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Second XI: Cricket in its Outposts
As the world's second most popular sport, cricket is much richer and more diverse than many realise. Globally, passionate players give up holidays, time with loved ones and hard-earned money to achieve the extraordinary and play for their country. Afghanistan, whose captain grew up on a refugee camp, will play in the 2015 World Cup not just in spite of the Taliban but partly because of them. In Ireland, cricket has reawakened after a century of dormancy - but can they achieve their aim of Test cricket and end the player drain to England? These tales resonate far beyond cricket, touching on war, sectarianism and even women's rights. This book explains why an Emirati faced Allan Donald armed only with a sunhat; whether cricket will succeed in China and America; what happened when Kenya reached the World Cup semi-finals, and how cricket in the Netherlands almost collapsed after two bad days.
533 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 26, 2019
3.5/5 I love reading about history of cricket and have read atleast half-a-dozen on history of Indian cricket and the delightful "The Unquiet Ones" on Pakistani cricket. So, this was bound to be a good read for me.
Of the 10 countries featured , the story of Afghanistan cricket which prospered in the refugee camps of Peshawar and supported by Taliban was the best. Afghanistan has earned test status and already beaten Bangladesh in a test match and came close to beating India and Pakistan in the ODI World Cup 2019. The stories of Ireland and Scotland were a little similar and their blessing and curse seemed to be the same - proximity to England. How can teams prosper when they lose their best players to England ?
One of the most iconic images of World Cup cricket is Sultan Zarawani, the UAE captain being hit on the head by a fiery Allan Donald in 1996. Indeed, google him and you will read the usual stuff - how he was an ordinary cricketer who became the captain just because he was the only UAE citizen. To the author's credit, he was able to dig up stories of how his UAE teammates fondly and thankfully still remembered him for his support. The short UAE story was surprisingly good.
The story on Nepal was again good and it highlighted their efforts to build a team based on local Nepali talent in the face of a hostile terrain and climate. Possibly, Nepal could come up the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh-Afghanistan way. Think, we could have done with a story on Hong Kong too.
The Netherlands story was a tragedy. A couple of defeats stripped them of their ODI status and effectively killed the game in the country. This despite them beating England in 2 T20Is and coming close to beating a couple of other test teams. Also, they boasted a genuinely good allrounder in Doeschate. But, the bigger tragedy and one of the best stories was of Kenya. How the best non-test team that managed to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup 2003, that beat test teams regularly, was let down by a combination of factors - a weak domestic structure, internal corruption and ICC politics. I remember being surprised when Bangladesh got its test status ahead of Kenya who never did. Kenya was perhaps the only non-test team that I loved watching since their World Cup beginnings in 1996.
The story on China talked of exciting possibilities if the game caught on there but the chances are remote due to a no. of factors. The highlight of the story was the discussion on making cricket an Olympic sport. And finally, the stories on Papua New Guinea and USA failed to hold my interest.
A surprisingly good read overall !
Of the 10 countries featured , the story of Afghanistan cricket which prospered in the refugee camps of Peshawar and supported by Taliban was the best. Afghanistan has earned test status and already beaten Bangladesh in a test match and came close to beating India and Pakistan in the ODI World Cup 2019. The stories of Ireland and Scotland were a little similar and their blessing and curse seemed to be the same - proximity to England. How can teams prosper when they lose their best players to England ?
One of the most iconic images of World Cup cricket is Sultan Zarawani, the UAE captain being hit on the head by a fiery Allan Donald in 1996. Indeed, google him and you will read the usual stuff - how he was an ordinary cricketer who became the captain just because he was the only UAE citizen. To the author's credit, he was able to dig up stories of how his UAE teammates fondly and thankfully still remembered him for his support. The short UAE story was surprisingly good.
The story on Nepal was again good and it highlighted their efforts to build a team based on local Nepali talent in the face of a hostile terrain and climate. Possibly, Nepal could come up the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh-Afghanistan way. Think, we could have done with a story on Hong Kong too.
The Netherlands story was a tragedy. A couple of defeats stripped them of their ODI status and effectively killed the game in the country. This despite them beating England in 2 T20Is and coming close to beating a couple of other test teams. Also, they boasted a genuinely good allrounder in Doeschate. But, the bigger tragedy and one of the best stories was of Kenya. How the best non-test team that managed to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup 2003, that beat test teams regularly, was let down by a combination of factors - a weak domestic structure, internal corruption and ICC politics. I remember being surprised when Bangladesh got its test status ahead of Kenya who never did. Kenya was perhaps the only non-test team that I loved watching since their World Cup beginnings in 1996.
The story on China talked of exciting possibilities if the game caught on there but the chances are remote due to a no. of factors. The highlight of the story was the discussion on making cricket an Olympic sport. And finally, the stories on Papua New Guinea and USA failed to hold my interest.
A surprisingly good read overall !
June 23, 2020
An eye-opening (and rather wistful) read on just how much cricket had a foothold in countries outside its contemporary Full Member nations. Would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to learn about just how much more popular cricket could have become had its administrators, past and present, gotten things right. There’s no rambling or politicking – just a straight up factual summary of the state of cricket in several prominent associate and affiliate nations and the reasons for cricket’s growth or decline in those countries.
February 15, 2020
Very interesting overview of the roots of, and recent developments within, cricket in ten of the associate and affiliate nations. The story of Afghanistan's rise is stirring stuff; the other chapters are more sobering for anyone who wants to (as the phrase goes) "grow the game".
February 1, 2025
Really enjoyed that - I'm an avid cricket fan (and player) but learnt so much in this, and as someone who really enjoys the writing of Gideon Haigh and Wigmore, this was great!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews