The Cricket Match by Hugh de Selincourt

The Cricket Match (Inscribed 1969 Illustrated Edition in Dust Jacket)

The Classic Comic Novel of an English Village Cricket Match, Ranked Among the Finest Cricket Books

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: The Cricket Match
• Author: Hugh de Selincourt
• Publisher: Leslie Frewin, London
• Publication Date: 1969
• Edition Details: This edition published 1969 (first published 1924). Illustrated edition. Inscribed by a previous owner.
• Binding: Publisher's red cloth hardcover with plain spine, in an illustrated dust jacket protected by a clear archival-type plastic cover.
• Physical Format: Small octavo, approximately 200 x 130 mm. Illustrated with line drawings, including on the title page.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good (VG)
• Exterior / Boards: The red cloth boards are solid and square, with a few small dark specks and a small pale scuffed spot on the front board. There is a slight bump to the lower fore-edge corner and slight rolling at the foot of the spine. The text edges are slightly toned.
• Interior: The photographed leaves are clean, creamy and bright, and the binding appears tight. The author's note flap is loose or held with the jacket cover. A handwritten presentation inscription appears on the front free endpaper.
• Provenance: Handwritten inscription on the front free endpaper: "To my Dearest John, Many happy batting hours! all my love, Ruth."
• The Dust Jacket: Present. The illustrated olive-yellow jacket with cricketers shows toning and mottled staining to the front panel and spine, a vertical grey stain or scuff down the spine, rubbed and chipped edges at the spine head, and creasing along the edges. Protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover.

Synopsis & Historical Value

First published in 1924, The Cricket Match is Hugh de Selincourt's comic novel of a single village cricket match, set in the fictional village of Tillingfold (spelled Tillingford in some sources), modelled on his own Storrington at the foot of the South Downs. This Leslie Frewin edition was issued in London in 1969 with line illustrations.

The book has rarely been out of print since its first appearance, and it holds a secure place in cricket literature. John Arlott ranked it among the three finest cricket books, and J.M. Barrie was among its admirers.

It remains a warm portrait of English village life, in which the match becomes a stage for character, rivalry and community. A charming, inscribed copy for collectors of cricket literature and classic English rural fiction.

Author Profile: Hugh de Selincourt

Hugh de Sélincourt (1878–1951) was an English author and journalist, born in Hampstead, London, and educated at Dulwich College and University College, Oxford. In the 1910s he worked as a journalist, first as drama critic of the Star and later as literary critic of the Observer.

He is best remembered for The Cricket Match (1924). His other cricket writing includes the stories The Game of the Season (1931), 'Over!': Some Personal Remarks on the Game of Cricket (1932), Moreover: Reflections on the Game of Cricket (1934) and The Saturday Match (1937).

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