|
 |
Book Of The Year Award > 2011 > The Cricketers Progress
Eric Midwinter; Third Age Press
Purchase on Amazon
 Unless a sudden crater appears on the South Downs and a hand-written document from the seventeenth century mysteriously appears like Excalibur or if the archives of a forgotten country squire produces chapter and verse, it is unlikely that we shall ever know much more that is concrete about the origins and early history of cricket. Eric Midwinter, a writer with a wry sense of humour and a breadth of knowledge but lacking a team of research assistants, like some recent historians, has chosen a different route than the traditional one for what one might call a Social History of Cricket.
At a distance of some three hundred years from the recognisable origins of the present game, the author has understood that to look at cricket's history, it is necessary to look at cricket's historians, not to disparage but to understand what influenced their approach and why. The key to the book lies in the title. It is not cricket's progress but the cricketer's progress that interests the writer. There may be much to be said about the old grammar-school approach to history but while inky-fingered children were struggling with the majestic prose of Trevelyan and masters were concentrating on dates, battles and politics, the engaging chapters on social history tended to be bypassed. This is the equivalent book that, if you will, fills in the gaps and sets cricket and cricketers in relation to what was happening in the wider realms of society.
What you will get from this history is a wealth of very good writing, as well as a sound and detailed understanding of how cricket has evolved, with its highs and lows set out in an unfussy, sympathetic, sometimes scholarly, sometimes droll but always entertaining and informed manner. To quote one random example; it is usually customary either to revere Lord Harris or to revile him. The author has a neat line in deflating pomposity, as he does when he encounters Lord Harris in full declamatory mode writing to The Times in 1931 defining cricket as, 'a moral lesson in itself and the classroom is God's air and sunshine.' It would have been easy to use heavy ridicule but the comment that is attached simply reads,'let it be remembered that one man's conviction is another man's superstition.'
A useful primer for those who want to learn more about the origins and evolution of cricket, a good start for anyone considering how to evaluate the different approaches to cricket history but above all this is a beguiling and always interesting read. Packed away for the summer, for rainy days at the cricket, sitting in the garden listening to cricket or for travelling to and from cricket, this is the ideal book. The reader will be better-informed, readily-entertained and keen to seek out more of the author's work. Hugely enjoyable.
|
|
|
