Town v Gown; City v Village
Martin Chandler |Published: 2024
Pages: 174
Author: Watts, Tony
Publisher: ACS
Rating: 3 stars
Histories of cricket are not rare, many writers having set themselves the task of writing them and some have done so very well. As the years pass and the story becomes longer that task becomes ever more difficult, and I suspect we will probably not see another comprehensive attempt at one, certainly not within the covers of a single book.
But perhaps that means we will simply see more books like this one, the sub-title of which is A History of Cricket in Cambridge. Limited as it is to its geographical area the book is nonetheless a wide-ranging one which looks at the game from its earliest beginnings right up until the present day, and looks at all levels, from the humblest clubs to the famous University and the time, way back between 1857 and 1871, when a Cambridgeshire team played in 38 matches now regarded as First Class.
Cambridge is marked out by its ancient University, Many great players represented the University over the years between 1817 and 2000 when during which almost 1,500 First Class fixtures were played, and then another one each year until 2020 when, after more than two centuries, the varsity match against Oxford University finally lost that status.
One area where Cambridge has always been at an advantage is in relation to grounds. The famous Fenner’s ground is well known, but for years a number of the colleges also had well appointed facilities, often opened up to local teams.
If the story told of the University’s cricket has been up and down so too is that of cricket at every level. Watts’ reader learns of the strength in particular of Cambridge clubs, their rise and in each case either their fall or their changing into clubs based outside the city environs. The tensions between the eschewing of league and cup competitions for many years, and the gradual move towards competitive cricket from ‘friendly’ cricket is also well covered with reference to many specific examples.
There is much on the modern game in the city, but ancient history is certainly not ignored, and the men who played for those First Class Cambridgeshire sides have their stories told as well. A number of them were named Hayward, of whom Tom junior went to Surrey and became one of the great professional batsmen of his age. His one time opening partner at Surrey and one of the very greatest of batsmen, Jack Hobbs was a Cambridge man too, whose family were also involved in the game in the city.
Having covered the historical aspect author Watts also looks forward to the future. The efforts made in Cambridge, as in many locations, to nurture the game amongst the young and to encourage the women’s game are to be lauded but I was left unconvinced about the health of the game generally in Cambridge, albeit there can be no doubt about the commitment of those who see it as their task to develop the game in the area.
In terms of what it sets out to achieve Town v Gown; City v Village does so with some aplomb. It is not a dry history but a lively story with plenty of sub-plots to keep its reader interested. Well written and informative my only complaint was the jar I felt at reading the typographical error that had Douglas Jardine a Cambridge rather than an Oxford man.
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