Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
anyone but a socialist, 21 Sep 2005
This is a great book, it is intelligent, thought provoking and much more than just a book about cricket. It sets out to challenge all the orthodoxies of English cricket, the idea of English cricket as eschewing crass commercialism, of it being guided by a 'unwritten constitution' of 'fair play,' of it representing some English pastoral ideal, all are exposed as myths, and like any good heretic he does it with some glee.
This revised edition includes an extra chapter which brings the story of English cricket forward ten years and without this extra chapter, which adds nothing to the book, I would have given five stars. The authors nationality (American) is an asset, he genuinely provides a fresh look at English cricket, English culture and where they intersect, his political persuasion (socialist)less so. Like any good leftie the author sees racism everywhere he looks and sacrifices proportion in the process, apparently racism causes mental illness, which is news to this student psychiatric nurse, criticisms of Robert Mugabe occupy a few lines, while criticism of some Wisden non-entity who wrote a racist article never seems to end, hypocrisy is as much the preserve of the left as of the right it will be no surprise to learn.
That said this book still deserves to be read by a large audience, anyone who enjoys reading sport books that are more than simply books about sport, anyone who has read 'football against the enemy' and absorbed its 'football is the continuation of politics by other means' theme and wants a cricket book of the same calibre, well, look no further.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating, 30 Jan 2006
As the introduction, by Francis Wheen, points out there is a considerable irony that the two best books about cricket were written by Marxists: this one and the even better Beyond a Boundary by CLR James.Marqusee is an interesting character: he moved to England after school and fell in love with cricket. He retains his love of cricket but has a great scepticism about the English cricket establishment. He is an iconoclast who takes great delight in debunking myth and questioning the establishment. Recently updated, this is a very interesting book exploring the history, culture and politics of the game. There are chapters on creation myth of cricket, the birth of the professional era and its evolution, racism in cricket (particularly in terms of attitudes to the successful West Indies and Pakistan sides and the composition of the England team), global cricket administration (particularly the role of the MCC), amongst others. It is an excellent book. Marqusee writes very well and is capable of putting forward complex arguments clearly and succinctly. I do not agree with all of it but it is never less than interesting and thought-provoking. It is sometimes provocative and disturbing and it is often rather funny. Bits of the book will infuriate more traditional cricket fans. The cover has a quote from Christopher Martin-Jenkins which, I suspect, sums up the view of many: “A very intelligent book, very cleverly written, with a lot that provokes thought. But I am uneasy about the way he has a go at just about everything cricketers hold sacred” Recommended to everyone interested in cricket within a wider context.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best cricket books around, 25 Jul 2007
This is an outstanding analysis of English cricket with some clever and pithy insights into numerous class, race and sporting issues. The independence and unique status of the author (as opposed to the normal "old pals act" subtext that abounds in county cricket) is a real asset. He asks questions about issues that the conservatives of English cricket brush under the carpet.
I dont think the authors political affiliation distorts the book at all. The poison from the diabolical Wisden article published in 1995 has never been properly condemned and this chapter also reveals the spineless stance adopted by Wisden and other media regarding that episode. The sheer quality of Pakistan's bowling performance against us in 1992 is also put into context.
Much has happened in cricket since this book was first produced in the 90s, might be time for a sequel. Superb.
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