Empire of Cricket on BBC
Sunday evening saw the broadcast of the new cricket documentary series, Empire of Cricket, on the BBC. This first episode covered a basic history of the game in England, with a particular emphasis on the gentlemen/player divide and the moral code of the game.
For the most partt it was enjoyable viewing, and I was pleasantly surprised when, having begun the programme with 2005, the program went on to describe the decline since that Ashes win. It would have been easier to end on a note of glory, but the programme in general was not afraid to dwell on English failings – and in particular the MCC’s handling of the D’Oliveira affair.
Plenty of familiar faces were interviewed – Tom Graveney, Trevor Bailey, Bob Willis and David Gower – along with writers and historians. My favourite quote came from Tom Graveney talking about Willis’ bowling at Headingley in 1981 – “it’s always nice to see an Australian going white”.
There were a few omissions – some of England’s less successful periods were passed by, and certain names received no mention, such as Ranjitsinhji, Trueman, May etc – but this was probably more to do with time constraints than anything else. And I did not necessarily agree with the assertion that Ray Illingworth was England’s finest post-war captain, particularly as no mention was made of Mike Brearley even when significant attention was given to the 1981 Ashes series.
But these are fairly minor quibbles, and I would thoroughly recommend the series to anyone interested in the history of cricket. The first episode is available to watch on iPlayer (follow the link above), and the 2nd episode airs on Sunday 7th June at 9pm on BBC2.
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