Cricket as a 19th century novel

Mike Marqusee makes many valuable points in his oddly titled preview of the Ashes, but unless W G Grace's autobiography counts only a few of them are connected to 19th century literature . Ashes excitement is starting to mount all round and Australia slumped to another loss overnight, this time to Somerset. While English confidence is rising, Ricky Ponting is starting to get a little grumpy.