# Talk:Jim Laker

Jim Laker, as a BBC commentator in his later years, displayed a fine sense of humour. Once, in the late 1970s, he was commentating on a Sunday afternoon (John Player League) 40-overs match between Somerset and (I think) Warwickshire. For some reason which I don't recall, Viv Richards was captaining Somerset, and put himself on to bowl 8 overs of his off spin - taking (again I think - my memory is not as good as it was), 4 wickets for 27 runs.
Laker waited until his spell was over, and said:

"I'm most impressed by this lad Richards - I hear he bats a bit an' all ..."
Hair Commodore 16:20, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

Bearing in mind WP:CITEVAR, I don't think the sourcing in this article has been done at all well. Many citations are formatted Hill, 159 instead of Hill, p. 159 and there is frequent re-iteration of citations instead of deploying refnames (Harvard sfn would be a good option). The bibliography lacks author links, ISBN and publishing locations. Unless anyone has serious objections, I'd like to apply standard WP:CITE notation throughout, continuing where I left off over a year ago.
I have an interest here because my father knew Jim Laker. They met in WWII when they served together in North Africa. My dad had Jim's book, Over To Me, so I might be able to use that here. I've ordered the Alan Hill biography but it might be a week or two before it arrives given postal difficulties at present. If anyone knows of other biographical works about Jim, could you please let me know. There is one book he wrote called Spinning Round the World, but I'm not sure if it is an autobiography or a work on spin bowling.
There is another problem with the article because section one has been written like a drama which culminates in the not-so-startling revelation that Jim was a great cricketer. I think sections one and two need to be combined. I'll work on it as and when. Thanks in advance for any help. Stay safe. No Great Shaker (talk) 20:12, 10 January 2021 (UTC)

The first two sections have been merged. I've tried to retain all the cricket information and terminology in the old section 2 but have moved it so that it is presented in the context of Jim's life and times, rather than as an entity with a separate existence. Alan Hill's book is a good read. If anyone can help with the numerous statements needing citation, especially cricket facts and figures, that will be much appreciated. Thanks. No Great Shaker (talk) 15:36, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
All sources have now been found and citations added. Repeating some of the edit summaries, thank you again to the people (no names here, as promised) who responded to my enquiries and provided help that is much appreciated. I was especially surprised by the Barclays scan – that book must be a real shelf-buster! I'll send this article to GAN now and see how it fares. Thanks again. Stay safe. No Great Shaker (talk) 14:45, 9 February 2021 (UTC)
Many thanks for all your work on this. JH (talk page) 16:41, 9 February 2021 (UTC)
Thank you, JH, it's been a pleasure and I hope it can achieve GA. Actually, I've done hardly anything with the content and the earlier editors deserve the credit for that. What I've done is really just a cleanup. I bought the Alan Hill book, which is a good read, but I've had a lot of help offsite with the sources – fortunately, I know a man who knows some other folks and we're all stuck at home eager for something to do! All the best and stay safe. No Great Shaker (talk) 09:25, 10 February 2021 (UTC)