Neville Cardus was born on Apr 2, 1888. A year later in 1889 if we are to believe him, but with a track record such as his believing Cardus is not the most astute thing to do. In his series about the stories behind various books, Mayukh Ghosh covers Christopher O’Brien’s Cardus Uncovered, aptly subtitled Neville Cardus: The Truth, the Untruth and the Higher Truth.
[The author, O’Brien, relates in the book how Cardus had his date of birth registered as Apr 3, 1888, adding a third dimension to the birth-confusion]
A year ago, I was in conversation with Australian cricket writer Rick Smith. We talked about Neville Cardus and he was very clear about what the patron saint of cricket writing meant to him:
“If you are writing fiction you can make up whatever you want. When you are reporting a sporting event or writing about a player you must tell the truth. Phrases like the ‘higher truth’ are just other words for fiction. Cardus said that it’s what they would have done, but no one can know that – it’s all guess work. He writes superbly but told so many lies in his life that you can’t trust what he says, especially about his own life. There is a really good biography of him released just last year which really highlights the issues with him.”
I had a similar conversation with another Australian cricket writer, Max Bonnell:
“I think Cardus was a gifted writer of a certain style: I’m not sure you’d read him for a strictly accurate account of what took place. I have read most of his books and enjoyed them, but really what he did was create fables. That has its place. I suppose I’m uncomfortable with the inherent conservatism of his writing. Strangely, considering his humble background, he worshipped amateurs like Archie MacLaren, and was fond of professionals as long as they didn’t get ideas above their station. I do remember being struck by his candour in one of his memoirs, when he explained that he was surprised when his wife became pregnant because he and his wife had never done anything together that could have produced such an outcome!”
And then he too added about that ‘good biography’ and said that he was yet to read it but had seen good reviews.
So, what was this good biography all about?
Written and published by Christopher O’Brien.
The working title gives away more about what he was after: Cardus Uncovered: Neville Cardus: The truth, the untruth and the higher truth
I decided to get in touch with the author and buy a copy of his book.
The Indian Post Office did its bit, but I received the copy a few weeks later. Then I asked him: Why? And How?
Chris was candid:
“As a boy I lived in Manchester, only a mile or so from Old Trafford, home of Lancashire County Cricket Club. My aunt Sheila was a member there and she took me from time to time. The first match I do remember attending was the England vs India test of 1959, which England won, and Lancastrian Geoff Pullar, who my aunt knew, scored a century.”
And then he added:
“I like figures, and so was naturally interested in reference books like Playfair Cricket Annual and Wisden. Playfair was a good buy for those interested in the players in English county cricket….”
I could sense where he was heading to. Wisden and Cardus usually walked in opposite directions….
And I went ahead and asked it more directly: Why Cardus?
“It was the Lancashire connection to start with. When I read his autobiography together with the biography in 1985 by Christopher Brookes there were family history questions not properly answered. Who was his father? What happened to him? When was Neville born - his birth certificate wasn't then found. The rest of the family were interesting if, in some cases, obscure. Where was Neville living after his grandparents died? I had by then developed an interest in family history - I lead a localfamily history group here - and therefore decided to investigate.
“There are genealogical resources now available on the internet although it isn't straightforward, especially as, in this case, many people changed or disguised their names! That made it more challenging. I found out that some researchers had found Neville's birth certificate, though I realised it had the wrong date of birth. And the baptism certificate had false names. And his grandfather's family changed name from Carradice to Cardus, and I could find his grandfather's records when he was in the Lancashire police. And so on.
“I hadn't written a book before. But I thought this was worth putting into the public domain to put the record straight. However, as I read more about Cardus, I realised that there was much more of interest, so a longer book, also covering the rest of his life, emerged.”
Understood. But How did you plan it?
Was there anything which made it uneasy or awkward at times while you were at it?
“As the book was to follow Cardus's life, it made sense to do it chronologically and hence the planning wasn't too difficult. I felt I needed a chapter that analysed his use of the truth in various guises, and this (Chapter 13) required rather more thought.
“The difficulty was that I did want to praise the quality of his writing but also wished to be critical of his sloppiness or untruths. Maintaining a balance between these was a challenge.”
He went on further:
“I think there are some readers who would have preferred me to be less critical of Cardus and others who would have liked more criticism. I can't please everyone! I just hope that there are enough facts so that people can make up their own minds”
The book did well. It had to. The research involved ensured it.
When India played against England at Trent Bridge (2018), Chris went there at the club shop and was able to sell 27 copies. Then, in August, he published it on Kindle as well, targeting readers all over the world.
“I'm conscious that selling to outside the UK is not quite so easy because the postage is expensive and it takes some time for the book to arrive (and with some uncertainty as to whether it does arrive).So I hope the Kindle version will be a useful alternative for non-UK buyers.”
It is available on Kindle Unlimited as well.
Every cricket aficionado should read it.
And the journalists. To know a bit more about how not to report cricket matches.
Now, to sum it up, who better than David Frith (from his review for The Cricketer magazine):
“So, where does this ‘peeing on statues’, as Bill O’Reilly used to describe it, leave the ranks who revered Cardus’ often too fanciful work? It is likely that it won’t change anything. People seem to have an adoring fascination for liars. As for him being cricket writers’ patron saint, as this hard-nosed age has taken its grip that perception has already faded. A pity really, for his writing gave so much pleasure to innocent readers.”