Book extract: the legendary Manchester Guardian cricket correspondent rose from impoverished origins to receive widespread acclaim for his journalism
John Arlott introduced me to Neville Cardus. In the early autumn of 1973 Arlott interviewed Cardus – who was Sir Neville by then – for three 25-minute programmes on the BBC. Each was a journey around his life and career. Cardus was in his mid-80s, but looked much older. He looked so old, in fact, that I wondered whether the Queen would shortly be sending him a centenary telegram to complement his knighthood. He sank convivially into a high-backed leather chair, the sort you would find in the library of some distinguished London club.
Cardus’s voice, which seemed a generation younger than his body, performed that wonderful trick of conjuring the past. He had witnessed the march of cricket’s history from a front-row seat. He’d once glimpsed the semi-retired WG Grace in the bulbous flesh – grey-bearded and so big-bellied and arthritic that he couldn’t bend down to pick up a ball. He’d sat in a state of constantly recurring astonishment as Victor Trumper played extravagant strokes, each attacking shot going off the bat with a bang. He’d followed Donald Bradman during his four tours of England, a pageant of scoring that made respectable his lust for hundreds and double hundreds.
Written by Duncan Hamilton
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jul/27/neville-cardus-cricket-book-duncan-hamilton under the title “How great romantic Neville Cardus changed sports writing for ever | Duncan Hamilton”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
