More Than a Game: The Story of Cricket's Early Years

For More Than A Game, John Major uses the same formula he used for his autobiography: he starts with a chronological account then switches to topical subjects. In the first half he presents a chronology of cricket from the very early days when records reveal something called cricket was played but that was probably nothing more than hitting a ball with a stick, if even that. Major continues with successive chapters describing successive periods until he reaches the late 18th century by which time cricket had become something fans would recognize today. Major then switches to topical chapters which are still in a loose chronological order but with considerable overlap. He has a chapter on the evolution of bowling from under hand to round arm to over hand. One chapter describes how troups of players began being paid to tour the country while another describes the slow controversial ascendancy of these professionals. Major even devotes one whole chapter to the people who keep game records, and manages to keep it interesting! The last chapter ends with how the Great War killed many promising young cricketers. The book is wonderfully well written. Major's prose is clear direct and forceful; it's not perfect and he waxes a little too lyrical on occasion and quotes poetry that only a cricket lover could forgive. And the editor should really have insisted on a better title. Again, John Major shows himself to be a pragmatic conservative. As he valued the Tory party above the issues that tore it apart (e.g. Europe) Major values the institution of cricket above any single characteristic. He sees the game isn't now what it was at the beginning of the 20th century, but he recognizes that the game needs changes like one-day cricket if it is to maintain its place among other sports. While his book is about cricket's past, readers may feel cricket has a great future lying ahead. Vincent Poirier, Dublin