On Cricket

by Mike Brearley

'A treasure of recollections and reactions, talking heroes, controversies and big themes' i paper

'Brearley is at his best in these quirky, delightful essays when he is exploring the human qualities of humbler players . . . Brearley's admiration for his friends' decency, craftsmanship and modesty seems to recall a golden age of country cricket' The Times

'Brearley has a knack for paying respect to the past without denigrating the present and for calmly considering the future' Mail on Sunday

Mike Brearley was arguably one of England's finest cricket captains; not just for his outstanding record leading his country but also for the way he orchestrated, during the 1981 Ashes series, one of the most extraordinary reversals in sporting history.

In this collection of sparkling essays, Brearley reflects on the game he has come to know so well. He ranges from the personal - the influence of his Yorkshire father and the idols of his youth - to controversial aspects of the professional game, including cheating, corruption, and innovation, the latter often being on a borderline between genius and rebellion.

Brearley also evaluates his heroes (amongst them Viv Richards, Bishan Bedi and Dennis Lillee), the game changers, the outstanding wicketkeepers, the 'Indian-ness' of four generations of Indian batsmen and the important commentators (including Harold Pinter, John Arlott and Ian Chappell). The Ashes, the most sustained love-hate relationship in the history of sport and key to Brearley's test-playing career, are raked over. Central to the book is an important section on race and cricket, and the legacy of C. L. R. James.

Insightful and humorous, On Cricket is an intelligent exposition of the game's idiosyncratic culture and its enduring appeal.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Biography

432 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2018

Reviews

[Vishy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I went to the bookshop a couple of weeks back and saw Mike Brearley's newest book 'On Cricket', I was very excited! The release of any new book by Brearley is an event and I couldn't wait to read it. I dropped whatever I was reading then and started reading Brearley's book. I didn't want to rush and read it slowly, savouring every word and sentence, and reached the last page yesterday.

I am sure cricket fans here would have heard of Mike Brearley, but if you haven't, here is a little bit about him. Brearley was one of the greatest English test captains. He made his debut for England when he was around 34 years old, and it happened probably by good fortune. He became the captain probably after a year, because of more good fortune and historical accidents - like the Kerry Packer series. But his real self flowered when he became captain. He was a brilliant leader, he knew how to inspire the team, he was wonderful strategically and tactically, and it all came together for him. After a wonderful stint as captain, he retired. England started a new Ashes series in 1981 against Australia and they were in a disastrous position, with their present captain Ian Botham having a bad year as captain, and during mid series, the selectors requested Brearley to come back and lead the team. He came back to just lead the team. He stood in the slips while fielding, he batted at No.9 or 10, and just captained.

(Brearley's test batting average was 22.88. There is nothing much to say about it other than that there was no way he could have been picked for any international cricket team, as a batsman, with that batting average. One of the great things about Brearley is that he pokes fun at himself about it. There is a passage in the book which goes like this - "Rodney Hogg recently raised this role with me on air, asking with apparent innocence, "Why did you give up wicket-keeping, Mike?" "I wasn't very good at it," I replied. "But you carried on batting?" he said. Point taken!" I couldn't stop laughing when I read that 😁)

Now back to the story of the 1981 Ashes. Brearley turned the series around with his amazing leadership, inspired Botham to get back his magical game, and won the series 3-1 for England. He then promptly went back and retired from the game. It is a story as fantastic as the ancient Roman general Cincinnatus, who had retired and was working as a farmer in his small farm when his country went into deep crisis because of enemy invasions. The people prayed to him to come back from retirement, and he did, and led his country's army and defeated his country's enemies. But once it was all done and dusted, when his fame and authority were at their highest, he handed over the reigns of the country to the civilian authorities and went back to his small farm and continued with his farming. It is a story which gives me goosebumps everytime I think about it. Brearley's story during the 1981 Ashes is the sporting equivalent of that. After retiring from the game, Brearley became a psychoanalyst. He also wrote a book called 'The Art of Captaincy', which, in my opinion, is one of the greatest books on cricket captaincy or even leadership ever written. He also wrote the occasional cricket article for the newspaper. Now in the last two years, after a long hiatus, he has published two books in succession. It feels like Christmas.

