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Test Cricket: A History
Test cricket is on the cusp of its 150th anniversary. For the first time, Test A History tells the full, gripping story of the players and stories that have shaped the game's evolution since 1877.
Award-winning author Tim Wigmore brings to life both Test cricket on the pitch and the game's social significance around the world. This captivating tour is illuminated by dozens of exclusive interviews with the game's greatest players, including Sachin Tendulkar, Pat Cummins, Michael Holding, Muthiah Muralidaran, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Chappell, Dale Steyn and Rahul Dravid.
From Bodyline to Bazball, the golden age to the rise of West Indies, and Shane Warne to Ian Botham, readers will come to appreciate Test cricket's remarkable history like never before.
Award-winning author Tim Wigmore brings to life both Test cricket on the pitch and the game's social significance around the world. This captivating tour is illuminated by dozens of exclusive interviews with the game's greatest players, including Sachin Tendulkar, Pat Cummins, Michael Holding, Muthiah Muralidaran, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Chappell, Dale Steyn and Rahul Dravid.
From Bodyline to Bazball, the golden age to the rise of West Indies, and Shane Warne to Ian Botham, readers will come to appreciate Test cricket's remarkable history like never before.
- GenresSportsHistoryNonfiction
592 pages, Hardcover
Published April 24, 2025
56 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
About the author
Tim Wigmore
11 books16 followersTim Wigmore is the author of Test Cricket: A History, a new narrative history based on dozens of new interviews and years of research. He is also the author of Crickonomics, a Waterstones Sports Book of the Year, and Cricket 2.0: Inside the T20 Revolution, which won the Wisden Book of the Year and Daily Telegraph Cricket Book of the Year in 2020. He is a sports writer for The Daily Telegraph, and has also written for The Economist, The New York Times, ESPNCricinfo and The New Statesman.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 24, 2025
The author combines romance with hard-nosed analysis to pen a free-flowing and arresting biography of Test Cricket. To decide on a structure for a book covering 150 years itself is a hairsplitting exercise but Wigmore aces the three S's beautifully : structure, statistics and style. The short biographical sketches thrown in inside every chapter are a delight. While obituaries have always been written for test cricket, Wigmore writes a passionate love letter of nearly 600 pages which makes us remember why we fell in love with the format in the first place and underlines why those obituaries are perennially immature.
May 24, 2025
Perhaps no sport has undergone as much evolution in recent decades as cricket. While the shorter forms of the game boom, test cricket (the multi-day format) remains the historic heart of the sport.
In telling the history of the Test format, Tim Wigmore traces the evolution of the sprot across each of the Test nations (very few countries are awarded ‘Test’ status). Through the matches between countries, the book traces the evolution of the sport through different eras as a combination of factors (not least tactics, social change, and individual genius) saw regular shifts in how the sport was played at the highest level.
What the book does exceptionally well is to combine the stories of teams, key players and historic games with the broader trends that emerged (both on and off the pitch) as the game developed. The details are vast but pitched at the perfect level. Wigmore excellently zooms in and out, managing to be comprehensive without being overwhelming.
It’s a big read, as such an ambitious project must be. But each chapter builds on what comes before, forming a consistent narrative of a sport that constantly grappled with balancing tradition and modernity. It is also a story of individuals and institutions who both pushed for and fought change in a sport as the empire with which it was intrinsically linked evolved and eventually crumbled. A really excellent book.
In telling the history of the Test format, Tim Wigmore traces the evolution of the sprot across each of the Test nations (very few countries are awarded ‘Test’ status). Through the matches between countries, the book traces the evolution of the sport through different eras as a combination of factors (not least tactics, social change, and individual genius) saw regular shifts in how the sport was played at the highest level.
What the book does exceptionally well is to combine the stories of teams, key players and historic games with the broader trends that emerged (both on and off the pitch) as the game developed. The details are vast but pitched at the perfect level. Wigmore excellently zooms in and out, managing to be comprehensive without being overwhelming.
