When Cricket Was Cricket

Remember a time when cricket was cricket? Before millionaire players careered around a floodlit field in glorified pyjamas? When a proper match lasted days rather than the crash, bang, wallop of the limited-overs game? Modern innovations like Twenty20 and the IPL have their place in cricket’s long and glorious story, but nothing beats the original – as celebrated in this wonderfully nostalgic look at the game in bygone years. Looking back to a heyday of long hot summers and classic matches, When Cricket Was Cricket fondly recalls an era when it was a more enjoyable and carefree pastime – for the most part a sport conducted in a spirit of keen competitiveness but fair and thrilling play. Drawing on 100 years of outstanding photographs in the huge Mirrorpix archive, this book brings to life an age free of intrusive sponsorship and commercialism when huge crowds swarmed to see the stars of the day in action – legends such as WG Grace, Bradman, and Hobbs; famous greats of the post-war era like Sobers, Miller and Trueman; and more recent heroes such as Botham, Warne, Tendulkar and Lara. Ranging from the grandest venues to the humblest village pitches in its depiction of the sport’s golden years, this is the perfect illustrated guide to when it really was cricket!