A Village Cricket Match

A Village Cricket Match A G Macdonald’s ‘A Village Cricket match” is an excerpt from his satirical work - ‘England, their England’ set against a backdrop of an English village. The story is an amusing portrayal of a village cricket match witnessed by Donald Emerson, a young Scotsman living in England. The story begins with a description of the village in which a cricket match was to take place.
Around the field, groups of village rustics were patiently awaiting the start of the game. The author says that the village folk were seldom impatient as their lives were so occupied in ‘combating the eccentricities of God’ .that the eccentricities of man were not of great importance. ‘Blue –and –green dragonflies, swans, a magpie and doves gave an articulate description of the village landscape. ‘The world stood still’ awaiting the start of the match. At twenty minutes to three, Mr. Hodge , the captain of the visiting team from London, was making negotiations with the captain of the home team of Fordenden as two of his players were absent. Just as the decision was made to play with eleven men on each side, with fielders common, the two defaulters arrived with an extra man. Further discussions led to the start of the match with twelve men on each side. This episode is a satire at the manipulation of the rules. Mr Hodge sent his opening pair to bat while James Livingstone was sound player, the other player Boone was an ‘awe-inspiring colossus of a man.’ Donald Cameron felt that sending such cracks (expert player) against the humble rustics was unfair but reminded himself that he was not an authority on cricket, being a foreigner. The Fordenden captain arranged his players among the daisies, buttercups, dandelions and sorrel, which grew in abundance on the uneven terrain. The terrain behind the bowler’s wicket sloped away abruptly as a result of which the batsman saw the bowler blacksmith only during the last few of the latter’s ‘galvanic’ yards. The writer