It’s a big read, as such an ambitious project must be. But each chapter builds on what comes before, forming a consistent narrative of a sport that constantly grappled with balancing tradition and modernity. It is also a story of individuals and institutions who both pushed for and fought change in a sport as the empire with which it was intrinsically linked evolved and eventually crumbled. A really excellent book.
August 18, 2025
Stunning, for the sheer breadth it covers and the depth of the charming stories it chooses to tell!
August 15, 2025
A great read for any test cricket tragic. Far and away my favourite format of the game. Well paced and written with the right amount of focus on the games legends and stories.
I must say I enjoyed the history and stories of old rather than the analysis of today’s events. It seemed as if all the worlds problems are reflected in the test cricket of the time - racism especially. Another observation is that I could recall every player from my childhood, and all the major events, but I struggled to recall what happened two ashes series ago😆.
A great achievement and pleased to have it on my bookshelf.
5 stars.
I must say I enjoyed the history and stories of old rather than the analysis of today’s events. It seemed as if all the worlds problems are reflected in the test cricket of the time - racism especially. Another observation is that I could recall every player from my childhood, and all the major events, but I struggled to recall what happened two ashes series ago😆.
A great achievement and pleased to have it on my bookshelf.
5 stars.
September 10, 2025
An excellent book providing a potted history of the great game, told with humour, anecdotes, facts, and of course stats.
Well written by someone with an obvious love of the game, looks at the many ways in which the game has managed to remain much as it was, whilst changing over the years with rules being brought in and altered, styles changing, the change from the amateur game to the professional, the rise and fall of countries fortunes and the arrival of new challangers.
Well worth a read for anyone, even vaguely, interested in the game, and a book I shall re-read over the coming years.
Well written by someone with an obvious love of the game, looks at the many ways in which the game has managed to remain much as it was, whilst changing over the years with rules being brought in and altered, styles changing, the change from the amateur game to the professional, the rise and fall of countries fortunes and the arrival of new challangers.
Well worth a read for anyone, even vaguely, interested in the game, and a book I shall re-read over the coming years.
June 11, 2025
Excellent read covering every country and all the key points in the history of this great game
September 12, 2025
In the book – TEST CRICKET: A HISTORY – the author Tim Hogan traces the history of test cricket with a brief mention of the game before the first test match in March 1877. He writes “The roots of cricket have been lost to history. Exactly why the game is called cricket remains unclear. It is thought to be an adaptation of the word criquet, which came to Britain about the time of Norman Conquest. Criquet has some resemblance to cricket – hitting a moving object with a stick or bat. A more recognisable game developed over the 17th century – the historian Eric Midwinter wrote, in 1668, the landlord of Ram, at Smithfield, the premier sports ground of London, is recorded as paying for the use of a cricket ground. Each club (there were hundreds) played their own version of cricket. 1744 has the claim of dawn of modern cricket – Kent’s match against All England – held at London’s Artillery Ground, is the first major match for which a detailed score card remains. In 1787, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) was founded in North - West London; the Club laid down a Code of Laws, including the requirement for the wickets to be 22 yards apart. In 1835 MCC legalised round – arm bowling – deliveries in which the bowlers arm was raised, but did not go above the shoulder. In 1864 overarm was fully legalised. The first figure of national significance for cricket in England was Sir W.G. Grace, who made his first – class debut in 1865.
In 1882, at the Oval on 29th August, England needed 85 run for victory. It was the final day. As England reached 51 – 2, a victory for the hosts seemed certain. Earlier in the Australian dressing room Fred Spofforth, Australia’s moustached fast bowler – called ‘The Demon’ for both his appearance and cricketing attributes – was cajoling his teammates, “This thing can be done”. At 51 – 2, Spofforth was undeterred. He would not stop bowling till this was done. George Ulyett was caught pushing at a quicker ball from Spofforth. W.G. Grace, the greatest batter of his age, fell shortly after to Harry Boyle. At 65 – 4 the fifth wicket pair Alfred Lucas and Alfred Lyttelton played out 12 consecutive maiden overs of 4 balls each. In the 17th over Spofforth bowled Lyttleton’s middle stump leaving England at 66 – 5. 17 overs one run one wicket. Spofforth’s relentless accuracy suffocated England. The number 11, Ted Peate walked out at 75 – 9, his lips pale, to face Boyle. Peate made 2 from his third ball. The next ball he swung for glory and was bowled. Australia won by 7 runs. The last 8 wickets fell for 26 runs. Spofforth’s figures in the second innings 7 – 44, match figures 14 – 90. In the Sporting Times of August 30, the writer Reginald Shirley Brooks wrote a mock obituary: “In affectionate Remembrance of English Cricket, which died at the Oval on 29th August 1882, deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. R.I.P.
