SPIRIT OF CRICKET: Reflections on Play and Life

Mike Brearley OBE was educated at Cambridge where he read classics and moral sciences and captained the University. He played for Middlesex County Cricket Club intermittently from 1961 to 1983 and first played for England in 1976. The laws of cricket like the laws of the land aim at a sort of justice or balancing between different elements. The purpose is to calibrate the balance in the game between batsmen and bowlers, between attack and defence, between safety and risk. From 'Mankading' and the 'Sandpiper' affair to sledging, mental disintegration and racism, as well as broader issues such as the spirit and letter of the law, Brearley examines the issue of how far what purports to be justice may or may not be the expression of the powerful within the activity or within society. He also contrasts cheating and corruption in the game of cricket and reflects on the nature of penalties in regard to each and discusses the significance of the notion of the spirit of the game for umpires, groundsmen, administrators, media and spectators, and of course for players. Chapters include Sharp Practices, Meaningless Guff? From Beyond the Boundary and Golden Calves' Foot Jelly. Relish the special spirit when it's cricket or 'it's not cricket'. Paperback, 246pp, illus.