The Days When the Composers Took on England’s Finest.. And Other Halcyon Times of Yore

Americans or, for that matter, anyone unfortunate enough to know little about – and worse, care nothing – for cricket may be advised to pass by this post. You’ve had your warning.

As a kid I used to spend rather more time playing imaginary games of cricket than might have been considered wholly healthy. Actually, to say I was playing is inaccurate. I was selecting teams that would do battle for hours on end in my own modified – and more complicated – version of Dice Cricket (modified in part to take account of different ground conditions: thus a test at Headingley would take place with a grid more thinly populated with run-scoring opportunities than one prepared for the more comfortable batting enjoyed at the Oval).

Some of these teams would be obvious: England’s All-Time XI vs Australia’s for instance (though the selection meeting could drag on for hours, involving much internal debate and, I’m afraid, indecision as well as frequent recourse to reference works).