Full Circle: A History of Cricket

In its early forms in the 18th century, cricket was a commercial entertainment, a vehicle for gambling alongside cock-fighting or wrestling. In the Victorian era, the sport was recreated as a means of keeping order in England’s public schools and increasingly allied with ideas of virtue and manliness. Exported by empire loyalists, cricket took root across the globe – thriving in some countries, indelibly linked with racism and colonialism in others.

From Australia to the Caribbean to Afghanistan, Oborne and Heller explore cricket’s expansion and its later role in decolonisation, education and politics. They argue that in recent years the game – dominated by the wealth and scale of franchise cricket – has come full circle, less a sport than a commercial enterprise once more. In consequence, they believe it is in crisis. As big money has taken over the game, is cricket losing its integrity and meaning?

Comprehensive in scope and drawing on contemporary scholarship, this masterful account is an essential read for cricket fans everywhere.