N.B. – The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”.
England left for Australia 12 days later. The captain pledged to ‘beard the kangaroo in his den and try to recover the ashes’. When England won the series bow under 5 – 0, Bligh was presented with a terracotta urn. The Ashes were born.
On 15th March 1877 at the MCG (Melbourne) the first ever test match between Australia and England was played. Now almost 150 years later that game has changed so much that those who played in the first test match would say “That’s just not cricket”. For the first 12 years only two teams played test cricket – England and Australia. In 1889, South Africa became the third country to join the club. In 1909 they formed the ICC – Imperial Cricket Conference (from 1965 International Cricket Conference) to formulate rules for International games.
In 1926, the opening pair Hobbs and Sutcliffe were probably the greatest opening pair. In the period 1924 to 1930 the pair played 38 test innings scoring 3249 runs at the highest average of 87.81. Earlier J.B. Hobbs and W. Rhodes opened in 36 innings scoring 2146 runs at an average of 61.31 – the fifth highest in test cricket. Wally Hammond arrived in Australia in 1928 – a stylish batsman a la W.G. Grace’s style and England won the series 5 – 0 with sizable contribution by Hammond. Hammond was not popular with his teammates. In the 1946 – 47 Ashes series as captain he travelled between venues in his Jaguar, while the rest of the team travelled by train. His teammate Denis Compton remarked “He tended to be individualistic and uncommunicative; worse still he didn’t seem to be part of the side.” Hammond’s batting average was 58.45 in 85 tests. Len Hutton played 79 tests and averaged 56.67.during his captaincy England played six series – won four and drew two.
In May 1926 ICC admitted West Indies and New Zealand to test cricket. India was admitted in 1928. In 1947, the British left India – before going they vivisected India on religious lines, the classic ‘Divide and Rule’ principle. The Hindu majority states and kingdoms became Hindustan (India), while the Muslim majority states became Pakistan. West Punjab, Sind, NWFP became West Pakistan. East Bengal, Shylet and some other districts of Assam became East Pakistan. 2,000 miles of Indian land separated the two Pakistans. They had nothing in common except their religion. In July 1952 Pakistan was admitted as the seventh test playing nation. The Pakistani test team comprised of players from West Pakistan. In the 24 years East Pakistan existed, only a handful of Pakistani players hailed from the East. In 1971 December, East Pakistan seceded after a bloody civil war of nine months. Bangladesh was born. Ceylon (Sri Lanka from 1972) was a place where ships from England to Australia/New Zealand and vice – versa docked for two – three days. The Colombo Cricket Club was the venue for friendly matches between the voyagers and local Europeans and later included native Ceylonese. The matches were generally one or two day fixtures and once the ship was ready to sail, the captain sounded the ship’s hooter. The players immediately wound up the game and the tourists returned to the ship. These matches were known as whistle – stop games.
In 1965 at their first meeting ICC permitted ‘Associate Members’ and USA, Fiji and Ceylon were granted ‘Associate Members’ status. In 1981, Sri Lanka were granted full membership and became the eighth test playing nation. In 1992, Zimbabwe became the ninth test playing country. In 2000, Bangladesh became the tenth test playing nation. In 2018, Ireland and later Afghanistan became the eleventh and twelfth test playing nations. The book also describes other greats like Bradman, Compton, Sobers, Gavaskar, Dravid, Rashid Khan and Muthaiah Murlidharan amongst others. The stories of the 1932 – 33 Bodyline series and Bazball are also well covered.
The book is well researched and written in easy flowing prose, which is a pleasure to read. Considering the additional research and plethora of statistics supplied, I have no hesitation in evaluating this book a deserving 5 – Star.
