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Cricket: The Game of Life: Every Reason to Celebrate
Winner of the Cricket Writers' Club Book of the Year 2016Shortlisted for the MCC Book of the YearShortlisted for Cricket Book of the Year at the Sports Book AwardsScyld Berry draws on his experiences as a cricket writer of forty years to produce new insights and unfamiliar historical angles on the game, along with moving reflections on episodes from his own life. The author covers a range of themes including cricket in different areas of the world, and abstract concepts such as language, numbers, ethics and psychology; Scyld Berry relishes the joys cricket provides and is convinced of the positive effect it can have in people's lives. The Game of Life is an inspiring book that reminds readers why they love the game and prompts them to look at it in a new way.
- GenresSports
465 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 10, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 29, 2019
This is a 400 page love letter to cricket. At times it is dense reading as it goes into magnificent detail, if you're a casual fan you may find it quite difficult, but for a diehard it will be one of the most enjoyable books you read. From its foundation in England, to how and why it spread through the empire. I loved the chapter on India in particular.
August 26, 2025
Some cricket writers seem to reach a point of name recognition that they can get a book of general musings published, and I was unsure what the overarching theme was, if indeed there was meant to be one, as it veered from origins in different countries to the appeal of the long form game, and the language of goodies and baddies on the field.
The first chapter was the weakest for me, as Berry used a poem about the first known ticketed cricket match and its scorecard to construct a piece of historical fiction creative writing, and nearly put me off completely. Fortunately, this was out of character with the rest of the book which mostly stayed within standard non-fiction territory, although it wasn't always consistent. There were a few pages on outlines of famous cricket moments and what the body language of the players meant, and a longer chapter on the origins of test cricket in Australia, with page-long summaries of the development in other nations.
This could have worked if each piece was engaging, but I didn't find all of them interesting, and Berry wasn't the sort of author whose writing was so good that opinion on anything was worth reading. His analysis could be good, and he acknowledged the circumstances on practice and ability rather than attributing skill to the inherent character of a place, but I still felt he opted for narrative over boring reality at times. He at least seemed heartfelt in promoting the game to all players and not just a privately educated class, even if it came with a slightly patronising idea of how to survive on the 'street' in Sparkbrook.
Overall it was a rag bag of pieces in different styles and tones which at least stopped it being one note and completely dull, but nor was it great from start to finish. There just wasn't enough that made me think differently or told me something new.
The first chapter was the weakest for me, as Berry used a poem about the first known ticketed cricket match and its scorecard to construct a piece of historical fiction creative writing, and nearly put me off completely. Fortunately, this was out of character with the rest of the book which mostly stayed within standard non-fiction territory, although it wasn't always consistent. There were a few pages on outlines of famous cricket moments and what the body language of the players meant, and a longer chapter on the origins of test cricket in Australia, with page-long summaries of the development in other nations.
This could have worked if each piece was engaging, but I didn't find all of them interesting, and Berry wasn't the sort of author whose writing was so good that opinion on anything was worth reading. His analysis could be good, and he acknowledged the circumstances on practice and ability rather than attributing skill to the inherent character of a place, but I still felt he opted for narrative over boring reality at times. He at least seemed heartfelt in promoting the game to all players and not just a privately educated class, even if it came with a slightly patronising idea of how to survive on the 'street' in Sparkbrook.
Overall it was a rag bag of pieces in different styles and tones which at least stopped it being one note and completely dull, but nor was it great from start to finish. There just wasn't enough that made me think differently or told me something new.
May 31, 2021
Superb! This is not strictly speaking a history of cricket but a series of chapters about the origins, attractions and many other aspects of the game. There are chapters on the growth of cricket in Australia and why they are England's greatest and toughest rival, the popularity of cricket in India and the rise of the West Indies to become an almost unbeatable team in the 1970s and 80s. The enormous psychological challenges of the game are discussed in detail and there are lyrical and almost elegiac descriptions of the aesthetics of cricket and its importance and significance in various players and fans' lives. The writing is philosophical and poetic in parts and analyses the epic and monumental quality of test matches in particular, likening them to the greatest literary epic of all The Iliad. A hugely entertaining book about a game described by the physicist Professor Brian Cox as 'more complicated than the Universe'.
October 20, 2020
Purchase Cricket: The Game of Life here for just $10!
