Said Than Done – A Life In Sport’ published by Roli Books. Wilkins’s autobiography is of an English county cricketer who has chased his dreams of broadcasting the sport after realising that he could not make to the highest stage.

By presenting the best of sporting action including the cricket and rugby World Cups, the golfing Majors and the tennis Grand Slams, Wilkins has, in a way, fulfilled his international sporting dream. And, his is a story that can inspire many such aspirants.

From an enthusiastic schoolboy who was asked to field as a substitute for Glamorgan against the touring Indians in 1971 to playing against the same tourists in 1979, travelling to South Africa as a professional cricketer first when apartheid was at its prime, and later as a broadcaster, the ups and downs of the life of a professional cricketer and then as a media personality, the major decision of shifting base to Singapore for work, Wilkins has captured all in a fascinating way.

Each of the 20 chapters in the 270-page hardbound begins with appreciation from the greats of the sport. Legendary West Indies captain Clive Lloyd’s summation of Wilkins – “Alan epitomises what sport is all about” – shows how much the 64-year-old is admired for his work.

The chapters about his life as an English county cricketer are filled with interesting stories, conversations and funny incidents too. “In my desperate haste to get dressed and padded up, I had forgotten to put on my protective box. Was I out of my mind? I had to signal to the Glamorgan dressing room for my box to be brought out, an action which brought howls of laughter...” he writes about a county match where he was facing the destructive West Indies pacer Malcolm Marshall sooner than expected.

But the book takes a serious turn when he starts writing about his broadcasting career. The Indian readers may think twice before really going in to know the life story of a Welshman who has not done bad at all in catering to the needs of the Indian audience.