The umpire... is like the geyser in the bathroom; we cannot do without it, yet we notice it only when it is out of order.

The elements are cricket's presiding geniuses.

The umpire... is like the geyser in the bathroom; we cannot do without it, yet we notice it only when it is out of order.

There ought to be some other means of reckoning quality in this the best and loveliest of games; the scoreboard is an ass.

The laws of cricket tell of the English love of compromise between a particular freedom and a general orderliness, or legality.

The Australian temper is at bottom grim. It is as though the sun has dried up his nature.

Cricket more than any other game is inclined towards sentimentalism and cant.