Poetry about cricket

The game of '''cricket''' has inspired much poetry, most of which romanticises the sport and its culture.

==Poems== The first known poem about cricket was written in Latin hexameters, by the Bristol schoolmaster William Goldwyn in 1704.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Bull |first=Andy |date=2011-11-01 |title=Harold Pinter and the art of cricket poetry |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/nov/01/harold-pinter-cricket-poetry |access-date=2025-08-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Notable authors and poets who created poetry about cricket include William Blake, Lord Byron, Lewis Carroll, G. K. Chesterton, Harry Farjeon, Henry Newbolt, Harold Pinter, and Siegfried Sassoon.<ref name=":0" />

The poem "Cricket: An Heroic Poem" by James Love is too long to quote in full; above are its opening two lines. It describes a match in 1744 between Kent and England. It is written in rhyming couplets. According to H.S. Altham, it "should be in every cricket lover's library" and "his description of the game goes with a rare swing".<ref>{{cite book |last=Altham |first=H. S. |author-link=H.S. Altham |title=A History of Cricket: Volume 1 |year=1962 |publisher=George Allen and Unwin Ltd |page=32}}</ref> The poem is the first substantial piece of literature about cricket.

Not long before his death and long after he had watched Hornby and Barlow bat at Old Trafford, Francis Thompson was invited to watch Lancashire play Middlesex at Lord's. As the day of the match grew closer, Thompson became increasingly nostalgic. At the end, he did not go for the match, but sat at home and wrote "At Lord's". The original match in 1878 ended in a draw, with Gloucestershire needing 111 to win with five wickets in hand, Grace 58*.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/2/2222.html|title=The Home of CricketArchive|website=Cricketarchive.com|accessdate=16 April 2019}}</ref> The first stanza of the poem has contributed the titles of at least three books on cricket: G. D. Martineau's ''The field is full of shades'',<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/FIELD-FULL-SHADES-BALL-WICKET/dp/B0007K1GLA/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1555452625&refinements=p_27:G.D.+Martineau&s=books&sr=1-1|title=THE FIELD IS FULL OF SHADES AND BAT, BALL, WICKET AND ALL.|first=G. D.|last=Martineau|publisher=Sportsmans Book Club|accessdate=16 April 2019|date=January 1954}}</ref> Eric Midwinter's history of Lancashire cricket ''Red roses crest the caps'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=179781914|title=Book Details|website=Abebooks.com|accessdate=16 April 2019}}</ref> R. H. Young's ''Field Full of Shades''. A personal history of Claverham (Yatton) Cricket Club. The first stanza is also quoted in full by Count Bronowsky in Paul Scott's Raj Quartet novel ''The Day of the Scorpion''.

The satirical magazine ''Punch'' printed a poem following a particularly slow and boring innings by William Scotton. It mimicked Tennyson's "Break, break, break".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tennysonpoetry.home.att.net/bbb.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041205012625/http://tennysonpoetry.home.att.net/bbb.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 December 2004|title=Alfred Lord Tennyson's Poetry|date=5 December 2004|accessdate=16 April 2019}}</ref>

When Alfred Mynn died in 1861, William Jeffrey Prowse penned a poem in his memory.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Page:Jubilee Book of Cricket (Second edition, 1897).djvu/418 – Wikisource, the free online library |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Jubilee_Book_of_Cricket_(Second_edition,_1897).djvu/418}}</ref> The Australian poet Les Murray wrote "The Aboriginal Cricketer".<ref>{{Cite web |title=▷ Secret Bases · Cricket poetry |url=https://www.secret-bases.co.uk/wiki/Cricket_poetry}}</ref> One of the most famous pieces of nostalgic rose-tinted poems is "Vitaï Lampada" by Sir Henry Newbolt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vitai Lampada | Anthem for Doomed Youth | HBLL |url=https://exhibits.lib.byu.edu/wwi/influences/vitai.html |website=exhibits.lib.byu.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Newbolt |first=Henry |title=Drake's Drum |url=https://www.bartleby.com/103/41.html |accessdate=20 May 2021 |via=Bartleby.com}}</ref> The very short "A Cricket Poem" by Harold Pinter encapsulates the mood and nostalgia common to lovers of cricket.<ref>{{cite news |last=Henderson |first=Michael |date=23 September 2008 |title=A cricketing Eden caught in no man's land |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2008/sep/23/pinter.cricket |accessdate=20 May 2021 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> Roy Harper penned a poem for English cricketer Graeme Fowler's benefit event, "Three Hundred Words".<ref>{{Cite web |title=When an old cricketer leaves the crease (Harper) – from SIGCD217 – Hyperion Records – MP3 and Lossless downloads |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W18270_GBLLH1121720}}</ref> Australian poet Damian Balassone often employs cricket themes, such as in the poem "Strange Dismissal", which appears in ''Quadrant'' magazine.