Eden gardens Calcutta (Kolkata) is one of the grounds like Lords, MCG, Oval, etc., where every great cricketer wants to play. In India we grew up hearing radio commentary. TV was available only in Delhi and Bombay (Mumbai). Elsewhere they appeared in 1978 or so. There was only one station the Doordarshan and later the second channel Doordarshan Metro. In 1964 October as a nine year old kid I watched my first cricket match live, that too a Test Match. My father purchased a season ticket of the stands at a royal sum of Rs.32. My father was a mid – level Central Government Officer earning a net salary after all deductions of about Rs.500 per month. So Rs.32 worked out to about 6 days net wages. I watched the match on the first and fourth day. My dad watched on the second and third day. Australia batted first. At lunch they were 97 – 0. Bill Lawry 50 and Bobby Simpson 47. Post lunch Salim Durrani bowled the first over and first ball Lawry was out bowled. Bob Cowper scored a boundary in the remaining five balls. At the other end Simpson faced Rusi Surti scoring a couple. Cowper played out a maiden over of Durrani. Simpson faced another maiden over. Durrani started his next over and in the first ball had Cowper caught by Nadkarni. Peter Burge faced three balls, scored a boundary and was caught by Hanumanth Singh on the fourth ball. Brian Booth joined Simpson, blocked the first ball he faced and was clean bowled on the last ball of Durrani’s over. Ian Redpath joined Simpson and the pair put on 36 runs before Simpson was adjudged lbw on a ball from Rusi Surti. Tom Veivers joined Ian Redpath and after 20 m0re runs Veivers was caught by Pataudi of Durrani for 2 runs. 165 – 6. Barry Jarman joined Ian Redpath and at stumps of day one Australia were 167 – 6. On Day 2 Australia’s first innings ended at 174 – 9 runs scored 4 wickets fell. Ian Redpath remained unbeaten at 32. Salim Durrani took 6 – 73, Rusi Surti 3 – 38 and the remaining wicket was snared by Bhagwat Chandrasekhar 1 – 39. India finished the second day at 130 – 5. Day 3 India were all out for 235 getting a lead of 61 runs. When the game was called off early due to bad light Australia were 143 – 1 in the second innings. Day 4 and were washed out due to rain and the match was drawn as was the series 1 – 1. That was the only test match I saw live. Shortly thereafter my father was transferred to Hyderabad, which was not a test venue. Years later I came back to Calcutta for employment, but the prohibitive cost of Test cricket tickets has ensured that I could not visit Eden Gardens to watch test matches.
In 1882, at the Oval on 29th August, England needed 85 run for victory. It was the final day. As England reached 51 – 2, a victory for the hosts seemed certain. Earlier in the Australian dressing room Fred Spofforth, Australia’s moustached fast bowler – called ‘The Demon’ for both his appearance and cricketing attributes – was cajoling his teammates, “This thing can be done”. At 51 – 2, Spofforth was undeterred. He would not stop bowling till this was done. George Ulyett was caught pushing at a quicker ball from Spofforth. W.G. Grace, the greatest batter of his age, fell shortly after to Harry Boyle. At 65 – 4 the fifth wicket pair Alfred Lucas and Alfred Lyttelton played out 12 consecutive maiden overs of 4 balls each. In the 17th over Spofforth bowled Lyttleton’s middle stump leaving England at 66 – 5. 17 overs one run one wicket. Spofforth’s relentless accuracy suffocated England. The number 11, Ted Peate walked out at 75 – 9, his lips pale, to face Boyle. Peate made 2 from his third ball. The next ball he swung for glory and was bowled. Australia won by 7 runs. The last 8 wickets fell for 26 runs. Spofforth’s figures in the second innings 7 – 44, match figures 14 – 90. In the Sporting Times of August 30, the writer Reginald Shirley Brooks wrote a mock obituary: “In affectionate Remembrance of English Cricket, which died at the Oval on 29th August 1882, deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. R.I.P.
N.B. – The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”.
