Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus or better known simply as Neville Cardus is an intimidating and revered name in cricket writing. Cardus is considered as one of the greatest people to write on the subject of cricket and his erudite style has managed to capture people's attention from the times when cricket was played at a leisurely pace, and batting averages were not much higher than today's bowling averages - a time when cricket was considered nothing more than a simple game. It was when gentlemen graced the field with their presence and the entire ritual of cricket was a testimony of the English culture and the heralding of the English summer.
Before I review the book, I feel compelled to write just how much I admire Cardus. One of the treasures in my library is an old dusty book, titled 'English Cricket' which was published just at the close of the second World War. Neville Cardus beautifully in his lyrical style that pays homage to the great literary prose writers, traces the evolution of English cricket. Being an English literary student and a cricket fanatic, Cardus' occupies more than an important place in my heart and his writing on the game is something so profoundly 'classy' that it strikes a magical note.
Having beaten around the bush for so long, we'll get down to the book. Cardus on Cricket is a representative selection of the best of Cardus’s writing on the sport. It contains the imaginative reconstruction of the 1882 England and Australia test match to Cardus’s descriptions of village cricket, and accounts of the great players that Cardus watched play during his time.
From the very first page of the book till the very end, one cannot help but feel admiration at the game that Cardus describes best in his own style. The summation of 'There can be no summer in this land without cricket' in the prelude sets the tone of his writing and with magical ease he describes the queer game of cricket and all who participate in it. His observation of the tiniest detail and more so the ability to communicate that small speck in a vividly dashing way is what Cardus' writing is all about. His narration of what he considers the greatest test match (the 1921 Lord's test between the old enemies) makes you sit up and the hair on your skin stand as he patiently and gracefully takes you through the events of the match. Its like watching the match being played out through this man's eyes. From the bearded Doctor WG Grace to the great Indian Prince, Ranjitsinhji to Australian genius Charles Macartney and never heard before names such as Yorkshire's Emmott Robinson come alive in the pages of this book.
Despite being deeply biased towards Yorkshire, Cardus manages to portray cricket in a manner which only he can, bringing alive the passion and stories of the game. From a literary perspective it is a gem and a good insight into modern day writing which holds much of the classical charm. For any person, irrelevant whether he knows a thing about cricket or not, this book will remain a treasure. A must buy for any cricket fanatic and a must read for any lover of fine writing.
The book is available as an ebook and can be purchased at Amazon.
Before I review the book, I feel compelled to write just how much I admire Cardus. One of the treasures in my library is an old dusty book, titled 'English Cricket' which was published just at the close of the second World War. Neville Cardus beautifully in his lyrical style that pays homage to the great literary prose writers, traces the evolution of English cricket. Being an English literary student and a cricket fanatic, Cardus' occupies more than an important place in my heart and his writing on the game is something so profoundly 'classy' that it strikes a magical note.
Having beaten around the bush for so long, we'll get down to the book. Cardus on Cricket is a representative selection of the best of Cardus’s writing on the sport. It contains the imaginative reconstruction of the 1882 England and Australia test match to Cardus’s descriptions of village cricket, and accounts of the great players that Cardus watched play during his time.
From the very first page of the book till the very end, one cannot help but feel admiration at the game that Cardus describes best in his own style. The summation of 'There can be no summer in this land without cricket' in the prelude sets the tone of his writing and with magical ease he describes the queer game of cricket and all who participate in it. His observation of the tiniest detail and more so the ability to communicate that small speck in a vividly dashing way is what Cardus' writing is all about. His narration of what he considers the greatest test match (the 1921 Lord's test between the old enemies) makes you sit up and the hair on your skin stand as he patiently and gracefully takes you through the events of the match. Its like watching the match being played out through this man's eyes. From the bearded Doctor WG Grace to the great Indian Prince, Ranjitsinhji to Australian genius Charles Macartney and never heard before names such as Yorkshire's Emmott Robinson come alive in the pages of this book.
Despite being deeply biased towards Yorkshire, Cardus manages to portray cricket in a manner which only he can, bringing alive the passion and stories of the game. From a literary perspective it is a gem and a good insight into modern day writing which holds much of the classical charm. For any person, irrelevant whether he knows a thing about cricket or not, this book will remain a treasure. A must buy for any cricket fanatic and a must read for any lover of fine writing.
The book is available as an ebook and can be purchased at Amazon.
2 Comments:
Nice post i didn't think about cricket book ?
Ten Cricket Live
oh that book sounds fascinating, I think I will go to Amazon.com and try to find it, if it is the right price I will buy it, thanks for the recommendation! ;)
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