Winner of many awards, this book by Scyld Berry is for the cricket-lover in your life. Berry wrote about the sport for 40 years and this is obvious by the emphasis on cricket as important in people's lives. Even the staunchest fan will learn something new.
Elisa - The Book Grocer
Winner of many awards, this book by Scyld Berry is for the cricket-lover in your life. Berry wrote about the sport for 40 years and this is obvious by the emphasis on cricket as important in people's lives. Even the staunchest fan will learn something new.
Elisa - The Book Grocer
January 4, 2016
What a great book. I have not knowingly read Scyld Berry before but this book is eye opening in so many ways - to Berry's knowledge of cricket, his ability as a writer, and to so many things about this greatest of sports that I didn't know - there is much in this for any and every cricket fan.
You could call this book a bit of a grab-bag, in that while it contains much history it is not a historical work, while it contains autobiographical and biographical material it is not of that genre either. It is in fact a celebration of all that is great (and some that is not-so-great) about the game, its history and its players, and why, to Berry and a lot of us, there can never be enough cricket.
The book opens with a poignant insight into Berry's childhood and the early death of his mother, which he feels led him to find solace in cricket. He then quickly moves into a highly diverting section on the first cricket match for which we have commentary, in the form of an epic poem. The game, Kent v England in 1744 is the second for which we have a scorecard, and thanks to the poem - and Berry's knowledge of early cricket - we know quite a bit about how the game was played.
In these days of fixing, it is enlightening to read that the first organised games of cricket were played for money - Lord Sackville of Kent organised the game for a prize pool to help him with his growing debts, and the poem makes clear that one of the major interests of the crowd was betting on the result. Also fascinating is how many things about the game haven't changed - pressure leading to dropped catches, the sound of wood on leather, and the joy in getting the opposition's best player out.
Berry then continues with the history lesson, describing how cricket grows with the ability of potential players to actually practice and play, and how those situations have moved and changed across England as the centuries have rolled on. His exposition explains well how the England side has come to be dominated by those from the North Country.
Interestingly, when he discusses Australian cricket - in a chapter about the "ardent desire" of the Australians to win, especially against England - he mentions the dominance of New South Wales in Shield cricket and discusses the salaries for Australian Football League (AFL) players being worrying for the future of attracting players to the game, but seems to miss the fact that the biggest worry in AFL spreading across the country is that AFL uses players of all shapes and sizes: one reason for the preponderance of NSW and Queensland players in the Australian team is that Rugby League requires a certain physiology in a player, and if you don't have that, cricket is the place to go. I also wonder about the money equation as well, in this T20 age....Cameron White is rumoured to earn $1 million a year without representing his country: more than most AFL players.
However that may be, Berry's cultural nose is quite sharp: finding in history the roots of the current styles of cricket that appear around the world. From the native-born vs. the troops in Australia leading to the desire that has brought so much Ashes success, to the caste system in India leading to their (until recently) relative lack of skill in the field. he ferrets through the past to find interesting facts that enliven one's understanding of today's game.
As a life-long cricketing journalist would, Berry has a section in the book on words and numbers, with a nice essay on how description of batting always uses positive language, whereas bowlers are usually described with negative or destructive language. This is undoubtedly true, and something that on a subconscious level we all know, but no less eye-opening as Berry lays it out for us. The Numbers section has some interesting statistics (as all good cricketing books should), partly about fathers or brothers helping each other to the highest level. There are also some firsts here - of interest is that the first ever recorded innings of 300, 400, 500 and 600 were all scored at Clifton College in Bristol. The other number from that school that astounds in the most appalling way is that 578 of Clifton's pupils died serving in WWI - it is also interesting in this context that Douglas Haig was a former pupil.
That last sentence in a way sums up all that is great about this book - Berry has written a book about cricket, but it is also a book about so much more - whether it be an investigation of a photograph of Wally Hammond playing a cover drive that leads on to how man shows physical presence and how some cricket shots bear comparison with the greatest of sculptures, or whether Test Match Cricket is the pinnacle of sports because it lasts (coincidentally?) as long as that greatest of all matches, the battle for Troy in The Illiad. Berry shows us that this glorious thing, this wonderful game that consumes us, is at the same time strong and fragile: strong in the millions upon millions of cricket lovers throughout the world, and fragile in that despite the 300-odd years that have passed since the first games, cricket still relies on the mutual trust and sense of fair play among the 22 players out on the field, which has to survive everything that the modern world can throw at it.
