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Hanse Cronje and D'Olivera documentaries on BBC4

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    Hanse Cronje and D'Olivera documentaries on BBC4

    That's right, I'm bringing your attention to programmes that have just gone off.

    Will probably be repeated soon, though. If so, catch them, they were very good.

    Mike Marqusee always impresses me either in print or in person. Possibly the American most keen on cricket this side of ursos arctos.

    They may be the same person, actually. The thought did cross my mind.

    #2
    Hanse Cronje and D'Olivera documentaries on BBC4

    Yeah, well worth watching that. Some great actual cricket footage, too, along with the politics. And, of course, the cricket establishment itself really didn't cover itself in glory.

    Marqusee's excellent, I agree. I don't know what it says about the state of both the British left and British sportswriting that one of the best writers around on both subjects is a Jewish Noo Yoiker.

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      #3
      Hanse Cronje and D'Olivera documentaries on BBC4

      Marqusee is good, particularly in small doses, but I found his Anyone But England book unnecessarily didactic. I've just finished reading Derek Birley's A Social History of English Cricket which managed to make similar points without having to use the sledgehammer.

      I read D'Oliviera's autobiography a few years back. Genuinely inspiring.

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        #4
        Hanse Cronje and D'Olivera documentaries on BBC4

        Noo Yawker, E10.

        And I am not Mike Marqusee, though I am genuinely flattered by the suggestion.

        Etienne, Tubby will be chuffed for your praise of Birley. I must admit that I found some of the 18th and 19th century bits to be heavy going.

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          #5
          Hanse Cronje and D'Olivera documentaries on BBC4

          What does the Venn diagram of "American Marxist cricket fan" look like? How many people are sitting in the three-circle overlap with Marqusee? Can't be that many.

          The Dolly one's been on before, I think, but it was good to see it again. I'd forgotten what Marqusee said about Gilligan's fascist past and Bedser's involvement with the Freedom Association.

          I've recorded the Cronje one, so, you know, don't tell me how it ends.

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            #6
            Hanse Cronje and D'Olivera documentaries on BBC4

            Let's just say that I think Marqusee would have trouble continuing his innings were he to limit himself to partners meeting all three criteria.

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              #7
              Hanse Cronje and D'Olivera documentaries on BBC4

              BTW, are things like this ever available on DVD?

              I've been profoundly disappointed in the historical material that seems to be available from the likes of Cricinfo and Amazon.

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                #8
                Hanse Cronje and D'Olivera documentaries on BBC4

                I'm not surprised, ursus. Cricket DVDs and videos are notoriously shabby: low-budget, meandering, half-arsed. My well-meaning Scottish in-laws got me a history of cricket once, presented by David Gower with that twinkle in his eye that translates as, 'Yes, I'm quite aware that I'm phoning it in. But did you see me crush the Aussies in '85?'

                It used a lot of crap footage (actually, the lack of decent footage available of the game pre-Packer is a serious issue. Much of the coverage before the late seventies was rubbish - just a camera at both ends of the ground so you'd get lots of shots of Alan Knott's arse. Indeed, it only really improved in England when Channel Four took over) and skipped over hugely significant periods in the game's history. I was so pissed off after watching it that I've never spoken to those in-laws again.*

                *a lie.

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                  #9
                  Hanse Cronje and D'Olivera documentaries on BBC4

                  We have that Gower DVD.

                  We also have a collection of newsreel footage that is entertaining as a historical artifact, but not much else.

                  Someone should do a multi-episode history of cricket along the lines of Ken Burns' Baseball . Burns' work isn't perfect, but it is very much worth seeing.

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                    #10
                    Hanse Cronje and D'Olivera documentaries on BBC4

                    I liked Burns' history of jazz work very much.

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