England left for Australia 12 days later. The captain pledged to ‘beard the kangaroo in his den and try to recover the ashes’. When England won the series bow under 5 – 0, Bligh was presented with a terracotta urn. The Ashes were born.
On 15th March 1877 at the MCG (Melbourne) the first ever test match between Australia and England was played. Now almost 150 years later that game has changed so much that those who played in the first test match would say “That’s just not cricket”. For the first 12 years only two teams played test cricket – England and Australia. In 1889, South Africa became the third country to join the club. In 1909 they formed the ICC – Imperial Cricket Conference (from 1965 International Cricket Conference) to formulate rules for International games.
In 1926, the opening pair Hobbs and Sutcliffe were probably the greatest opening pair. In the period 1924 to 1930 the pair played 38 test innings scoring 3249 runs at the highest average of 87.81. Earlier J.B. Hobbs and W. Rhodes opened in 36 innings scoring 2146 runs at an average of 61.31 – the fifth highest in test cricket. Wally Hammond arrived in Australia in 1928 – a stylish batsman a la W.G. Grace’s style and England won the series 5 – 0 with sizable contribution by Hammond. Hammond was not popular with his teammates. In the 1946 – 47 Ashes series as captain he travelled between venues in his Jaguar, while the rest of the team travelled by train. His teammate Denis Compton remarked “He tended to be individualistic and uncommunicative; worse still he didn’t seem to be part of the side.” Hammond’s batting average was 58.45 in 85 tests. Len Hutton played 79 tests and averaged 56.67.during his captaincy England played six series – won four and drew two.
In May 1926 ICC admitted West Indies and New Zealand to test cricket. India was admitted in 1928. In 1947, the British left India – before going they vivisected India on religious lines, the classic ‘Divide and Rule’ principle. The Hindu majority states and kingdoms became Hindustan (India), while the Muslim majority states became Pakistan. West Punjab, Sind, NWFP became West Pakistan. East Bengal, Shylet and some other districts of Assam became East Pakistan. 2,000 miles of Indian land separated the two Pakistans. They had nothing in common except their religion. In July 1952 Pakistan was admitted as the seventh test playing nation. The Pakistani test team comprised of players from West Pakistan. In the 24 years East Pakistan existed, only a handful of Pakistani players hailed from the East. In 1971 December, East Pakistan seceded after a bloody civil war of nine months. Bangladesh was born. Ceylon (Sri Lanka from 1972) was a place where ships from England to Australia/New Zealand and vice – versa docked for two – three days. The Colombo Cricket Club was the venue for friendly matches between the voyagers and local Europeans and later included native Ceylonese. The matches were generally one or two day fixtures and once the ship was ready to sail, the captain sounded the ship’s hooter. The players immediately wound up the game and the tourists returned to the ship. These matches were known as whistle – stop games.
In 1965 at their first meeting ICC permitted ‘Associate Members’ and USA, Fiji and Ceylon were granted ‘Associate Members’ status. In 1981, Sri Lanka were granted full membership and became the eighth test playing nation. In 1992, Zimbabwe became the ninth test playing country. In 2000, Bangladesh became the tenth test playing nation. In 2018, Ireland and later Afghanistan became the eleventh and twelfth test playing nations. The book also describes other greats like Bradman, Compton, Sobers, Gavaskar, Dravid, Rashid Khan and Muthaiah Murlidharan amongst others. The stories of the 1932 – 33 Bodyline series and Bazball are also well covered.
The book is well researched and written in easy flowing prose, which is a pleasure to read. Considering the additional research and plethora of statistics supplied, I have no hesitation in evaluating this book a deserving 5 – Star.
