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The Picador Book of Cricket
Paperback
Main Details
| Title |
The Picador Book of Cricket
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| Authors and Contributors |
By (author) Ramachandra Guha
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| Physical Properties |
| Format:Paperback | | Pages:512 | | Dimensions(mm): Height 197,Width 130 |
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| Category/Genre | Cricket |
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| ISBN/Barcode |
9780330396134
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| Classifications | Dewey:796.358 |
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| Audience | |
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Publishing Details |
| Publisher |
Pan Macmillan
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| Imprint |
Picador
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| Publication Date |
8 March 2002 |
| Publication Country |
United Kingdom
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Description
The definitive anthology of cricket writing A tribute to the finest writers on the game of cricket and an acknowledgement that the great days of cricket literature are behind us. There was a time when major English writers - P.G. Wodehouse, Arthur Conan Doyle, Alec Waugh - took time off to write about cricket, whereas the cricket book market today is dominated by ghosted autobiographies and statistical compendiums. The Picador Book of Cricket celebrates the best writing on the game and includes many pieces that have been out of print, or difficult to get hold of, for years. Including Neville Cardus, C.L.R. James, John Arlott, V.S. Naipaul, C.B. Fry this anthology is a must for any cricket follower or anyone interested in sports writing elevated to high art.
Author Biography
Ramachandra Guha is India's leading historian and a regular on the global lecture circuit. He is also a cricket journalist. He is writing a history of India for Picador and has also just completed a book on the social history of cricket in India.
ReviewsThe definitive anthology of cricket writing, including contributions from V S Naipaul and C B Fry, this is a must for cricket lovers or anyone interested in sports writing elevated to high art. Kirkus Review US:As Guha points out in his introduction, it is a sad fact that cricket writing is not what it once was. The scholarly yet entertaining treatises of the past have been replaced by anodyne tour diaries, bland match reports and ghosted autobiographies, and it is only by immersing oneself in an anthology of this quality that the scale of the decline becomes obvious. Neville Cardus, C L R James, P G Wodehouse and many others make an appearance or, in some cases, several appearances, and the editor's concise introduction to each passage adds information and puts the piece in context without being overly intrusive. The structure divides neatly into categories: Profiles; Famous Matches; Miscellany and Minor Heroes. The usual suspects are all here, their personalities described as revealingly as their batting average or bowling style - Grace, Bradman, Tendulkar, not to mention a host of other sporting luminaries from history's pages. The balance leans towards English cricketers, but Guha still finds room for a Fijian and an American among the more predictable nationalities. If I had to pick a favourite passage, it would be the account written by Jack Fingleton, the Australian cricketer who became a journalist, of his visit to the home of Harold Larwood, the bowler treated so disgracefully by the MCC after the infamous Bodyline tour of Australia. Larwood, who had become so embittered by the affair that he never watched cricket and imagined that Australians hated him as a result of his aggressive bowling tactics, was so won over by Fingleton that he not only became his friend, but was also inspired by him to emigrate to Australia, where he found acceptance and peace. Accounts of early England professional tours overseas and a memorable visit to Britain by an Australian Aboriginal team in 1861 are also stand-outs. This anthology really does have something for everyone: cricket fans, social historians and anyone interested in good writing. (Kirkus UK)
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