Balham to Bollywood [Idioma Inglés] - Tapa dura

England's engaging book is based on Lagaan, the Indian blockbuster film with a cricketing theme. England, himself an actor/cricketer with his own team, organised a cricket match-cum-audition in the UK for the film; we are then taken to India, and England's experiences with local travel and local people is described vividly and humorously. Lagaan (the name of a form of tax) is about a cricket match between British Army Officers and local villagers some 100 years ago. Villagers who have never played cricket are trained by a young English girl who is the sister of an army officer taking part in the match. The making of the film provides a host of delicious culture clash anecdotes and this makes Lagaan a treat for lovers of cricket and idiosyncratic travel books.

For most actors, the idea of going to India for eight weeks to act in a Bollywood epic shot in the middle of the desert would send them scurrying back to their agent asking for some other work. Chris England was given just a part, he was to play a cricketer in a British Army team playing against a small Indian village over a hundred years ago. At home Chris runs his own cricket team, so for him this wasn't just work, he felt he was representing his country. This is a cricket tour diary with a difference. Chris charts the progress of the film from his audition in a London park to the film's release 18 months later.. NOTA: El libro no está en español, sino en inglés.