Playing book cricket

My first cricket book was the 1962 edition of the Wisden Almanack as a birthday present.

To my eternal regret, this got lost when I was shifting home in 1985, but some of the contents have stood the test of memory for several decades. I remember still that four of the five Cricketers of the Year were from Down Under — Richie Benaud, Bill Lawry, Norman O'Neil, Alan Davidson, the fifth being England’s Bill Alley — which gives an idea of how long and deep Australia’s cricketing might runs.

There was also an engrossing essay by the venerated Jack Fingleton on Australia’s tour of England that year, but what got me hooked to Wisden was the profusion of stats and facts which suddenly opened up a whole new, magical world of players from all over and their wondrous deeds.

I have been a Wisden addict since then, and though the editorship has changed several hands — from Norman Preston in 1962 to Scyld Berry in 2009, with John Woodcock, Frank Keating, Matthew Engels among others in between — the quality and accuracy of content has been sustained at a remarkably high standard. Above all, it is the majestic global sweep of Wisden which makes it ‘the bible for cricket lovers’, and this is no euphemism.

There are cricket lovers, and there are cricket lovers who also love books. The latter set is smaller, but to my mind, also the more enlightened. Genuine cricket lovers live, breathe and also read about the game continuously. Books bring with them a sense of history, knowledge and fun; provide a perspective that makes the game even more enjoyable.

Of all sport, cricket lends itself best to literature. I say this with full appreciation of argument and threat from those who love soccer, boxing, golf, tennis, chess and athletics which have also seen some terrific writing, and in which too books have flourished. Yet, because of its texture and technical complexities, and the sheer amount of time that a cricket match entails, it is quite unique. No other sport is perhaps as nuanced, provides a stage for so many ‘characters’, or has been replete with so much drama — even when there is no result.

Indeed, cricket has been symptomatic of so many things unconnected with a playing field and life. CLR James’s immortal line in Beyond A Boundary, “What do they know of cricket who only cricket know,” transcends mere sport and becomes a succinct ten-word philosphy of life itself. Rooted as it is in the culturally rich and languid ethos of the Victorian Age, perhaps it is inevitable that cricket would attract writers who would otherwise seem unconncected with any sport.

Charles Dickens mentions the game in Pickwick Papers, Arthur Conan Doyle was a cricket lover not averse to bringing the game into his novels, and the legendary poet Siegfred Sassoon too wrote some splendid verses that capture the magic of this noble game. 

Perhaps the man who had the most profound impact on cricket writing was Sir Neville Cardus, a die-hard romantic known for lyrical prose and mosaic imagery. Sample this from the introduction to A Fourth Innings With Cardus: “When cricket returns to us each year we welcome it with a warm and almost mystical devotion not given to other games; for it is part of the springtime and renewal of things. Old men in the clubs emerge and go to Lord’s in taxis — though I know one stalwart who walks three miles there and three miles home every day — and the fresh air enlivens them.”

In sharp contrast would be someone like Mike Brearley, the former England captain whom Australian fast bowler Rodney Hogg had once referred to as the man with a “degree in people”. This small extract from the Art Of Captaincy not only reveals Brearley as insightful, but is also relevant to the current times when multiple captains are being discussed.

“What is more,” writes Brearley, “cricket captains do not have the luxury of being held above the activity of those they lead. It is easier for a football manager ‘to play God’, to read the riot act to the players, because he does not have to perform himself. Sales managers don’t sell, foremen don’t lug bricks. All cricket captains bat and field, and some bowl. We receive repeated intimations of our own fallibility.”

Alan Ross, John Arlott, C Robertson-Glasgow, Ray Robinson, CB Fry are a few names that should feature in any discussion on classics, but by no means is the best cricket writing only in the past. Peter Roebuck is as powerful a voice as there has ever been, and I am a great admirer too of England’s Lawrence Booth (New Age, great turn of phrase and sense of fun) and Australia’s Gideon Haigh (solid sense of history, fine thinker).

Strangely, for a country that is obsessed with the game, cricket books in India have been meagre. Biographies (Merchant, Hazare, Pataudi, Prasanna, Wadekar, Gavaskar, Amarnath to name a few) have been the dominant genre, which is a little sad given the rich and controversial tapestry of the sport in the country.

It is academics Ashis Nandy (The Tao Of Cricket), Ramchandra Guha (a couple of books plus that wonderful anthology, Wickets In Ihe East) and Mukul Kesavan (Men In White) who have shown how widespread is the passion for cricket in India, plus also the skill and diligence to write on the subject. The young and gifted Rahul Bhattacharya (Pundits In Pakistan) was an exception in the sense that he started out as a cricket scribe before switching to academics.

All said and done, there are several fine authors and hundreds of wonderful books on cricket. It’s an amazing game where one can discover a new facet or nugget of information even if you read the same book again and again, so reading on cricket is actually a lifelong process. 

In the Indian context, this would be a good Reading XI to start off with

1. The Art Of Cricket by Sir Donald Bradman, a comprehensive manual on how to play the game — right from choosing equipment to field setting, to captaincy.

2. The Art Of Captaincy by Mike Brearley, a superb treatise on one of the most intriguing facets of the game, and of particular relevance in these times.

3. A Cardus For All Seasons: Actually you can pick any book by Sir Neville for failproof delight, but this anthology of his writings from 1920-1969 is particularly evocative.

4. Sunny Days: A simply told, fast paced narrative of the early years in international cricket of one of India’s best-loved cricket sons, Sunil Gavaskar.

5. Tiger’s Tale: A pithy autobiography of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, who lost one eye in a car accident yet played at the international level, became the youngest captain ever.

6. A History Of Indian Cricket: This tome by Mihir Bose is well-researched and well written, replete with important scorecards and stats.

7. A Corner Of A Foreign Field: Ramachandra Guha brings the full might of his academic brilliance in studying the growth of cricket in India, against the backdrop of the freedom struggle.

8. The Appeal Of Cricket: Richie Benaud’s incisive and pragmatic look at the whys and wherefores of the modern game which old-timers believe has been corrupted by commerce.

9. Pundits In Pakistan: Rahul Bhattacharya’s debut book is an enthralling account of India’s 2004 tour to Pakistan, cricket juxtaposed with rivetting experiences off the field.

10. Cricket Lovely Cricket: Hugely entertaining and informative, Lawrence Booth has an eye for the unusual, and is unafraid to knock down old wisdom and reputations.

11. It Never Rains: One of Peter Roebuck’s earliest books (1984), when he was still captain of Somerset; it is a factual and funny account of a professional county cricketer’s lot.

Finally, the ‘12th man’ in this team would be The Laws Of Cricket. For obvious reasons.

Finally, the ‘12th man’ in this team would be The Laws Of Cricket. For obvious reasons