Eden gardens Calcutta (Kolkata) is one of the grounds like Lords, MCG, Oval, etc., where every great cricketer wants to play. In India we grew up hearing radio commentary. TV was available only in Delhi and Bombay (Mumbai). Elsewhere they appeared in 1978 or so. There was only one station the Doordarshan and later the second channel Doordarshan Metro. In 1964 October as a nine year old kid I watched my first cricket match live, that too a Test Match. My father purchased a season ticket of the stands at a royal sum of Rs.32. My father was a mid – level Central Government Officer earning a net salary after all deductions of about Rs.500 per month. So Rs.32 worked out to about 6 days net wages. I watched the match on the first and fourth day. My dad watched on the second and third day. Australia batted first. At lunch they were 97 – 0. Bill Lawry 50 and Bobby Simpson 47. Post lunch Salim Durrani bowled the first over and first ball Lawry was out bowled. Bob Cowper scored a boundary in the remaining five balls. At the other end Simpson faced Rusi Surti scoring a couple. Cowper played out a maiden over of Durrani. Simpson faced another maiden over. Durrani started his next over and in the first ball had Cowper caught by Nadkarni. Peter Burge faced three balls, scored a boundary and was caught by Hanumanth Singh on the fourth ball. Brian Booth joined Simpson, blocked the first ball he faced and was clean bowled on the last ball of Durrani’s over. Ian Redpath joined Simpson and the pair put on 36 runs before Simpson was adjudged lbw on a ball from Rusi Surti. Tom Veivers joined Ian Redpath and after 20 m0re runs Veivers was caught by Pataudi of Durrani for 2 runs. 165 – 6. Barry Jarman joined Ian Redpath and at stumps of day one Australia were 167 – 6. On Day 2 Australia’s first innings ended at 174 – 9 runs scored 4 wickets fell. Ian Redpath remained unbeaten at 32. Salim Durrani took 6 – 73, Rusi Surti 3 – 38 and the remaining wicket was snared by Bhagwat Chandrasekhar 1 – 39. India finished the second day at 130 – 5. Day 3 India were all out for 235 getting a lead of 61 runs. When the game was called off early due to bad light Australia were 143 – 1 in the second innings. Day 4 and were washed out due to rain and the match was drawn as was the series 1 – 1. That was the only test match I saw live. Shortly thereafter my father was transferred to Hyderabad, which was not a test venue. Years later I came back to Calcutta for employment, but the prohibitive cost of Test cricket tickets has ensured that I could not visit Eden Gardens to watch test matches.
June 19, 2025
I came to now about the book from the X handle of Joy Bhattacharjee. When it arrived it was a 578 page book. Would I ever read it or be able to finish it? I am 65. But once I started reading it, it was such easy reading with lucid language and easy flowing style. I kept on reading chapters after chapters. But I defied the author's advice of reading it chronologically. Since I am a 80-90 kid, I was drawn to chapters on Warne, Hadlee, Imran. Kapil Dev, reverse swing, Kerry Packer etc. I read as per my choice and stitched the chapters together. My God I enjoyed the book as an entertainer rather than the nuggets of information it provided. I am resting after an Open Heart Bypass Surgery and this book is giving me company and keeping me entertained. Frankly I know nothing about the author Tim Wigmore but he has a golden arm and writes really really well. Advice anybody who is or was interested in cricket to get your hands on it and read it. You will relive your days in some chapter or the other. Never imagined anyone will keep me hooked to a book of 578 pages at my age of 65. This is treasure which I shall carry when on a holiday and some Chapters can be read again and again.
A little bit of complain though. The Chapter of Sachin Tendulkar has too much of Rahul Dravid & VVS Laxman rather than Tendulkar. This shouldn't have been so. Why I dont know.
A little bit of complain though. The Chapter of Sachin Tendulkar has too much of Rahul Dravid & VVS Laxman rather than Tendulkar. This shouldn't have been so. Why I dont know.
August 17, 2025
This is an excellent book. I came to this as someone who likes cricket but is not obsessed with it, and has only read one or two cricket books before. I picked it up because I wanted to put the summer series between England and India, and then the Ashes, in wider context.
It did that and more. It is a very engaging read, a mix of history and also interesting insights into what actually goes on on the pitch - the point about DRS leading to more LBWs against spinners makes me see the game in a different light. I find the idea of cricket history a little daunting because I am not sure how much appetite I have for tales of Victorians in top hats, but I thought it was perfectly paced in that sense. The older bits of history were always interesting, and always gave insight into the cricketing present. The more recent history was always going to be an easier sell but was expertly done with lots of player interviews. I would recommend this to any cricket obsessive - and to non-obsessives too.