'On Cricket' is mostly a collection of short essays and articles that Brearley wrote across the years and some he wrote especially for this volume. I think half of the articles are modified versions of already published articles and half of them are new. The book is divided into many parts. The first part is very autobiographical and in that part Brearley talks about how he got into cricket during his childhood and how his father, being a club cricketer himself, inducted him into the game. He also talks about two of his favourite players Len Hutton and Denis Compton. If you like cricket history, especially post-Second World War cricket history, these two chapters are an absolute delight to read. There is a section on the Ashes (there is a good discussion of Douglas Jardine and the Bodyline series in one of the chapters), there is another where Brearley talks about his cricketing heroes (there are some usual suspects and there are some lesser known legends), there are two sections on cricket controversies, covering cricket and race, and cheating and corruption (the Basil d'Oliveira affair is covered in reasonable detail, there are also pieces which talk about the Zimbabwe affair involving Andy Flower and Henry Olonga, and another about how Frank Worrell became the first black captain of the West Indies), there is a section on the innovations which have happened in cricket (including thing like reverse swing and switch hits), there is a section on Indian batsmanship which will delight Indian cricket fans (Brearley reveals here that his wife is Indian, which is so cool). There is a section on commentators which is very beautiful - there are chapters which talk about the marvellous John Arlott, the great Harold Pinter, the wonderful Ian Chappell, and there is an overall chapter which discusses C.L.R.James' famous question 'What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?' There is a section on wicketkeepers and I was so happy to read that because there were chapters on two of my favourite keepers, Rod Marsh and Alan Knott. I wish Brearley had compared them both and revealed who he thought was the better among the two. Many former cricketers have said that Alan Knott was the greatest keeper ever, but Rod Marsh has the better keeping record in terms of catches and stumpings. Brearley praises them both, though I think he leans more towards one of them. I won't tell you which one ☺️

One of the last sections in the book is about cricket and aesthetics. In my opinion it is the most beautiful section in the book and the section which is the most accessible to a reader who is not a cricket fan. There are two chapters in this section. In the first one, Brearley describes how cricket is the art of the masses. The second chapter is a conversation between Brearley and the art critic David Sylvester in which they compare cricket to art. This is the longest chapter in the book and probably the most beautiful. I think it is a must read for any reader who contemplates on beauty whether in its static or kinetic form.

I was so thrilled to read Brearley's 'On Cricket'. It is a pleasure to read for any Brearley fan and any cricket fan who likes intelligent writing. There are chapters in it which are fairly straightforward - like those in which Brearley raves about his favourite players. There are other chapters which bring cricket, art, philosophy, literature, beauty, music and psychoanalysis together and weave them into one beautiful whole. These chapters have passages which we will rarely find in a cricket book, passages like this -

"I read recently of Mozart's support for democracy, not in politics itself, but in the music of his operas. How so? Mozart gave his minor parts complex characters, with complex music. They are not just pawns, either in the plot (content) or in the music they are given to sing (their form). He shifted music away from a hierarchical tradition. Rather than there being a totally dominant top line, with others in unison beneath it, supplementing, harmonizing, fitting in, in short, serving the dominant tune, Mozart gave each instrument and voice a unique line of its own."

And this -

"When I hear the first movement of Schubert's piano sonata in B flat, with its lyrical sweetness interspersed with growling rumbles from the lower depths, I think of John (Arlott)."

Mike Brearley says in his introduction to the book - "If a sufficient number of people enjoy the book, and if I live long enough, there may even be a sequel. You may take this as a warning or a promise." I hope and pray that there is a sequel. Mike will be 77 this year (I can't believe how fast the years pass), but I hope he lives long and writes not one but more sequels to this book. Mike Brearley is one of the greatest cricket writers in the last 50 years. I think he belongs up there with some of my other favourites, David Frith, Gideon Haigh, John Major (Yes! The former British Prime Minister wrote a cricket book! It is beautiful!), Ed Smith. He has a unique way of offering commentary on the overall state of the game which is very insightful, wise, aesthetic and a pleasure to read. I think the only contemporary cricket writer who can come close to him is Ed Smith. I hope more readers read this book and fall in love with it like I did.

I will leave you with some of my favourite passages from the book.

Discipline Vs Flair

"We (all) need both discipline and flair.
We need to practise, to be trained, to think clearly, not to let ourselves off the hook into dishonesty and self-delusion. We need to learn from mistakes, keep control of our recklessness, rein in some of our emotions. We need to be realistic. Yet it is not realism to deny a further fact of human experience : that we also need to give up our desire to control everything; that we have to let go of our attachment to the will, and allow spontaneity, freedom and flair their place. We have to trust the parts of our minds over which we have no immediate control. Provided we have a sound basis of discipline and an ability to monitor what we produce, we need something other than, wider than, deeper than, discipline and convention."

The Meaning of Life

"We are confronted in life by the reality that we are specks of dust in the vast aeons of space and time; that when we die we go (I believe) into nothingness; that our importance in the long run is nil; that we live always in the brink of 'death's dateless night'. But we believe that at the same time, or in the same breath, there are things (if one is lucky) that make life fascinating and well worth living. Literature, love, family closeness, art - all these and others may do so. Even sport quickens the apprehension, lifts the spirits, engages and challenges the whole being physically, psychologically, emotionally.
And cricket - a rare team game each of whose dramatic moments is a contest between individual protagonists, the only game that goes on seven hours a day for the best part of a week, and at the end of which neither side may be much nearer winning or losing than they were five days before - cricket has (for me) the capacity to enthrall, bore, enchant and also evoke argument to a greater extent than any other."

