Sport Poetry

Poetry

The sport of cricket has inspired much poetry , most of which romanticises the sport.

At Lord's

Francis Thompson wrote the following poem, At Lord's :

Not long before his death and long after he had watched Hornby and Barlow bat at Old Trafford, Thompson was invited to watch Lancashire play Middlesex at Lord's. As the day of the match grew closer, Thompson became increasingly nostalgic. At the end, he did not go for the match, but sat at home and wrote At Lord's . The original match in 1878 ended in a draw, with Gloucestershire needing 111 to win with five wickets in hand, Grace 58*

The first stanza of the poem has contributed the titles of at least three books on cricket:

Punch

Satirical magazine Punch printed the following poem following a particularly slow and boring innings by William Scotton. It mimicked Tennyson's famous Break, break, break

Alfred Mynn

When Alfred Mynn died in 1861, William Jeffrey Prowse penned a poem in his memoriam. The first six stanzas compare Mynn with his contemporaries and closes with these lines :

Others

One of the most famous pieces of nostalgic rose-tinted poems is Vitai Lampada by Sir Henry Newbolt.

Andrew Lang's cricketing parody of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Brahma" is memorable:

Roy Harper's song When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease (1975) is perhaps the best-known cricket lyric in contemporary popular music:

Roy Harper also penned a poem for English cricketer Graeme Fowler's benefit event. Three Hundred Words .

Miscellaneous verses

The Surrey Poet on Jack Hobbs

Albert Craig, better known as The Surrey Poet was a popular figure on cricket grounds at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, hawking his improvised verses to the crowd. Of Jack Hobbs' County Championship debut he wrote:

Victory Calypso

Lord Beginner sings Victory Calypso

At Lord's in 1950, West Indies defeated England in England for the first time. Egbert Moore, who sang under the pseudonym Lord Beginner, popularized the most famous of cricketing calypsos to celebrate the occasion. He was accompanied by Calypso Rhythm Kings, 'supervision' by Denis Preston. It was recorded on the 'Melodisc' (1133) label (MEL 20). The song was originally composed by Lord Kitchener.

The Victory Calypso also immortalised the spin bowling pair of Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine. The calypso begins thus :

Chorus: With those two little pals of mine

The Ashes (Australia vs MCC 1955)

Lord Kitchener sings The Ashes (Australia vs MCC 1955)

Tyson taught them a lesson that can't be forgotten,
Tyson taught them a lesson that can't be forgotten,
We began quietly, but we came back with victory,
Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson.

Australia's tragedy, it began at Sydney,
Magnificent Tyson, had their batsmen beaten,
He went on to give us, a victory for Christmas,
Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson.

More shocks for Australia, the Melbourne disaster,
As Favell got going, his wicket went tumbling,
We got them out cheaply, and score second victory,
Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson.

The bowling was so good, it remind them of Larwood,
Maginificent Tyson finished with seven for twenty-seven,
They had no excuses, we regained the Ashes,
Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson.

Gavaskar Calypso

Lord Relator (born Willard Harris) wrote the 'Gavaskar Calypso' to celebrate Gavaskar's first Test series, in West Indies in 1970-71. This was voted at No. 68 at a 'Calypso of the Century' poll ( Victory Calypso didn't feature in the list).

The most famous part of the Gavaskar Calypso is the one that describes how he batted like a wall :

A E Housman

Cricket features, albeit briefly, in this late-Victorian poet's most famous collection of somewhat gloomy poems, "A Shropshire Lad", published in 1896 and never out-of-print since then. Poem XVII reads:

10 CC Dreadlock Holiday

10CC sing Dreadlock Holiday with lyrics

Dreadlock Holiday is probably the most famous cricket pop song, 10CC's single reaching number 1 in the UK in 1978. It includes the chorus, "I don't like cricket oh no, I love it"

Poetry Books

Come Shane

A poetic tribute to Shane Warne from a female admirer and how her world changed when "that" ball was delivered.

• Come Shane By Victoria Coverdale (Make Jam Press, 2006) ISBN 0980296307

A book of cricket poetry to follow up David Rayvern Allen's book of cricket music 'A Song for Cricket' : A Breathless Hush: The MCC Anthology of Cricket Verse (Mcc Cricket Library) by Hubert Doggart and David Rayvern Allen

• A Breathless Hush

See also

• Cricket in fiction
• Cricket in film and television

Institute for International Sport

2008 All-American Sports Poetry Contest We have limited selections for the 2008 Center for Sports Poetry contest to a First Place and a Runner-up at each academic level.

...

Institute for International Sport

Center for Sports Poetry - 2004 Rhode Island Middle School Contest

...

ReadWriteThink: 6-8 Summer Activities - Learning Beyond the Classroom

Summer Activities - Learning Beyond the Classroom ... That Sounds Fun! Sound Words and Sports Poetry . Summer is a time for going to the park, playing baseball with friends, and ...

...

Sports Poetry - Original Sports Poems from Adan Lerma : Art Beyond the ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , , , , “Basketball.” “Swimming.” “Marathon.” Martial Arts. Weekend Golfer., , , , Austin, Tx. - April 1, 2008 - Do these titles suggest a ...

...

Amazon.com: Sports! Sports! Sports: A Poetry Collection (An I Can Read ...

Amazon.com: Sports! Sports! Sports: A Poetry Collection (An I Can Read Book, Level 2) (9780060278007): Lee Bennett Hopkins, Brian Floca: Books

...

Basketball Poems & Sports Poetry : Poem : BASKETBALL

Basketball Poems & Sports Poetry : The Poem called BASKETBALL by Patrick Michael Cassidy, USA

...

Amazon.com: Sports! Sports! Sports! A Poetry Collection (9780064437134 ...

Amazon.com: Sports! Sports! Sports! A Poetry Collection (9780064437134): Lee Bennett Hopkins, Brian Floca: Books

...

PPPS: North Carolina Sports Poetry

North Carolina Sports Poetry: Poetry Book Reviews Note: These reviews compiled by Dr. Ron Hyatt. See disclaimer on front page. Touching All the Bases

...

Sports Poems Poetry Limericks

The official site of RL1908 providing the complete history of rugby league and NRL in Australia and New Zealand

...

Sports Poetry - Running, Biking, Swimming, Triathlon Events

This Triathlon site contains: My Triathlon Training Plan (Tips), Triathlon training articles, triathlon sports physiology, California & Hawaii Ironman Bike Course Profile ...

...