Arthur Mailey – The Bohemian Cricketer
Martin Chandler |Published: 2024
Pages: 348
Author: Merchant, James
Publisher: The Cricket Publishing Company
Rating: 5 stars
Back in July last year James Merchant, a man whose work we have featured five times before* and who is aware of my enthusiasm for the work of Arthur Mailey, sent me a pdf copy of this. I was told that, subject to the addition of a foreword and a few other items it was complete. There were 165 pages, and it was hoped that the print version would be available within a couple of months.
That it has taken the best part of 18 months for that print version to arrive on my doorstep speaks volumes not only for the enduring appeal of Arthur Mailey, but also for the diligence with which James went about his task. Every new piece of information he gleaned had to be followed through, and the result is that the final page count is not far short of double that ‘final draft’
Leg spinner Mailey, a lock in the Australian Test team between 1920 and 1926, was famously described as the millionaire to the miser that was his successor, Clarrie Grimmett, and having put together a fine book about the latter early in 2023 James turned his attention to Mailey. The result once again is an unusual but excellent book that brilliantly showcases its subject’s many talents.
Like The Cricket World of Clarrie Grimmett this one is not by any means a biography, but no one who reads the book will put it down feeling that they do not know exactly what sort of man Mailey was, and what he achieved in cricket and in life.
The Great War meant that Mailey was already 34 by the time his Test career started and, by then a career journalist, after the 1926 Ashes series in England he was told that his willingness to criticise those charged with running the game would preclude his being selected for the Test side again.
A good deal of the book is made of quotations from others, and there are a vast number of illustrations, but the multiplicity of sources used amply demonstrates the huge amount of work that has gone into putting this one together, and James has done a fine job in organising the material he has found into a logical order and putting together a seamless narrative.
The book begins with a series of quotes about Mailey himself, and which tell as well as anything of the character of the man. That which speaks loudest is perhaps that of English playwright Ben Travers, but all add something to the rapidly emerging picture of Mailey.
Mailey’s family are introduced, and the grinding poverty of his background set out. In fact the one area of his life that is not looked at in great detail is his cricket career at the highest level. There is mention of his achievements of course, but no detailed descriptions of any of the Tests in which he appeared.
Which doesn’t mean that cricket is ignored. There are a few stats, but a good deal of attention is paid to Mailey’s cricket below the highest level, and in particular touring sides he took around Australia as a manager. I was astonished to read that in one of these the mighty Bradman managed just 78 runs at the distinctly unbradmanesque average of 11.1. The great man did rather better in another Mailey organised tour that James gives a good deal of attention to, that to North America in 1932.
One name the touring sides used was the Bohemians and, as man with something of an artistic temperament, and much artistic talent, the use of the word in the title of the book is well chosen. It is also right that a substantial part of the book is devoted to exploring the life of Mailey the artist and Mailey the writer.
Mailey is best remembered for his caricatures which a number of his publications, ephemeral and highly collectable, are constructed around. His acclaimed book of reminiscences, Ten for 66 and All That, is also looked at, and individual drawings have featured in a number of other books. All of those are referenced and illustrated in what amounts to a guide for collectors. James also spends time looking at the ‘serious’ art that Mailey took to in later life.
To anyone with an interest in Mailey and/or cricketing collectables this book is an essential acquisition, but you will need to order quickly. There are only 134 (one for each of the haul of wickets Mailey had on the 1921 tour of England) copies and if those have not sold out already I have no doubt they very soon will do. Copies can, or at least could, be had from Boundary Books in the UK and Roger Page in Australia.
And a rating? My own fondness for Mailey’s work may, I suppose, compromise my objectivity on that one, but equally it might make me a harsher critic. Ultimately however this one has to get five stars, its superb illustrations, comprehensive coverage of Mailey’s life and work and the way it is put together guaranteeing that.
*I don’t believe that any are still in print, but copies will pop up on the second hand market from time to time so, for completeness, the list is:-
The Cricket World of Clarrie Grimmett
The Cricket World of Charles Dickens
Thank you Martin, I am very pleased you enjoyed the book for what it is. I confess to not enjoying books which labour on a cricketer’s performances in matches, because stats and match performances can be easily found. I am far more interested in a cricketer’s life in a more general sense, and what a man he was. I also apply a collector’s mindset to my work, so images are important to me, and I believe everyone enjoys looking at good images. Apologies to those who would have enjoyed a detailed description of Mailey’s Test career, my own bias just wouldn’t allow me to write it.
Comment by James Merchant | 10:11am GMT 5 January 2025