In this book Jack Williams takes a look at cricket as a symbol of England in the 1920s and 1930s. Cricket had a vital role in how the English imagined themselves and their social world. Assumptions attached to the high level of sportsmanship within cricket and the associations of cricket with the Church, respect for tradition, the empire, the public schools and reverence for pastoralism meant that cricket was represented as expressing a distinctively English form of moral worth.

In this book Jack Williams takes a look at cricket as a symbol of England in the 1920s and 1930s. Cricket had a vital role in how the English imagined themselves and their social world. Assumptions attached to the high level of sportsmanship within cricket and the associations of cricket with the Church, respect for tradition, the empire, the public schools and reverence for pastoralism meant that cricket was represented as expressing a distinctively English form of moral worth.

Nominated for Cricket Society Book of the Year Award 2002.Winner of the 2001 Lord Aberdare Prize for Sports History.Any attempt to understand the nature of social relations and cultural identities in modern Britain must consider the significance of sport. Sports have had a crucial role in sustaining national consciousness. Because cricket has so often been regarded as a symbol of Englishness, especially amongst those with economic and political influence, the role of race in the sport provides penetrating insights into English national identity, from the belief in racial superiority...