It did that and more. It is a very engaging read, a mix of history and also interesting insights into what actually goes on on the pitch - the point about DRS leading to more LBWs against spinners makes me see the game in a different light. I find the idea of cricket history a little daunting because I am not sure how much appetite I have for tales of Victorians in top hats, but I thought it was perfectly paced in that sense. The older bits of history were always interesting, and always gave insight into the cricketing present. The more recent history was always going to be an easier sell but was expertly done with lots of player interviews. I would recommend this to any cricket obsessive - and to non-obsessives too.
November 27, 2025
excellent if niche Mens Test Cricket history book by someone who clearly loves and has the most in-depth knowledge of the sport.
At times it has the feeling of a book examining colonial politics and perspectives via the medium of cricket so deeply entwined are politics and sport
The fact that you barely get a chapter that doesn't highlight racist or classist behaviour from those who run cricket (not just England, but Australia, India and *especially* South Africa) is shameful for a sport I love (Basil D'oliveira story is essential learning) and that the same administrators have throughout the history of the sport tried to their best to minimise and isolate the sport to either exclude or profit at the expense of others is the reason why posh people should be shot into space at birth.
At times it has the feeling of a book examining colonial politics and perspectives via the medium of cricket so deeply entwined are politics and sport
The fact that you barely get a chapter that doesn't highlight racist or classist behaviour from those who run cricket (not just England, but Australia, India and *especially* South Africa) is shameful for a sport I love (Basil D'oliveira story is essential learning) and that the same administrators have throughout the history of the sport tried to their best to minimise and isolate the sport to either exclude or profit at the expense of others is the reason why posh people should be shot into space at birth.
July 13, 2025
well researched history of test cricket, at its best when looking at the steps that the smaller nations had to take to be admitted to a fairly exclusive club. There is, for fairly obvious reasons, far more about the more recent history of the matches - I hope at some point there wil be a companion volume covering the history and developments around the shorter forms of the game both at international and national levels
August 1, 2025
What an amazing book, I couldnt put it down, Tim has done it again!
It really is a real comprehensive review of Test Cricket, yet Tim really brings it to life with great interviews with players, and other great insights.
It is fascinating to see how the game changed over time, I am a cricket badger yet learned so much such as 8 ball overs etc.
Tim also doesnt hide away from the difficult topics such as history of racism in the sport.
Would really recommend this book
It really is a real comprehensive review of Test Cricket, yet Tim really brings it to life with great interviews with players, and other great insights.
It is fascinating to see how the game changed over time, I am a cricket badger yet learned so much such as 8 ball overs etc.
Tim also doesnt hide away from the difficult topics such as history of racism in the sport.
Would really recommend this book
June 28, 2025
4.5. Listened to the audiobook.
Excellent, especially at highlighting how bigotry and self-interest have marred the game. Sweeping as it is, there are some gaps, e.g. little on day-night cricket and a number of great players not mentioned.
Excellent, especially at highlighting how bigotry and self-interest have marred the game. Sweeping as it is, there are some gaps, e.g. little on day-night cricket and a number of great players not mentioned.
December 18, 2025
Cricket is a sport that is played in many areas of the British Commonwealth. Test cricket is the international cricket game played by certain members of that group. This book looks at the history of that game.
This book doesn’t pretend to be a detailed history of every game, or country that plays the game. It recognises that that wouldn’t be feasible in any one volume book. Instead, it runs through the significant (and some less significant) events in the history of that type of game. It’s an interesting read. I think anyone who’s interested in sport will enjoy this book.
This book doesn’t pretend to be a detailed history of every game, or country that plays the game. It recognises that that wouldn’t be feasible in any one volume book. Instead, it runs through the significant (and some less significant) events in the history of that type of game. It’s an interesting read. I think anyone who’s interested in sport will enjoy this book.
April 24, 2025
A triumph
July 13, 2025
Really enjoyed this read. Test Cricket, in so many ways, says so much about the changes in the world over the past 150 years.
September 21, 2025
excellent
November 30, 2025
One of the greatest cricket books. It is has everything a cricket lover wants to know and love.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews