From Library Journal
Cricket is not a game synonymous with North America. The only two books published on the game in the United States are by cricket player and teacher Melville. Far more than a chronological record, this study examines a sport that resisted change in a society accustomed to fast-paced, professional, profit-generating athletics. In an attempt to determine the reason for its lack of popularity here, Melville presents a thematic history of American cricket, focusing not only on past trends but specific cultural influences. Although well researched, this is not easy reading. Libraries would be better to purchase Melville's first book (Cricket for Americans: Playing and Understanding the Game, Popular Pr., 1993) for more relevant information about the fundamentals of the sport. Not a necessary purchase for public libraries. (Bibliography and index not seen.)?Larry Robert Little, Penticton P.L., BC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Description
Tom Melville presents a well-documented history of cricket playing in America, focusing on its period of growth in the 1840s and its periodic revivals. Cricket failed to take on, or resisted, an American identity, but the sport had considerable appeal both as a sport and as an activity that fostered sportsmanship, control, public manners, and decorum. Cricket found acceptance mainly in the upper class but also appealed to working-class people.
