The 2009 Ashes series starts tomorrow, which means the Australian and English cricket teams will be battling it out over five test matches for this little urn (pictured left). The urn reputedly contains a burnt bail but is actually symbolic of the body of English cricket which "died" after England lost to Australia -- for the first time on home soil -- at The Oval on August 29, 1882.
(For those unacquainted with the vagaries of cricket, The Ashes is one of cricket's most celebrated rivalries. It only involves two nations -- Australia and England -- which meet every two years for this clash that takes on epic proportions, especially if it looks like England might actually win a game!!)
But what's this got to do with books, I hear you ask. Well, I received an interesting email from Abe Books today, which claims that JM Barrie, he of Peter Pan fame, created his own literary cricket team called the Allahakbarries back in 1890. The line-up included H.G Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, Jerome K Jerome, G.K. Chesterton, A.A. Milne and P.G. Wodehouse! How's that for a line-up?
This remarkable celebrity team was celebrated in a slim book, privately published by Barrie in 1890, called Allahakbarries C.C. A revised edition appeared in 1899 and a reprint followed in 1950 which contained a forward by Don Bradman -- Australia′s legendary batsman. The pre-1900 copies are extremely hard to find and much sought-after by rare book collectors. However, the 1950 reprints are relatively easy to find and also affordable with prices under £60.
You can find out more on the Abe Books website.
Meanwhile, to get into the spirit of a summer of cricket, I think I might just dig out Joseph O'Neill's Netherland -- unless anyone's got another cricket-in-fiction suggestion for me.
