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Cricketing Lives: A Characterful History from Pitch to Page
“A wonderful read. Exhaustive and comprehensive as a reference tome, but also infused with a passion for the game and its players that distinguishes a mere cricketing aficionado from a true cricket lover.”—Phil Steele, BBC Sport
“What an enthralling voyage this book affords, with its vivid style and sequences of fascinating detail. Thomas has created something unusually readable.”—David Frith, founding editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly
Cricket is defined by the characters who have played it, watched it, reported it, ruled upon it, ruined it, and rejoiced in it. Humorous and deeply affectionate, Cricketing Lives tells the story of the world’s greatest and most incomprehensible game through those who have shaped it, from the rustic contests of eighteenth-century England to the spectacle of the Indian Premier League. It’s about W. G. Grace and his eye for a pound; Charles Burgess Fry and his flirtation with Albania; the invincible Viv Richards; and Sarah Taylor, “the best wicketkeeper in the world . . . male or female.” Paying homage, too, to the game’s great writers, Richard Thomas steers a course through the despair of war, tactical controversies, and internecine politics to reveal how cricket has always stormed back to warm our hearts like nothing else can.
“What an enthralling voyage this book affords, with its vivid style and sequences of fascinating detail. Thomas has created something unusually readable.”—David Frith, founding editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly
Cricket is defined by the characters who have played it, watched it, reported it, ruled upon it, ruined it, and rejoiced in it. Humorous and deeply affectionate, Cricketing Lives tells the story of the world’s greatest and most incomprehensible game through those who have shaped it, from the rustic contests of eighteenth-century England to the spectacle of the Indian Premier League. It’s about W. G. Grace and his eye for a pound; Charles Burgess Fry and his flirtation with Albania; the invincible Viv Richards; and Sarah Taylor, “the best wicketkeeper in the world . . . male or female.” Paying homage, too, to the game’s great writers, Richard Thomas steers a course through the despair of war, tactical controversies, and internecine politics to reveal how cricket has always stormed back to warm our hearts like nothing else can.
437 pages, Hardcover
Published July 2, 2021
3 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Richard Thomas
362 books19 followersLibrarian Note: There are multiple authors by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 18, 2023
What a brilliant history of cricket. Full of humour, story and fascinating characters. Every cricket lover must enjoy it.
January 17, 2022
Fun, engaging book. As a novice to cricket fandom, I found myself lost several times, but I got a good sense of the people, passions and culture of the game. It's very well written and was a joy to read.
October 19, 2021
An absolutely wonderful book. Had me chuckling right through with his pithy humor.
Deeply researched and predominantly focused on the early days of Australia and England Tests and county cricket - he has a light touch which makes it a fun read. It is not all about men’s cricket either, he has a chapter dedicated to women’s cricket as well. He writes, “England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor was described by Adam Gilchrist as ‘the best wicketkeeper in the world…male or female’.”
Side note:
If you followed the recently concluded Australia V India women’s series (highlights available on YouTube and cricket Australia) you can see how exciting the game is becoming. Even the WBBL highlights are super to watch.
End side note.
Nuggets:
When the Fredrick, Prince of Wales, died in 1751 probably due to a cricket injury - “it was a unique case of ‘play stopping reign’.
In the chapter on ‘world cups and world beaters’ - 1983 World Cup for example - he writes - “But India became the powerful epicenter of world cricket, perhaps all because Viv Richards mistimed one in the World Cup final.” :).
The book is full of such amusing musings.
Deeply researched and predominantly focused on the early days of Australia and England Tests and county cricket - he has a light touch which makes it a fun read. It is not all about men’s cricket either, he has a chapter dedicated to women’s cricket as well. He writes, “England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor was described by Adam Gilchrist as ‘the best wicketkeeper in the world…male or female’.”
Side note:
If you followed the recently concluded Australia V India women’s series (highlights available on YouTube and cricket Australia) you can see how exciting the game is becoming. Even the WBBL highlights are super to watch.
End side note.
Nuggets:
When the Fredrick, Prince of Wales, died in 1751 probably due to a cricket injury - “it was a unique case of ‘play stopping reign’.
In the chapter on ‘world cups and world beaters’ - 1983 World Cup for example - he writes - “But India became the powerful epicenter of world cricket, perhaps all because Viv Richards mistimed one in the World Cup final.” :).
The book is full of such amusing musings.
May 4, 2023
An entertaining romp but there are, unfortunately, significant gaps in this "characterful history", which leans far too heavily towards England and Australia. For starter's there's not a whisper about Arjuna Ranatunga and Sourav Ganguly, two recent captains who helped transform their country's teams. Ganguly's shirt-waving at Lord's alone makes him worthy of inclusion. The match-fixing scandal in 2000 gets short shrift as well, with Hansie Cronje earning a mention but not a word about Mohammad Azharuddin.
October 11, 2023
Cricket the game is much more than just a contest between 2 teams or bat and ball, it is a chronicle of individuals who have livened up the sport in many ways and provided joy and enjoyment to the people. This book ‘Cricketing Lives’ takes us through the history of the game to the present through such people and hence the title is quite appropriate.
The book is loosely chronological, and is primarily focussed on the personalities from an English cricket point of view, and is not meant to be an exhaustive, nor fully statistical. It threads a fine balance to maintain focus on the cricketing persons, keeping a light touch while still being heavy on research. The author focussed much of the efforts on the cricket journey till probably 1970s, 1980s while skirting over the modern cricketers.
As you go through the journey with W.G.Grace, Jack Hobbs, Don Bradman, Wally Hammond etc, you will definitely enjoy the journey. Quite readable for any cricket fan.
The book is loosely chronological, and is primarily focussed on the personalities from an English cricket point of view, and is not meant to be an exhaustive, nor fully statistical. It threads a fine balance to maintain focus on the cricketing persons, keeping a light touch while still being heavy on research. The author focussed much of the efforts on the cricket journey till probably 1970s, 1980s while skirting over the modern cricketers.
As you go through the journey with W.G.Grace, Jack Hobbs, Don Bradman, Wally Hammond etc, you will definitely enjoy the journey. Quite readable for any cricket fan.
July 26, 2021
A fascinating and deeply-researched account of the history of cricket, using a selection of both the well-known and more ephemeral characters to have played cricket to give a structure to the overall narrative.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews