 | Messrs Bat and Ball |  |
19
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Parochial minds are prone to think
This earth of ours the only planet
Allowed to carry on its crust
Some creatures made of fire and dust
To woman it and man it;
But I, for one, am bold enough
To urge that Wisdom did not mean us
Alone to practise flannelled sport.
Perhaps a Test is being fought
This very day on Venus.
This earth of ours the only planet
Allowed to carry on its crust
Some creatures made of fire and dust
To woman it and man it;
But I, for one, am bold enough
To urge that Wisdom did not mean us
Alone to practise flannelled sport.
Perhaps a Test is being fought
This very day on Venus.
I won't believe that any world
Resembling ours in age and pattern
Is short of swift and sinewy lads,
Although I grant that Cricket pads
Have not appeared on Saturn.
Undoubtedly, when Time has cooled
The pitches there, developed rollers,
Designed the crease and ball (and gnats),
Those playing-fields will swarm with Bats
To thump Saturnian bowlers.
Resembling ours in age and pattern
Is short of swift and sinewy lads,
Although I grant that Cricket pads
Have not appeared on Saturn.
Undoubtedly, when Time has cooled
The pitches there, developed rollers,
Designed the crease and ball (and gnats),
Those playing-fields will swarm with Bats
To thump Saturnian bowlers.
When Summer blesses, each in turn,
The Martian hemispheres, and urges
The Gloved and Padded so to smite
That thousands bubble with delight
Around the grassy verges,
Be positive their sport is not
Far other than the game we started
Where lads ran clumsily to joy
In ploughland boots and corduroy,
Big-shouldered, Cricket-hearted!
The Martian hemispheres, and urges
The Gloved and Padded so to smite
That thousands bubble with delight
Around the grassy verges,
20
Far other than the game we started
Where lads ran clumsily to joy
In ploughland boots and corduroy,
Big-shouldered, Cricket-hearted!
How many Hambledons aloft
Revolve around their suns in glory
With ancient memories that mix
The firstborn Wide, Half-Volley, Six,
And Wrangle in their story!
The spark of Cricket had to glow
On various worlds, with breath to fan it,
Before our Daisy-Cutters, Lobs,
And Rearers met the earliest Hobbs
That ever graced our planet.
Revolve around their suns in glory
With ancient memories that mix
The firstborn Wide, Half-Volley, Six,
And Wrangle in their story!
The spark of Cricket had to glow
On various worlds, with breath to fan it,
Before our Daisy-Cutters, Lobs,
And Rearers met the earliest Hobbs
That ever graced our planet.
| Messrs Bat and Ball | |