Poetry

The sport

Sport

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

 of cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

has inspired much poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

, most of which romanticises the sport.

At Lord's

Francis Thompson

Francis Thompson

Francis Thompson was an English poet and ascetic. After attending college, he moved to London to become a writer, but in menial work, became addicted to opium, and was a street vagrant for years. A married couple read his poetry and rescued him, publishing his first book, Poems in 1893...

 wrote the following poem, At Lord's:

It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,

Though my own red roses there may blow;

It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,

Though the red roses crest the caps, I know.

For the field is full of shades as I near a shadowy coast,

And a ghostly batsman plays to the bowling of a ghost,

And I look through my tears on a soundless-clapping host

As the run stealers flicker to and fro,

To and fro:

O my Hornby and my Barlow

Dick Barlow

Richard Gorton Barlow was a cricketer who played for Lancashire and England...

 long ago !

It's Glo'ster

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....

 coming North, the irresistible,

The Shire of the Graces, long ago!

It's Gloucestershire up North, the irresistible,

And new-risen Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...

 the foe!

A Shire so young that has scarce impressed its traces,

Ah, how shall it stand before all-resistless Graces ?

O, little red rose, their bats are as maces

To beat thee down, this summer long ago !

This day of seventy-eight they are come up north against thee

This day of seventy-eight long ago!

The champion of the centuries

W. G. Grace

William Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...

, he cometh up against thee,

With his brethren, every one a famous foe!

The long-whiskered Doctor, that laugheth the rules to scorn,

While the bowler, pitched against him, bans the day he was born;

And G.F. with his science makes the fairest length forlorn;

They are come from the West to work thee woe!

It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,

Though my own red roses there may blow;

It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,

Though the red roses crest the caps, I know.

For the field is full of shades as I near a shadowy coast,

And a ghostly batsman plays to the bowling of a ghost,

And I look through my tears on a soundless-clapping host

As the run stealers flicker to and fro,

To and fro:

O my Hornby and my Barlow long ago !

Not long before his death and long after he had watched Hornby and Barlow bat at Old Trafford, 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* http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/2/2222.html

The first stanza of the poem has contributed the titles of at least three books on cricket:

GD Martineau's The field is full of shades http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007K7X26

Eric Midwinter's history of Lancashire cricket Red roses crest the caps http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=179781914

RH Young's excellent Field Full of Shades. A personal history of Claverham(Yatton) Cricket Club.

Punch

Satirical magazine Punch printed the following poem following a particularly slow and boring innings by William Scotton

William Scotton

William Henry Scotton was a cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire and England. Scotton played his first match at Lord's for Sixteen Colts of England against the Marylebone Cricket Club on the 11th and 12th of May 1874, scoring on that occasion 19 and 0...

. It mimicked Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....

's famous Break, break, break

Block, block, block

At the foot of thy wicket, O Scotton!

And I would that my tongue would utter

My boredom. You won't put the pot on!

Oh, nice for the bowler, my boy,

That each ball like a barndoor you play!

Oh, nice for yourself, I suppose,

That you stick at the wicket all day!

And the clock's slow hands go on,

And you still keep up your sticks;

But oh! for the lift of a smiting hand,

And the sound of a swipe for six!

Block, block, block,

At the foot of thy wicket, ah do!

But one hour of Grace or Walter Read

Walter Read

Walter William Read was an English cricketer, who was a fluent right hand bat. An occasional bowler of lobs, he sometimes switched to quick overarm deliveries. He captained England in two Test matches, winning them both...

Were worth a week of you!

Alfred Mynn

When Alfred Mynn

Alfred Mynn

Alfred Mynn was an English cricketer during the game's "Roundarm Era". He was a genuine all-rounder, being both an attacking right-handed batsman and a formidable right arm fast bowler. The noted cricket writer John Woodcock ranked him as the fourth greatest cricketer of all time. Simon Wilde...

 died in 1861, William Jeffrey Prowse

William Jeffrey Prowse

William Jeffrey Prowse, often known as Jeff Prowse was an English journalist, poet, humorist and lyricist. An only child born in Torquay, Devon, he resided with his uncle, shipbroker John Sparke Prowse in Greenwich, following the death of his father in 1844 when Prowse aged eight, and inherited...

 penned a poem in his memory. The first six stanzas compare Mynn with his contemporaries and the poem closes with these lines:

With his tall and stately presence, with his nobly moulded form,

His broad hand was ever open, his brave heart was ever warm;

All were proud of him, all loved him. As the changing seasons pass,

As our champion lies a-sleeping underneath the Kentish grass,

Proudly, sadly will we name him - to forget him were a sin.

Lightly lie the turf upon thee, kind and manly Alfred Mynn !

Others

One of the most famous pieces of nostalgic rose-tinted poems is Vitai Lampada by Sir Henry Newbolt.

There's a breathless hush in the Close tonight -

Ten to make and the match to win -

A bumping pitch and a blinding light,

An hour to play and the last man in.

And it's not for the sake of the ribboned coat,

Or the selfish hope of a season's fame,

But his Captain's hand on his shoulder smote -

'Play up ! play up ! and play the game !'

The sand of the Desert is sodden red -

Red with the wreck of a square that broke; -

The Gatling's jammed and the Colonel's dead,

And the regiment's blind with dust and smoke.

And England's far, and Honour a name,

But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks:

'Play up ! play up ! and play the game !'

This is the world that year by year,

While in her place the school is set,

Every one of her sons must hear,

And none that hears it dare forget.

This they all with joyful mind

Bear through life like a torch in flame,

And falling fling to the host behind -

'Play up ! play up ! and play the game !'

Andrew Lang

Andrew Lang

Andrew Lang was a Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him.- Biography :Lang was born in Selkirk...

's cricketing parody of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...

's "Brahma" is memorable:

If the wild bowler thinks he bowls,

Or if the batsman thinks he's bowled,

They know not, poor misguided souls,

They too shall perish unconsoled.

I am the batsman and the bat,

I am the bowler and the ball,

The umpire, the pavilion cat,

The roller, pitch, and stumps, and all.

Roy Harper

Roy Harper

Roy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...

's song When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease

When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease

"When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease" is a track on the Roy Harper album HQ. Released as a single twice, in 1975 and 1978, it is possibly Roy's best-known song. The song captures the atmosphere of a village cricket match and is an elegy to a previous age...

(1975) is perhaps the best-known cricket lyric in contemporary popular music:

When an old cricketer leaves the crease, you never know whether he's gone,

If sometimes you're catching a fleeting glimpse, of a twelfth man at silly mid-on.

And it could be Geoff, and it could be John,

With a new ball sting in his tail.

And it could be me, and it could be thee,

And it could be the sting in the ale.........sting in the ale.

Roy Harper also penned a poem for English cricketer Graeme Fowler's

Graeme Fowler

Graeme "Foxy" Fowler is a former English professional cricketer, who played for Lancashire, England, and later for Durham...

 benefit event. Three Hundred Words

Three Hundred Words

"Three Hundred Words" for some, is probably a minor, insubstantial piece of poetry, but it showcases a number of Roy Harper's literary techniques and characteristics, and is worthy of further consideration....

.

I remember Pat Tetley,

and romping in grass

- that was tall -

at the back of the cricket field

Cricket pitch

In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...

,

trying to catch glimpses

of knickers and ass

Buttocks

The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...

,

whilst over the fence

the crowd yelled, ooh-ed and roared,

as Ramadhin

Sonny Ramadhin

Sonny Ramadhin was a West Indian cricketer, and a dominant bowler of the 1950s. He was the first West Indian cricketers of Indian origin, and was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1951.- Biography and career :...

, Weekes

Everton Weekes

Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, KCMG, GCM, OBE is a leading former West Indian cricketer. Along with Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott, he formed what was known as "The Three Ws" of West Indian cricket.-Youth and early career:...

 and Frank Worrell

Frank Worrell

Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell is sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae and was a West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator...

 all scored...

The Surrey Poet on Jack Hobbs

Albert Craig

Albert Craig (The Surrey Poet)

Albert Craig was commonly known as The Surrey Poet, although he never used the term himself, instead signing his pieces as "A.C. Cricket Rhymester".. He would attend cricket and football matches to write verses and short essays describing the players and events, then had them printed on...

, better known as The Surrey Poet was a popular figure on cricket grounds at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, hawking his improvised verses to the crowd. Of Jack Hobbs

Jack Hobbs

Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....

' County Championship

County Championship

The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...

 debut he wrote:

Joy reigned in the Pavilion,

And gladness 'mongst his clan

While thousands breathed good wishes round the ring;

Admirers dubbed the youngster

As Surrey's coming man;

In Jack Hobbs' play they saw the genuine ring.

'Twas well worth going to see

Illustrious Hayward's smile,

While Razor Smith and Walter Lees

Cheered with the rank and file.

Victory Calypso

Lord Beginner sings Victory Calypso

At Lord's in 1950, West Indies defeated England in England for the first time. Egbert Moore, who sang under the pseudonym Lord Beginner

Lord Beginner

Lord Beginner from Port-of-Spain in Trinidad was a popular exponent of the Caribbean musical form Calypso.-Person:...

, 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

Lord Kitchener (calypsonian)

Aldwyn Roberts , better known by the stage name Lord Kitchener , was one of the most internationally famous calypsonians. He was the son of a blacksmith, Stephen, and homemaker, Albertha.-Life:...

.

The Victory Calypso also immortalised the spin bowling pair of Sonny Ramadhin

Sonny Ramadhin

Sonny Ramadhin was a West Indian cricketer, and a dominant bowler of the 1950s. He was the first West Indian cricketers of Indian origin, and was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1951.- Biography and career :...

 and Alf Valentine

Alf Valentine

Alfred Louis Valentine, April 28, 1930–11 May 2004 , was a West Indian cricketer in the 1950s and 1960s. He is most famous for his performance in the West Indies' 1950 tour of England, which was immortalised in the Victory Calypso.-The 1950 tour:...

. The calypso begins thus :

Cricket lovely Cricket,

At Lord's where I saw it;

Cricket lovely Cricket,

At Lord's where I saw it;

Yardley tried his best

But Goddard won the Test.

They gave the crowd plenty fun;

Second Test and West Indies won.

Chorus: With those two little pals of mine

Ramadhin and Valentine.

The Ashes (Australia vs MCC 1955)

Lord Kitchener sings The Ashes (Australia vs MCC 1955)

Tyson taught them a lesson that can't be forgotten,

Tyson taught them a lesson that can't be forgotten,

We began quietly, but we came back with victory,

Good captaincy from Len Hutton

Len Hutton

Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...

, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson

Frank Tyson

Frank Holmes Tyson is an England cricketer of the 1950s who became a journalist and cricket commentator after he emigrated to Australia in 1960. Nicknamed "Typhoon Tyson" by the press he was regarded by many commentators as one of the fastest bowlers ever seen in cricket and took 76 wickets in...

.

Australia's tragedy, it began at Sydney,

Magnificent Tyson, had their batsmen beaten,

He went on to give us, a victory for Christmas,

Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson.

More shocks for Australia, the Melbourne disaster,

As Favell got going, his wicket went tumbling,

We got them out cheaply, and score second victory,

Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson.

The bowling was so good, it remind them of Larwood

Harold Larwood

Harold Larwood was an English cricket player, an extremely accurate fast bowler best known for his key role as the implementer of fast leg theory in the infamous "bodyline" Ashes Test series of 1932–33....

,

Maginificent Tyson finished with seven for twenty-seven,

They had no excuses, we regained the Ashes

The Ashes

The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...

,

Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson.

Gavaskar Calypso

Lord Relator (born Willard Harris) wrote the 'Gavaskar Calypso' to celebrate Gavaskar's

Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Manohar "Sunny" Gavaskar is a former cricketer who played during the 1970s and 1980s for Bombay and India. Widely regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen in cricket history, Gavaskar set world records during his career for the most Test runs and most Test centuries scored by any...

 first Test series, in West Indies in 1970-71. This was voted at No. 68 at a 'Calypso of the Century' poll (Victory Calypso didn't feature in the list). http://www.djtonytempo.com/SURVEY/survey2.htm

The most famous part of the Gavaskar Calypso is the one that describes how he batted like a wall :

It was Gavaskar

The real master

Just like a wall

We couldn't out Gavaskar at all

Not at all

You know the West Indies couldn't out Gavaskar at all.

A E Housman

Cricket features, albeit briefly, in this late-Victorian poet's most famous collection of somewhat gloomy poems, "A Shropshire Lad

A Shropshire Lad

A Shropshire Lad is a cycle of sixty-three poems by the English poet Alfred Edward Housman . Some of the better-known poems in the book are "To an Athlete Dying Young", "Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now" and "When I Was One-and-Twenty".The collection was published in 1896...

", published in 1896 and never out-of-print since then. Poem XVII reads:

Twice a week the winter thorough

Here stood I to keep the goal:

Football then was fighting sorrow

For the young man’s soul.

Now in Maytime to the wicket

Out I march with bat and pad:

See the son of grief at cricket

Trying to be glad.

Try I will; no harm in trying:

Wonder ’tis how little mirth

Keeps the bones of man from lying

On the bed of earth.

10 CC Dreadlock Holiday

10CC sing Dreadlock Holiday with lyrics

Dreadlock Holiday

Dreadlock Holiday

-In popular culture:* The song is featured on the first episode, "Killeroo", of the first series of the British cult comedy The Mighty Boosh. Bob Fossil, head of the Zooniverse, dances to the first verse of the song while a confused Howard Moon looks on, before switching it off and explaining "And...

 is probably the most famous cricket pop song, 10CC

10cc

10cc are an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians -- Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme -- who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the "10cc" name...

's single reaching number 1 in the UK in 1978. It includes the chorus, "I don't like cricket oh no, I love it"

Duckworth Lewis method

The group Duckworth Lewis Method have released several cricket-related songs.

Poetry Books

• 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 0980296307. A poetic tribute to Shane Warne
  Shane Warne
  Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
  
   from a female admirer and how her world changed when "that" ball
  Ball of the Century
  The Ball of the Century, also referred to as the Gatting Ball or simply That Ball, is the name given to a cricket delivery bowled by Australia's Shane Warne to England's Mike Gatting. The event occurred on day two of the first Test of the 1993 Ashes series, which took place at Old Trafford,...
  
  was delivered.