Spirit of Cricket: Reflections on Play and Life

by Mike Brearley

The laws of cricket, like the laws of the land, aim at a sort of justice or balancing between different factions. The purpose behind cricket's laws, and behind changes in them, is often to calibrate the balance in the game between batsmen and bowlers, between attack and defence, between safety and risk. Cricketing lawmakers are interested in the overall appeal of the game to players and spectators alike. Mike Brearley's brilliant The Spirit of Cricket will alternate between issues and examples within the game - e.g. 'Mankading', the Australian ball-tampering scandal, intimidatory bowling, sledging, mental disintegration - as well as broader issues such as the spirit and letter of the law. It will discuss the issue of how far what purports to be justice (in law or in spirit) may or may not be the expression of the powerful within the activity or within society. It will also contrast cheating and corruption, and will reflect on the nature of penalties in regard to each. It will discuss the significance of the notion of the spirit of the game for umpires, groundsmen, administrators, media and spectators - as well of course as for players.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published August 27, 2020

Reviews

[John Grinstead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike Brearley, one of the more thoughtful cricketers of our age, reflects on the preamble to the Laws of Cricket and some of the more recent controversies that have cast a shadow over this great game. Why do we need such a preamble? What purpose does it serve? Isn’t sportsmanship in cricket a given? Clearly not. Brearley applies his professional knowledge - he works as a psychoanalyst - and experience to consider the current state of play of the game and with it reflects on the pressures of modern life that impact on the modern players, from club to country.

[Tom Bain · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't a terrible book but it could and should have been so much better. Brearley is an erudite writer with a very sincere and warm authorial voice, but the issue is that this book just doesn't really go anywhere. It starts by considering a few ideas, and then meanders around various cricket-related (or general) topics, before coming back to those ideas at the end having not developed them very meaningfully, or taken them to surprising or compelling conclusions. That's not to say there isn't good stuff in here - the discussion of play as a concept within sport, incisive comparison of individual cricketing incidents - but it's surrounded by mostly fuzzy writing without much thrust or direction. I left with a lot of respect for Brearley as a figure, and thinking he'd be great to have a conversation with, but that he wasn't a very good writer.

[Adam Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a series of linked essays on what is and what is meant by the Spirit of Cricket. It discusses this in direct relation to the game but also in broader terms in relation to the law and the nature of our general behaviour. It is extremely articulate and thought provoking and there are a lot of sometimes surprising literary and philosophical references. However, there is quite a lot of repetition and ultimately no firm conclusion on what the Spirit of Cricket actually is (if such a thing can be defined). Nevertheless an interesting and engaging read.

[Owen Finn]

Meandering cricket philosophy and history with some insightful connections to issues we see now in both cricket and the world broadly. We can’t separate “the spirit of cricket” from all of our cultural biases, expectations and its commercialisation. At least we can try to understand each other, show respect and offer goodwill.

[Michael Brasier · Rating 2 out of 5]

a bit meandering and all over the place for me. some reflections, but went over the same ground a number of times.

[Mark Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful book from one of the most cerebral cricketers

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brearley is a good writer and he had thoughtful things to say, but there wasn't quite enough there for it to be a memorable book on the whole.

The general idea was to examine what the phrase 'spirit of cricket' means and the general differences between the spirit of the law and the letter of the law. He used some interesting examples from the game itself while highlighting the issue with always following the law rigidly, but also considered times cheating was acceptable. It was moderately interesting and the example of leniency towards no-balls was something I hadn't considered before, but overall it explored the issues rather than examined them, which avoided having to come to any conclusions.

I liked his inclusion of other points of view, including the ones provided for this book in particular, but there were some subjects he could have done more with for me: why should the attitude towards walking or claiming catches change at different levels of the game, and why should the umpire be another party to influence rather than an adjudicator in genuinely felt disagreements? Brearley didn't ignore this completely, but didn't cover it in depth.

Each section had its merits and I like reading Brearley's work, but given it was a book I thought it could have gone further without it becoming dull, and would have given an athlete's view on philosophical issues.