​James Wilson

Court & Bowled: tales of cricket and the law

 

Published by Wildy, Simmonds & Hill, 2014

 

'In summertime village cricket is the delight of everyone' the English

judge Lord Denning famously wrote, in a case brought by someone

who clearly disagreed with him. The case was but one example of

how the game of cricket cannot always avoid the law. Neighbours

or passers-by get hit by stray cricket balls, protesters interrupt

matches, players get into fights or take drugs, and not a few

involved with the game sue each other for libel.

 

This book looks at a number of stories where cricket or cricketers

gave rise to a legal dispute. It begins with a short history of cricket

as it appears in the early law reports, including the case from 1598

which contains the very first known use of the word cricket. It then

turns to individual cases from Victorian times to the present day.

Some of the disputes have been of fundamental importance to the

game itself. The ruling in Bolton v Stone affected village and indeed

impromptu cricketers everywhere, while if Kerry Packer had lost his

High Court action in 1978, his cricket revolution would have been

over before a ball had been bowled. Other cases raise issues going

well beyond the boundary ropes: Basil D'Oliveira's omission by

England from a tour of South Africa, for example, ended up being

considered in the highest echelons of power in both countries.

 

All of the stories demonstrate something common to both cricket

matches and court cases: behind the intrigue, entertainment and

amusement of both there are real people and real human stories,

with all the usual human emotions and fallibility.

 

The book will be of interest not only to cricket fans or lawyers but

anyone interested in tales of high (and low) human drama and

great ethical, moral and legal dilemmas.

 

The book is available from Amazon here or from the publishers

directly here.