Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26698 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Customer Reviews

Thoroughly researched and an enjoyable read
John Major's love of cricket is well known and this weighty volume bears testament to it, along with his careful research and fine prose. Dealing with the development of cricket from its earliest days up to the early years of the C20th, Major tells the stories of key characters, places and events with an impressive depth of research but in a highly readable and entertaining way. Vivid word pictures of late C18th and C19th cricket are created and the colourful characters brought to life. Notable too is Major's ability to place cricket within the cultural, social and political context of the times. Highly recommended.

Not quite as good as expected
The quality of the research and the insight and love of cricket are evident, you can almost hear for better or worse John speaking when reading it. I did enjoy the book but feel some sections were a bit of a slog. This is mainly due to the organisation and editing. The book is not a chronological history but instead discrete chapters e.g The Missionry.., Round Arm rebellion. I was struggling after to reconstruct in my mind when all events took place across the book. It also can lead to some jumping around. One paragrpah 1870 the next 1900 with no date reference. It just makes the big picture harder to picture and it can also seem like repetition.

Surprisingly good
Anyone who read John Major's autobiography and found parts of it a little stodgy and hard going will be pleasantly surprised at the light touch he shows here.

He traces the early history of cricket, concentrating on the personalities, but also placing them into the wider context to show how social change in the country (and world) at large was reflected in cricket.

There are times when he seems to have half an eye on the assiduously pedantic cricket statistician and goes to great lengths to "show his workings" in order to back up what he is saying, but the book is shot through with a great sense of the author's enthusiasm.