Penguins Stopped Play

{{short description|2006 novel by Harry Thompson}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox book

| name = Penguins Stopped Play: Eleven Village Cricketers Take on the World

| image = Penguins Stopped Play.jpg

| caption = First edition

| alt =

| author = Harry Thompson

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| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

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| subject = Cricket, travel

| genre = Sports literature

| publisher = John Murray

| pub_date = 2006

| pages = 256 (first edition)

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| isbn = 978-0719563454

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| preceded_by = This Thing of Darkness

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Penguins Stopped Play: Eleven Village Cricketers Take on the World is a 2006 semi-autobiographical novel by the English writer and producer Harry Thompson. It describes the author's experiences forming and travelling with the Captain Scott XI, an English amateur cricket team, around Britain and abroad.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jun/17/featuresreviews.guardianreview8|title=Over and out|author=Tim de Lisle|author-link=Tim de Lisle|date=16 June 2006|accessdate=2 January 2017|work=The Guardian}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3652334/Eleven-village-cricketers-take-on-the-world.html|title=Eleven village cricketers take on the world|author=Tom Fort|work=Daily Telegraph|accessdate=2 January 2017}} It was published a year after the author's death.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4417656.stm|title=Have I Got News For You man dies|work=BBC News|date=8 November 2005 |accessdate=2 January 2017}}

In 2011 the book was adapted for a series of broadcasts on Book of the Week, a weekly programme on BBC Radio 4, read by the cricketer Nicholas Boulton.{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lnn3r|title=Penguins Stopped Play - BBC Radio 4 Extra|work=bbc.co.uk|accessdate=2 January 2017}}