Harry Thompson also turned his hand to biographies, Tintin (biography of Hergé, creator of Tintin), Richard Ingrams (former editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye) and Peter Cook.

His one attempt at writing a novel, This Thing Of Darkness, was a Booker longlisted historical novel. He then had a successful career in comedy at the BBC, where he was credited with The News Quiz, Have I Got News For You and created the comic character Ali G for Da Ali G Show. Harry Thompson (1960–2005) attended Highgate School, going on to read history at Brasenose College, Oxford. Penguins Stopped Play was serialised as BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, April 2006. It is difficult to imagine a book about a cricket tour can be anything but mind-boggling dreary and boring, a guarantee to send one to sleep, unless you are one of those strange souls, a cricket fan, but Penguins Stopped Play is actually funny. This is the team that decided to tour the world and play cricket on all seven continents. They soon earnt themselves a well-deserved reputation as the worst team in Oxfordshire. The very first match was against Bladon, a local team north of Oxford. It is a rallying cry, dating from the infamous Captain Scott World tour of 2002/3, and is a tribute to the much loved band of South African players. which means, in Afrikaans, that Your Mother Bends to Take it From a Rhino. The also have an unofficial motto which dates from their world tour: Jou Ma Buk Vir Renoster. This signifies that this is a team about putting one's teammates first, and one's ego a firm second.

There motto was: Modo Egredior - 'I'm Just Going Outside', after Captain Oates' final, heroic words. Known henceforth as the Captain Scott Invitation XI. Invitation because anyone, literally anyone, could invite themselves to play. Out of his idea and following a classified advertisement, the Captain Scott Invitation XI was born. Thoroughly pissed off by his off-hand treatment, Harry Thompson and his mates decided to form their own cricket team. Harry Thompson wanted to play cricket at Oxford, he thought it would be a bit of fun, but having never played it before, he was not allowed near the pitch, let alone to touch a ball. I have never though understood the desire to watch sport, let alone watch cricket, which seems to be something akin to watching paint dry. It can be good fun if you do not take it and yourself too seriously, it can be good exercise, and the latter most people need. I can understand wanting to play a sport. Even then I doubt I understand the rules, and I certainly do not now. Myself and a few friends created our own pitch in a farmer's field. What could be crazier than a pitch invasion by a flock of penguins? A world tour by a village cricket team maybe?

Penguins stopped play