I can't recommend this book highly enough - fantastic reading for the cricket junkie.
Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/
You could call this book a bit of a grab-bag, in that while it contains much history it is not a historical work, while it contains autobiographical and biographical material it is not of that genre either. It is in fact a celebration of all that is great (and some that is not-so-great) about the game, its history and its players, and why, to Berry and a lot of us, there can never be enough cricket.
The book opens with a poignant insight into Berry's childhood and the early death of his mother, which he feels led him to find solace in cricket. He then quickly moves into a highly diverting section on the first cricket match for which we have commentary, in the form of an epic poem. The game, Kent v England in 1744 is the second for which we have a scorecard, and thanks to the poem - and Berry's knowledge of early cricket - we know quite a bit about how the game was played.
In these days of fixing, it is enlightening to read that the first organised games of cricket were played for money - Lord Sackville of Kent organised the game for a prize pool to help him with his growing debts, and the poem makes clear that one of the major interests of the crowd was betting on the result. Also fascinating is how many things about the game haven't changed - pressure leading to dropped catches, the sound of wood on leather, and the joy in getting the opposition's best player out.
Berry then continues with the history lesson, describing how cricket grows with the ability of potential players to actually practice and play, and how those situations have moved and changed across England as the centuries have rolled on. His exposition explains well how the England side has come to be dominated by those from the North Country.
Interestingly, when he discusses Australian cricket - in a chapter about the "ardent desire" of the Australians to win, especially against England - he mentions the dominance of New South Wales in Shield cricket and discusses the salaries for Australian Football League (AFL) players being worrying for the future of attracting players to the game, but seems to miss the fact that the biggest worry in AFL spreading across the country is that AFL uses players of all shapes and sizes: one reason for the preponderance of NSW and Queensland players in the Australian team is that Rugby League requires a certain physiology in a player, and if you don't have that, cricket is the place to go. I also wonder about the money equation as well, in this T20 age....Cameron White is rumoured to earn $1 million a year without representing his country: more than most AFL players.
However that may be, Berry's cultural nose is quite sharp: finding in history the roots of the current styles of cricket that appear around the world. From the native-born vs. the troops in Australia leading to the desire that has brought so much Ashes success, to the caste system in India leading to their (until recently) relative lack of skill in the field. he ferrets through the past to find interesting facts that enliven one's understanding of today's game.
As a life-long cricketing journalist would, Berry has a section in the book on words and numbers, with a nice essay on how description of batting always uses positive language, whereas bowlers are usually described with negative or destructive language. This is undoubtedly true, and something that on a subconscious level we all know, but no less eye-opening as Berry lays it out for us. The Numbers section has some interesting statistics (as all good cricketing books should), partly about fathers or brothers helping each other to the highest level. There are also some firsts here - of interest is that the first ever recorded innings of 300, 400, 500 and 600 were all scored at Clifton College in Bristol. The other number from that school that astounds in the most appalling way is that 578 of Clifton's pupils died serving in WWI - it is also interesting in this context that Douglas Haig was a former pupil.
That last sentence in a way sums up all that is great about this book - Berry has written a book about cricket, but it is also a book about so much more - whether it be an investigation of a photograph of Wally Hammond playing a cover drive that leads on to how man shows physical presence and how some cricket shots bear comparison with the greatest of sculptures, or whether Test Match Cricket is the pinnacle of sports because it lasts (coincidentally?) as long as that greatest of all matches, the battle for Troy in The Illiad. Berry shows us that this glorious thing, this wonderful game that consumes us, is at the same time strong and fragile: strong in the millions upon millions of cricket lovers throughout the world, and fragile in that despite the 300-odd years that have passed since the first games, cricket still relies on the mutual trust and sense of fair play among the 22 players out on the field, which has to survive everything that the modern world can throw at it.
I can't recommend this book highly enough - fantastic reading for the cricket junkie.
Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/
November 27, 2018
Excellent use of historical resources.
Certainly a well researched trip down memory lane. The parallels of Cricket and life experiences of the individuals and participating societies is articulated brilliantly.
Certainly a well researched trip down memory lane. The parallels of Cricket and life experiences of the individuals and participating societies is articulated brilliantly.
May 29, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed this book - both a history of cricket and meditation on the importance of cricket.
July 6, 2016
A very well written catalogue of insights into the great game that is cricket. I enjoyed both the history and the sense of place as the game's roots in each of the places it is played are colourfully described.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews