More Than A Game

Product Description

The former Prime Minister examines the early history of one of the great loves of his life in a book that sheds new light on the summer games social origins. All his life John Major has loved cricket. In More Than a Game he examines it from its origins up to the coming of the First World War. Along the way he considers the crucial role of the wealthy patrons who gambled huge sums on early matches; the truth behind the legends that have grown up around the famous Hambledon Club; changes in rules & techniques including the transition from underarm to overarm bowling; the long-standing but often blurred distinction between gentlemen & players; the coming of the MCC & its role as the supreme arbiter of the game; the spread of cricket throughout the British Empire; & the emergence of the county game & international competition. It is a story rich in anecdote & colourful characters. Many of the great names from the Golden Age of cricket -- C.B. Fry Ranjitsinhji Demon Spofforth & of course the towering figure of W.G. Grace -- are still well-known today. But long before then the game already had its stars: men like the Kentish innkeepers son Lumpy Stevens who played at the highest level until he was nearly sixty; Silver Billy Beldham who was taught how to play by a gingerbread baker; the notoriously avaricious & ill-tempered Lord Frederic Beauclerk a direct descendant of Charles II & Nell Gwynne; & the mighty Lion of Kent Alfred Mynn.