Sunday 14 June 2009

Cricket History - Part 3


Part 3 of Empire of Cricket begins in a few minutes on BBC 2: this evening's episode focuses on 'How Australia got the best cricket team in the world'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00l319q
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6 comments:

  1. Admin15 June 2009 at 18:02

    A strange programme which seemed to take Australian cricket and its myths almost entirely at face value. No mention of the deep divisions within pre-war Australian teams between players of Irish (Catholic, republican) and British (Protestant, monarchist) descent - certainly no sense that Bradman (while admired for his undoubted genius as a batsman) was cordially detested as a man by a number of his contemporaries. Equally strange was the black and white view of intimidatory fast bowling - ie wicked when practiced by Larwood and Voce in the Bodyline series, but a matter for laddish (larrikinish ?) laughter when practiced by Lillee and Thomson. Overall, oddly unbalanced - where's our former teammate Dr Bradley when you need him ?

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  2. cje16 June 2009 at 09:52

    Agreed, somewhat 'uni-dimensional' with plenty of contestable claims re the relationship between cricket and social/ political change.
    e.g. that the Packer-fication of cricket was unambiguously a good thing. Indian watchers in particular might want a bit more focus on the darker side of the determination to win at all costs (Peter Roebuck's 'In it to Win It' is a more nuanced account of the past 2/3 decades of Aussie cricket).

    I believe that the cricket writer who did contribute (Gideon Haigh) is a friend of Dr Bradley. btw I'd recommend Haigh's 'Many a Slip: A Diary of a Club Cricket Season' to any Crossers (the cover photo features a top-class, cake-laden tea reminiscent of Manderston…).

    Unlike Markus Berkman and Harry Thompson he describes a real club not dissimilar to HX. Some excellent sections, such as that on 'the partner's perspective'-the useless info you impart to an incoming batsman (Mr Admin knows someone who specialises in this-e.g. “this guy doesn't turn it”….).

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  3. Popester16 June 2009 at 12:33

    Amjid takes the award for me, telling me the bowler

    "moves it one way, or maybe the other and it might go straight on"

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  4. Admin16 June 2009 at 13:20

    Mr Admin is usually grateful when the incumbent batsman passes on some succinct and informed comments on the bowling. I am, however, sometimes puzzled, even a little grumpy, when the incumbent batsman decides instead to treat me to an analysis of his own technique ......

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  5. cje16 June 2009 at 13:46

    'I am, however, sometimes puzzled, even a little grumpy, when the incumbent batsman decides instead to treat me to an analysis of his own technique ......'

    goodness, that does sound like something I might have done but I'm hoping Mr Admin referring to someone else; perhaps somebody referred to in this thread...

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  6. Bainbro18 June 2009 at 12:54

    Bradman perhaps?

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