Cricket features, albeit briefly, in late-Victorian poet A. E. Housman's most famous collection of somewhat gloomy poems ''A Shropshire Lad'', published in 1896, including "Poem XVII". Poet Alan Ross wrote the poem "Test Match At Lord's".<ref name=":0" /> Herbert Farjeon wrote the poem "The Old Pavilion Bell".<ref name=":0" />

In 2006 poet SJ Litherland published a collection of poems about former England captain Nasser Hussain titled ''The Homage''. The book was nominated for Cricket Book of the Year in 2007<ref>{{Cite book |last=Litherland |first=S. J. |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Homage.html?id=3YtlAAAAMAAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y |title=The Homage |date=2006 |publisher=Iron Press |isbn=978-0-9552450-1-5 |language=en}}</ref>.

==Verses and songs== {{See also|List of calypso songs about cricket}} At Lord's in 1950, the West Indies defeated England in England for the first time. Egbert Moore, who sang under the pseudonym Lord Beginner, popularized the most famous of cricketing calypsos to celebrate the occasion. He was accompanied by Calypso Rhythm Kings, "supervision" by Denis Preston. It was recorded on the Melodisc (1133) label (MEL 20). The song was originally composed by Lord Kitchener.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06P0RdZyjT4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/06P0RdZyjT4 |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|title=Victory Calypso- Cricket Lovely Cricket|date=22 July 2008|accessdate=16 April 2019|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> "The Victory Calypso" also immortalised the spin bowling pair of Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine. Lord Kitchener also wrote "The Ashes" about Australia vs MCC 1954-55.<ref>{{cite web |date=28 November 2008 |title=Lord Kitchener – MELODISC 1321 (Aus v. MCC 1955) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ieaxt-ukFzs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/Ieaxt-ukFzs |archive-date=2021-12-13 |accessdate=16 April 2019 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Frindall |first=Bill |date=2002-02-02 |title=Stump The Bearded Wonder No 20 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/sports_talk/1797719.stm |access-date=2025-08-10 |work=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Lord Relator (born Willard Harris) wrote the "Gavaskar Calypso" to celebrate Gavaskar's first Test series, in West Indies in 1970–71. This was voted at No. 68 at a "Calypso of the Century" poll (although "Victory Calypso" did not feature in the list).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.djtonytempo.com/SURVEY/survey2.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050410031741/http://www.djtonytempo.com/SURVEY/survey2.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 April 2005|title=Top 100|date=10 April 2005|accessdate=16 April 2019}}</ref>

"Dreadlock Holiday" is probably the most well-known pop song to mention cricket. 10cc's hit single reached number 1 in the UK in 1978.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/10cc-dreadlock-holiday-song/|title = 'Dreadlock Holiday': How 10cc Bowled Out the Competition | uDiscover|date = 23 September 2021}}</ref> However, the song has only a tenuous connection with cricket, mentioning it in the chorus: "I don't like cricket, oh no, I love it".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUNTk5xsxk4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/fUNTk5xsxk4 |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|title=10cc – Dreadlock Holiday|accessdate=16 April 2019|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The group The Duckworth Lewis Method have released two concept albums about cricket, entitled ''The Duckworth Lewis Method'' and ''Sticky Wickets''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/press/the-duckworth-lewis-method-announce-new-album-sticky-wickets-released-july-1st-2013|title=The Duckworth Lewis Method Announce New Album 'Sticky Wickets' Released July 1st 2013|website=Contactmusic.com|date=9 April 2013|accessdate=15 May 2013}}</ref>

==Anthologies== * ''Moments and Thoughts'', by John Snow (Kaye & Ward Ltd., 1973) * ''A Breathless Hush: The MCC Anthology of Cricket Verse'', by Hubert Doggart and David Rayvern Allen (2004) *''Come Shane'', by Victoria Coverdale (Make Jam Press, 2006) {{ISBN|0-9802963-0-7}}. A poetic tribute to Shane Warne from a female admirer and how her world changed when "that" ball was delivered. * ''A Tingling Catch: A Century of New Zealand Cricket Poems 1864–2009'', edited by Mark Pirie (Wellington, N.Z.: HeadworX Publishers). {{ISBN|978-0-473-16872-8}}. First anthology of New Zealand cricket poems. * ''Cautionary Tales from the Pavilion: A Short Collection of Verse'', by Giscard Drew (2014) * ''Hows Its'', by Nick Whittock (Inken Publish, 2014). {{ISBN|978-0-987-14232-0}} * ''Leg Avant: The New Poetry of Cricket'', edited by Richard Parker (Crater Press, 2016) * ''Less Cautionary Tales from the Pavilion: A Slightly Longer Collection of Verse'', by Gas Card Drew (2020)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20051106063647/http://lib.byu.edu/~english/WWI/influences/vitai.html Complete text of "Vitai Lampada"] *[http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/MISC/HUMOUR/WI_ENG_1950_CALYPSO.html Lyrics of the "Victory Calypso"] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050619082619/http://www.kaiso.net/ Audio of famous cricket calypsos]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cricket Poetry}} Category:Cultural depictions of cricketers Category:Sports poems Category:Cricket culture