Hugh Massingberd reviews
Hugh Massingberd24-Dec-2006Wisden Anthology 1978-2006: Cricket’s Age of Revolution Edited by Stephen Moss (Wisden, hb, 1309pp) £40
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In one of the chatty asides thatenliven this ambitious anthologyStephen Moss remarks: “‘FromNorman Preston to Atomic Kitten’would I think, be quite an engaging- and evocative – title for thisvolume.” Preston presided over theAlmanack in a period when, as Mossnotes, Wisden “could never quiteunderstand why South Africa hadbeen excluded from internationalcompetition” and “when the sportwas deemed to have some godlikequality that should not bebesmirched by controversy, self interest,or money”. As for AtomicKitten, m’lud, you will recall theywere the pop group who performedat Trent Bridge during theinaugural Twenty20 Cup finals day.Certainly this jeu d’espritwould have been preferable to theponderous subtitle Cricket’s Ageof Revolution. My heart sank whenthe editor spelt out the publisher’sbrief in his preface: “to make thisnot just a compendium of facts andfigures, a jumble of memories, buta coherent picture of a sport thathas been transformed in the past30 years. Like the game itself, thebook must be fun – but fun with apurpose”. In the event the fun andjumble of memories are plenty tobe going on with. So many of the’issues’ have acquired an awfulstaleness.Richie Benaud’s foreword, apaean to Kerry Packer, is a caseof history being written by thevictors. I preferred his pithy tallyof Tests he has witnessed and hisappreciation of Keith Miller, “whomanaged to be a great cricketerand a star at the same time”.Yet it would be churlish notto cheer Wisden coming off thefence upon which the craven ICChas placed itself over Zimbabwe.Tim de Lisle described theblack armband protest byHenry Olonga and AndyFlower as “a shining momentin the game’s history” and thecurrent editor Matthew Engelhas been a noble advocate of’Don’t play cricket with monsters’.Among the well-chosenillustrations I was struck by thephotograph of Michael Holdingkicking down the stumps after anappeal was turned down duringWest Indies’ fractious tour of NewZealand in 1979-80. The captioncontains the withering phrase “latera respected TV commentator”.I also found my blood pressureshooting up when reading MartinJohnson’s essay on David Gowerbelow – the best thing in the book- in accord with his contention that”it is a matter more for anger thansadness that he was prematurelylost to the game”.Gooch and’sergeant-major’ Stewart (MJ)should surely never be forgivenfor curtailing Gower’s Test careerand it nettled me that Moss shouldcategorise the bewigged press-upbore as a “great” batsman aboveGower, who incidentally has ahigher Test average than Goochie.The row over Gower’s exclusionis a surprising omission, as isthe absence of any reference toAlistair Brown’s amazing 268 in aC&G game against Glamorgan, aworld record that has not receivedremotely enough recognition. Butthis indefatigable editor has donea splendid job. He has an acute eyefor the quirky detail (such as PatsyHendren wearing a helmet, madeby his wife, in the 1930s) and a nicesense of humour. How right he is togive the lie to that absurd phrase”out without troubling the scorers”.There is immense pleasure to behad from these pages. My favouritepieces include John Woodcock’swell-rounded assessment of EWSwanton; Mike Brearley’s perceptiveanalyses of Alan Knott and JohnArlott (as Moss observes, Brearleycould have been one of the greatcricket correspondents); DonaldWoods’ study of the black playersignored by South Africa; andDavid Hopps’ affectionate tributeto Nancy Doyle, the Lord’s cook.The obituaries linger long in thememory – Colin Milburn, who was28 when he lost his eye, and BenHollioake, who died, as Moss puts it,”unbearably young”, aged 24.