The Essence of Sport

"...it is of the essence of sport that, unlike much music and theatre, the course and outcome are not ordained before the event, however predictable it might be that the favourite will win. The drama of sport lies partly in the way things turn out on the day. There is always the chance of a shock result. The result is not, then, 'fixed' in the other sense; that is, there is no script or score (as in theatre or music) : cricket matches are open to the vagaries of form, morale and luck. In normal circumstances we naturally take it as given that both sides are striving to succeed."

On Beauty in Sport

"It is a nice question how far beauty lies in the outcome of an action. Is salvation achieved by works or by faith, by successful actions in the world, or by right attitudes? When David Gower, the languid genius of left-handed batsmanship, caressed the balls through the covers with effortless ease, and impeccable timing and placement, was his stroke any different from the one where the ball deviated a few centimetres, found the edge, and was caught at slip? Had elegant beauty degenerated into a careless waft? Would we have been right to bemoan and castigate his 'carelessness', his not going on? Yet both strokes were identical, both balls pitched in the same place, at the same speed, perhaps from the same bowler. Had these unpredictable centimetres turned virtue into vice, beauty into ugliness (the 'waft')? If we ignored the fate of the ball, we have exactly the same movements of the batsman. Phidias could have constructed his sculpture on the basis of either."

Sport and Life

"Sport and art have something else in common. They are set aside from the absolute necessities, the bare necessities of life. And they have a frame around them. The painting with its frame, or the cricket ground with its boundary, or the boxing ring, or whatever. They are framed and set off from ordinary life. This wouldn't be true of everything, of architecture for instance, but it's true of many forms of art and sport. And yet within that frame, there's a possibility of finding many of the qualities in life that we admire or lack in concentrated form. What fascinates us is a moral dimension, in a broad sense of 'moral' : the dimension of the revelation of human qualities."

Have you read Mike Brearley's 'On Cricket'? What do you think about it? Have you read any other Mike Brearley book?

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike Brearley will always be revered as the captain who laid down the strategy to allow Willis and Botham the freedom to flourish in the 1981 Ashes series. But that is not the whole extent of his talent.

As professional psychologist, journalist, art lover, philosopher, historian and family man, he brings all of these passions together as chimeral mind images to enlighten the reader on cricket, the beautiful game, athletic chess, an almost-ideal metaphor for the struggle of mankind to balance competition and collaboration, as Alan Knott and Derek Randall fidget and fuss at the crease.

Try this:

"In October 2007, nominated by Doug Insole to succeed him, I became President of the MCC for a year. One of the pleasant duties of the role is to invite speakers to monthly dinners for members during the winter. My first two speakers were Matthew Engel and Vic Marks. I should have liked to take credit for this being a statement of political intent (to start with Marx and Engels), or if not intent, ironical provocation, but if so the credit is to my unconscious only."

[David Meldrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many British cricket-lovers of my generation, Mike Brearley is one of those cricketers lodged irreplaceably and immovably in our memories. He was the captain, of course, of the England side which won the Ashes in the remarkable 1981 series - the first time I really became aware of the sport, aged 8, and loved it ever since. On our annual trips to London to stay with grandparents, we would always take in a game - usually a county one - at Lord's. So I remember Brearley's Middlesex taking on the West Indies, and a photo of me reaching up to the enormous Joel Garner for his autograph. I remember a (Sunday 40 over league?) game against Hampshire, for whom the absurdly athletic Malcolm Marshall charged in. I remember Imran Khan giving me and other autograph hunters the finger before roaring off in an expensive sports car. I remember holding Phil Edmonds' pram (complete with baby) whilst he gave his signature. And I remember my sister blushing when the object of her usually distant affection, Brearley himself, field a ball just inside the rope in front of us. Brearley was a man to admire - a deep thinker, a man with a 'degree in people' as one Australian player observed, a limited batsman who made the most of his talents. He's a beautiful writer, and this collection, grouped by themes, showcases many of those gifts - with frequent comments and thoughts that give insights to mine way beyond the focus of his sport. It's no surprise he made a successful career for himself as a psychoanalyst after retiring from cricket; this book is a beautiful read, one to treasure for anyone who wants to read and think more deeply about cricket and all the areas of life which it touches on.

