The game of cricket has inspired much poetry, most of which romanticises the sport and its culture.

Poems

Cricket: An Heroic Poem

The poem by James Love is too long to quote in full; above are its opening two lines. It describes a match in 1744 between Kent and England. It is written in rhyming couplets. According to H.S. Altham, it "should be in every cricket lover's library" and "his description of the game goes with a rare swing". The poem is the first substantial piece of literature about cricket.

"At Lord's"

Poet: Francis Thompson Not long before his death and long after he had watched Hornby and Barlow bat at Old Trafford, Thompson was invited to watch Lancashire play Middlesex at Lord's. As the day of the match grew closer, Thompson became increasingly nostalgic. At the end, he did not go for the match, but sat at home and wrote At Lord's. The original match in 1878 ended in a draw, with Gloucestershire needing 111 to win with five wickets in hand, Grace 58*. The first stanza of the poem has contributed the titles of at least three books on cricket: The first stanza is also quoted in full by Count Bronowsky in Paul Scott's Raj Quartet novel The Day of the Scorpion.

Punch on William Scotton

The satirical magazine Punch printed the following poem following a particularly slow and boring innings by William Scotton. It mimicked Tennyson's "Break, break, break".

Alfred Mynn

When Alfred Mynn died in 1861, William Jeffrey Prowse penned a poem in his memory. The first six stanzas compare Mynn with his contemporaries and the poem closes with these lines:

Les Murray

The Australian poet Les Murray wrote "The Aboriginal Cricketer":

Others

One of the most famous pieces of nostalgic rose-tinted poems is "Vitaï Lampada" by Sir Henry Newbolt. The very short "A Cricket Poem" by Harold Pinter encapsulates the mood and nostalgia common to lovers of cricket: Andrew Lang's cricketing parody of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Brahma" is memorable: Roy Harper's song "When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease" (1975) is perhaps the best-known cricket lyric in contemporary popular music: Roy Harper also penned a poem for English cricketer Graeme Fowler's benefit event, "Three Hundred Words": Australian poet Damian Balassone often employs cricket themes, such as in the poem "Strange Dismissal", which appears in Quadrant magazine:

Miscellaneous verses and songs

"The Surrey Poet" on Jack Hobbs

Albert Craig, better known as "The Surrey Poet", was a popular figure at The Oval at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, hawking his rapidly improvised verses to the crowd. Of Jack Hobbs' County Championship debut he wrote:

Victory Calypso

At Lord's in 1950, West Indies defeated England in England for the first time. Egbert Moore, who sang under the pseudonym Lord Beginner, popularized the most famous of cricketing calypsos to celebrate the occasion. He was accompanied by Calypso Rhythm Kings, "supervision" by Denis Preston. It was recorded on the Melodisc (1133) label (MEL 20). The song was originally composed by Lord Kitchener. "The Victory Calypso" also immortalised the spin bowling pair of Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine. The calypso begins thus: Chorus: With those two little pals of mine

The Ashes (Australia vs MCC 1954–55)

Tyson taught them a lesson that can't be forgotten, Tyson taught them a lesson that can't be forgotten, We began quietly, but we came back with victory, Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson. Australia's tragedy, it began at Sydney, Magnificent Tyson, had their batsmen beaten, He went on to give us, a victory for Christmas, Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson. More shocks for Australia, the Melbourne disaster, As Favell got going, his wicket went tumbling, We got them out cheaply, and score second victory, Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson. The bowling was so good, it remind them of Larwood, Magnificent Tyson finished with seven for twenty-seven, They had no excuses, we regained the Ashes, Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson.

Gavaskar Calypso

Lord Relator (born Willard Harris) wrote the "Gavaskar Calypso" to celebrate Gavaskar's first Test series, in West Indies in 1970–71. This was voted at No. 68 at a "Calypso of the Century" poll (although "Victory Calypso" did not feature in the list). The most famous part of the "Gavaskar Calypso" is the one that describes how he batted "like a wall":

A. E. Housman

Cricket features, albeit briefly, in late-Victorian poet A. E. Housman's most famous collection of somewhat gloomy poems A Shropshire Lad, published in 1896 and never out-of-print since then. Poem XVII reads:

10cc "Dreadlock Holiday"

"Dreadlock Holiday" is probably the most well-known pop song to mention cricket. 10cc's hit single reached number 1 in the UK in 1978. However, the song has only a tenuous connection with cricket, mentioning it in the chorus: "I don't like cricket, oh no, I love it".

The Duckworth Lewis Method

The group The Duckworth Lewis Method have released two concept albums about cricket, entitled The Duckworth Lewis Method and Sticky Wickets.

Poetry books