The cricket fiction of Sassoon and De Sélincourt isn’t in a ‘bucolic dreamworld’ | Letter
There are serious political and societal messages to be found in some of the best-known fictional accounts of village cricket, argues Rod EdmondYour leader (The Guardian view on sporting fair...
By Guardian Staff · The Guardian Opinion
There are serious political and societal messages to be found in some of the best-known fictional accounts of village cricket, argues Rod Edmond Your leader ( The Guardian view on sporting fair play: it was never quite cricket, 30 July ) recycles the persistent caricature of Siegfried Sassoon’s, Hugh de Sélincourt’s and AG Macdonell’s cricket fiction as existing in a “bucolic dreamworld”. Sassoon’s The Flower Show Match is set against the background of the Boer war, with recurring references to the relief of Ladysmith. The home umpire is also suspected of using his wooden leg to make dents in the pitch. Continue reading...