[Prakhar Sachdeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book if you want to read on:

1. The oldest cricket rivalry.

2. Mike Brearley's cricket heroes.

3. Racism and politics in cricket.

4. Corruption in cricket.

5. Innovations in cricket.

6. Cricket commentary.

7. Wicketkeeping and wicketkeepers.

8. Art of cricket.

This book has brought together articles from Mike Brearly which the former England Test captain has penned at various points in time. The articles go deep into issues. They are mostly Brearley's take on the subjects. They are informative and will pique one's interest in the sport. Brearly might not have many Test matches for England but he is a cricket savant. Throughout the book, the reader comes across references to numerous books and authors of the past and the present, highlighting that Brealy took his reading as seriously as his cricket.

A book that is a must on a die-hard cricket fan's bookshelf! This book will enrich the reader's life in more ways than one.

[Adam Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike Brearley was England's cricket captain in the 1970's and very early 1980's. This book is a series of essays and articles about various aspects of the game. It includes short discussions on key figures in the game, essays on corruption and cheating, racism in cricket, commentators, the ashes etc. He has an engaging writing style which can be both erudite and profound.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike Brearley wrote my favourite book on cricket, “The Art Of Captaincy” and this is a close runner up, losing out because it is a collection of previously published pieces with beautifully written grouped introductions. I urge anyone who loves the great game to read this, there is so much to enjoy in it.

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging series of articles by a shrewd and thoughtful writer. No surprise, given the career he had as a cricket captain himself. A few times he quotes the line "What do they know who only cricket know?" This is a man who knows more about art, music and philosophy than the average person. Not to mention that he is, or has been, a practising psychologist. Thoroughly enjoyable and broadening.

[Steve Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serious and insightful thoughts on a wonderful game

Another intelligent and informative book by our most brilliant captain. Sometimes gets a little too cerebral for my liking but there are some real gems amongst his views on players and personalities he has known

[Andrew Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a cricket nutter like myself a book like this is a guilty pleasure. Mike Brearley writes engagingly and intelligently with the background of a lifelong passion for the sport.

[Chris Ziesler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as perceptive or as deep an analysis of the game as his book The Art of Captaincy, but has some interesting moments and some keen insights.

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wide-ranging compendium of writing about his life in cricket, well organised into seven themes

[Jason Orthman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read with author’s love of test cricket infectious. Cricket is such a brutal game you need to enjoy the personalities that play it.

[Andy Holdcroft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some great insights by such a thoughtful man, though the nature of the essays means that there is a certain amount of repetition of ideas

[Hasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of England's finest captains and a thinker who sees things in a different way! I would recommend it wholeheartedly.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not an easy read. Brearley strays too far into his psycho analytical interest.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent as you would expect from England's finest captain

[Patrick Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best are Brearley’s Wisden pieces on Arlott and Knott. Some of the best cricket writing one will read.

[Ginger Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice bedside book to dip into, rather than something to become really immersed in.

A collection of new, old and rehashed pieces that cover various aspects of the game, including its relationship with art, race and society, it's laced with personal anecdotes from the author's early life and long cricketing career.

Brearley is at his best when telling such stories, less engaging when dealing with the bread and butter of putting facts down on paper, when his prose and his presentation can border on the mundane.

He's also surprisingly undisciplined, roving around over all sorts of territory within each thought piece and often going off at unexpected tangents. Several of the essays appear to start as one thing - a pen portrait of a famous player, perhaps - but finish up as something quite different. Often there's no clear beginning, middle and end.

Nonetheless, Brearley has plenty to say that's of interest and he has some unusual takes on the game, always well argued. He's also picked the minds of many great cricketers, and is good at putting forward their views, too.

[Lawrence Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to dip into as this is more a compendium of articles on cricket and I guess many have been published in other places. It is still a wonderful read and covers all aspects of the game from the view of one of the best England captains and at times modesty overtakes the writer - as in his article on the Ashes series where Botham and Willis turned defeat into victory - he tends to agree with Illingworth who said there was a bit of luck involved but really we all know that on the field of play the actions and anticipations of the captain are often more important than how the players perform. There are revealing bits here and there, there are much to agree with and you know as you turn the pages this man is at one with the sport. Some is quite up to date discussing the quality of Stokes but whilst there are side comments about the shorter game not as much about its effect on the four and five-day game as some of us would have expected or possibly hoped for. The quality of the writing is not in doubt but probably more for those that know, or think they know, their cricket.

[Jim Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay read

This book is a collection of writings by Mike Brearley, the effective former England cricket captain, on cricket, with chapters covering self-contained topics.

The chapters cover a wide variety of areas of the game (his favourite players and grounds, cheating in the game, playing styles, and the similarities between sports and art, for example), and you could, in theory read a single chapter to get an understanding of his point of view. The chapters are, however, in groups, so checking the chapters either side of the one you chose will allow you to see his ideas full flights.

The book itself is fine. It can be a bit twee in places. I didn’t much care for his ideas on cricket as art, for example, but you’ll be able to have an opinion on the things he discussed, by the end of the book.