A Majestic Innings: Writings on Cricket

Edited by Anna Grimshaw. Initially published as Cricket by Allison & Busby 1986. Republished by Aurum Press Ltd 2006

“C. L. R. James is the author of what is universally agreed to be the best book ever written on cricket, Beyond a Boundary. James wrote about cricket throughout his life, and all his best articles, letters and occasional pieces are collected here, in the only other book he published on the game that defined his life.

“A Majestic Innings brings together appreciations of great cricketers from Bradman to Dexter to David Gower, letters to friends including Colin Cowdrey, John Arlott and V. S Naipaul, as well as trenchant observations on cricketing controversies like the Bodyline series and the D’Oliviera affair.

“And above all, from a man for whom cricket was not just a game but, unequivocally, an art form, James writes brilliantly and passionately about West Indies cricket – defining the greatness of Gary Sobers, the magisterial leadership of Sir Frank Worrell, and recognising the immense talent of a young Guyanian called Clive Lloyd.”

Review

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/259893.html

Contents

“Preface and Acknowledgements
Introduction by C.LR. James (1985)
Notes: 1901-32

Notes: 1930s
The Greatest of All Bowlers: An Impressionist Sketch of S.F. Barnes (1932)
A Great West Indian Batsman: Headley’s Remarkable Rise to Fame (1933)
West Indies Cricket (1933)
Chances of West Indies in First Test (1933)
Lancashire’s Bleak Cricket (1934)
Spirited Batting by Kent (1934)
Lancashire Draw with Kent (1934)
Bradman’s Remarkable Centuw at Scarborough (1934)
Australian Bowling Can be Hit (1934)
Australians’ Easy Victory (1934)
Lancashire Collapses at Aigburth (1935)
Exciting Cricket Depends upon Exciting Personalities (1937)
Freer Style of Cricket Promised (1937)
E.A. McDonald’s Example of Perfection 58 of Style (1937)
Bradman’s One Palpable Weakness; Hassett Sets a Problem (1938)
Cricket is Losing a Supreme Artist — Frank Woolley (1938)

Notes: 1950s
Return of a Wanderer: Comparisons between 1938 and 1953 (1953)
Letter to George Headley (1954)
Letter from George Headley (1954)
Pakistanis in Good Form (1954)
Pakistanis Far Ahead; Khalid’s Leg-Breaks (1954)
Fazal’s Fine Bowling at Worcester (1954)
“”Neither Toss, Weather nor Wicket were Decisive Elements in the Defeat of Australia Last Season”” (1957)
Letter to Facing Reality Group (1957)
That Worrell Tour (1959)
Without Malice (1959)
Gilchrist Before and Gilchrist After (1959)
The MCC Players as I Knew Them (1959)

Notes: 1960s
The Captain for Australia (1960)
Letter to J.H. Fingleton (1960)
Letter to J.H. Fingleton (1960)
Letter from John Arlott (1960)
Letter to John Arlott (1960)
Letter from J. H. Fingleton (1961)
Letter to Robert Lusty (1961)
Letter to John Arlott (1962)
Body-line (1963)
Letter to Berkeley Gaskin (1963)
Letter to V.S. Naipaul (1963)
Letter to V.S. Naipaul (1963)
Cricket in West Indian Culture (1963)
Letter to Frank Worrell (1963)
Letter to Garfield Sobers (1963)
The Departure of the West Indians (1963)
Dexter and Sobers (1963)
Letter to V.S. Naipaul (1963)
The 1963 West Indians (1964)
Reflections on the Late Series (1964)
Sir J.B. Hobbs (1964)
Sobers’ Greatest Days are Ahead (1964)
West Indies (1966)
Kanhai: A Study in Confidence (1966)
Long may Windies Flourish (1966)
After that Nottingham Defeat (1966)
A Question of Cricket Approach … (1966)
Why Windies Fade in the End (1966)
Two Cricketing Societies (1966)
George Headley (1967)
Sir Frank Worrell: The Man whose Leadership Made History (1967)
Letter to Colin Cowdrey (1968)
Letter to E.W. Swanton (1968)
Letter to Colin Cowdrey (1968)
Letter to John Arlott (1968)
Not Cricket (1968)
Letter to John Arlott (1968)
Driving the Ball is a Tradition in the West Indies (1968)
Letter to Learie Constantine
Garfield Sobers (1969)
Learie Constantine (1969)
Letter to Rowland Bowen (1969)
Letter to Rowland Bowen (1969)
West Indian Cricketers in County Cricket (1960s)

Notes: 1970s
Walter Hammond — An Anniversary Tribute (1970)
Sir Frank Worrell (1970) 255
The History of Cricket (1970)
Not Just Cricket (1975)
Cricket and Race (1975)

Notes: 1980s
A Majestic Innings with Few Peers (1982)
Gower to Lead England (1983)
The Captain and his Team: An Injustice to Gower (1983)
George Headley, 1909-83 (1984)
MacGregor (1984)
West Indies vs England (1984)
The Decline of English Cricket (1985)
Botham Hitting Sixes (1985)

Bibliography
Index “