English Cricket   By Neville Cardus
first published by Collins in 1945

& 

Anyone but England - Cricket, race and class
By Mike Marqusee
published by Two Heads Publishing 1998 (revised edition)


These 2 books are the chalk and cheese of cricket writing. Cardus wrote his book in 1945 and is as outdated, sentimental, blinkered view of "cricket" as you could wish to read.  In short, it is the sort of drivel that gives English cricket and cricket writing more than a bad name and as Marqusee argues is part of the contradictory nature of the English and their cricket.  This is not to say that Cardus is not an interesting and (fairly) informative read - it is, but it should come supplied with a fairly rosy set of reading spectacles.

Whilst Cardus's book seemingly laments the void of talent which followed the passing of cricket's Golden Age, as Marqusee argues, even then this rosy view of cricket's past which permeates much cricket writing is (and was) completely unfounded and also part of the warped view of their own past that the English seem to hold. 

To be a little more generous to Cardus, his book was written as part of a deliberate WW2 strategy of motivating Britons by "reminding" them of the good things they were or had been fighting for.  The criticism of English Cricket (and the underlying attitudes), however, which underpins Marqusee's line of argument is (a) that despite this the book is still regarded as a classic of English cricket writing and (b) that it rang true for so many people at that time.  These arguments apply to "English cricket" the game as much as to Cardus's book.

Marqusee's book is a completely different kettle of fish.  It's not really about cricket the game; it is more about the English, using cricket as the instrument of reflection. He describes how the game, as played by the English, brings out the worst in our nation - our arrogance and hypocrisy. It takes you through how he, as an American, first gained an impression of (and fell in love with) the game.  It argues that our game (or rather our attitude towards it) is trapped in the past; that many of our traditions are (like Christmas) actually invented - and relatively recent inventions at that.  

How hypocritical the English were in their reactions to Packer and apartheid.  He accuses the English of institutional racism in the way they play and administer the game. In essence, he describes how our view of our game became increasingly isolated as countries such as India and Australia (in particular) developed the game in their very own way and how blinkered the English's view of their importance within the game actually is.  The world has moved on since the days of Compton and we can no longer claim to rule it in any sense.  Funny how it takes an American to show us ourselves.

Of all the books I have so far read "about cricket", Marqusee's is by far the best - a high quality critical essay using cricket as its reference point - and quite a lot it tells us too. A must read. 

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