Dreaming of leather on willow ... John Major Photograph: Martin Godwin
I have foregone playing cricket this weekend to be at Hay, so I was hoping that John Major's talk (a plug for his new book More Than a Game: The Story of Cricket's Early Years) would be a fair substitute. Not being enthralled by the prospect of learning more about Major "the man", the question was: could he deliver as an author and speaker?
The answer was neither a resounding no, nor an emphatic yes. The former PM clearly has an ample store of cricketing anecdotes, embellished with the fruits of the research for his book.
We learned of Field Marshall Montgomery's words on encountering Don Bradman after the great batsman's dismissal for a second-ball duck in his last ever test match: "Sit down Bradman and I'll tell you where you went wrong."
Major's evocation of the colourful characters who played the early cricket matches, and the development of the game from underarm bowling by sinewy blacksmiths on the village greens of the 18th century to the establishment of the MCC and the loss of some of cricket's brightest lights in the first world war, was gently thrilling.
It came as no surprise, though, that Simon Schama will not be losing any sleep over John Major's new career. Major is clearly a great cricketing enthusiast but he didn't light up the room. His costume of navy blue double-breasted blazer, blue shirt, yellow tie, chinos (underpants inside), white socks and beige shoes spoke volumes. As did the tale of how, as a boy packed off to the Oval with his drinks and sandwiches, he broke his father's gold stopwatch, which he had taken to the game in order to measure the time it took for the ball to reach the boundary once it had left Peter May's bat.
Still, taking anorakish pleasure in the minor details of cricket is one of the game's great charms and Major was generous in sharing his passion. As former editor of Wisden Matthew Engel pointed out when questioning Major after his talk, it was nice to see a former PM publishing a book which did not have the justification of the author as its primary aim. Engel also pointed out that the book has been reviewed favourably and I was left wondering whether, rather than being the start of a career in non-fiction, it was a CV for a position in cricket administration.
Major said that he would do anything he could to help the game and, given the state of the game in this country and the shambolic world cup, it could do a lot worse.
