Last Thursday I had the opportunity to listen and talk to one of my favourite writers on cricket. Sir Hilary Beckles was one of volume the contributors able to attend the launch at De Montfort University of the Cambridge Companion to Cricket edited by Jeffrey Hill and Anthony Bateman The text which effectively combines both academic and journalistic essays which despite its slightly misleading title covers a range of issues using a truly international team of expert contributors to reflect on the increasing globalisation of the game.

Sir Hilary spoke in considerable detail about the detachment of West Indies cricket from the nationalist scaffold, commenting at length that “in the post Lara era the anti colonial, dream of building a legitimate, sovereign West Indian nation as a supportive environment for the West Indies team has eluded political leadership.'' This reality Beckles attributes to a combination of opportunism and mis-management, however, he listed ten issues in total that need addressing before a realistic West Indies revival is possible, presuming that the smallest cricket nation (based on population) can ever to recapture some of its early glory. Having been privy to such cultural investment in cricket, it would be a loss to the world game if some of the remedies he outlines do not receive the support from the wider West Indian community in the Caribbean and beyond.Ironically, these comments coincided with the release of Fire in Babylon a new cricket documentary available on general release that tells the story of the West Indies' twenty year domination of world cricket

The launch also included contributions from the volume editors, Professor Richard Holt (The Hero in Sport), Dr.Prashant Kadambi (Writing about Asian Cricket) Derek Barnard (Cricket Society) and Karen MacWhirter (Cambridge University Press).

The volume is a rewarding read but would have benefited from the inclusion of sections on the ICC Associate Countries particularly in light of the mission to spread the game more globally. On a more overtly political level the crisis in Zimbabwean cricket has suprisingly been overlooked. However, the critical omission is that the gender issue has been completely overlooked, and to truly understand the importance of cricket to contemporary society the game must not be perceived as exclusively a game for men.