Death, destruction and national catastrophe

Of course, this was supposedly in the national character; it was proverbial that the Englishman displayed emotion only when faced by some truly earth-shaking crisis, like a cricket match, or the ill-treatment of an animal, or a rise in the price of beer; for such trivia as death, destruction and national catastrophe he was supposed to reserve an indifference that bordered on insanity.


Mr American, pp.510-11, Pan Books, paperback edition 1982.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, emotion.

A sort of English Texas

. . . nor do I enjoy the unsought hospitality of Society parvenus in the wilds of Yorkshire (a sort of English Texas peopled by coarse braggarts and one or two decent slow bowlers) with nothing to do but watch horses run in the pouring rain.


Flashman and the Tiger, p.222, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2000.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, Yorkshire.

Talked cricket

So we talked cricket, while waiting for the attempted murder of the Austrian Emperor.



Flashman and the Tiger, p.128, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2000.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, cricket.

Solemn concentration

…when he tried to bowl he was like a Shire horse on its way to the knackers. He lobbed with the solemn concentration of a dowager at a coconut shy…

Flashman's Lady, p.73, Pan edition, 1979.

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Well, it worked for Shane Warne

…even Brown pumped me by the hand and slapped me on the shoulder, yelling ‘Bowled, oh well bowled, Flashy!’ (You see the moral: cover ever strumpet in London if you’ve a mind to, it don’t signify so long as you can take wickets).

Flashman's Lady, p.31, Pan edition, 1979.

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Birth of a cricketer

...Rugby taught me only two things really well, survival and cricket, for I saw even at the tender age of eleven that while bribery, fawning, and deceit might ensure the former, they weren’t enough to earn a popular reputation, which is a very necessary thing. for that, you had to shine at games, and cricket was the only one for me.

Flashman's Lady, p.12, Pan edition, 1979.

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Cricket, the Flashman way

It may strike you that old Flashy’s approach to our great summer game wasn’t quite that of you school-storybook hero, apple-cheeked and manly, playing up unselfishly for the honour of the side and love of his gallant captain, revelling in the jolly rivalry of bat and ball while his carefree laughter rings across the green sward. No, not exactly; personal glory and cheap wickets however you could get ’em, and d--n the honour of the side, that was my style, with a few quid picked up in side-bets and plenty of skirt-chasing afterwards among the sporting ladies who used to ogle us big hairy fielders over their parasols at Canterbury Week.

Flashman's Lady, p.12, Pan edition, 1979.

Tags:Flashman, Flashman quotes, cricket.

Yokels in gaiters

But now they [cricketers] shuffle around the crease like yokels in gaiters, and that great muffin Grace bleats like a ruptured choirboy if a fast ball comes near him.

Flashman's Lady, p.11, Pan edition, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes, WG Grace.

Party hardy

Rudi and the two Strackenzians took their cue from me and caroused like cricketers.

Royal Flash, p.171, Pan edition, 8th printing, 1978.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes.

Strange and manifold

It was at one of these matches that I first saw Shah Sujah, the king, who had come down as the guest of McNaghton. He was a portly, brown-bearded man who stood gravely contemplating the game, and when McNaghton asked him how he liked it, said:

'Strange and manifold are the ways of God.'

Flashman, p.88, Pan edition, 12th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,Shah Sujah,God,cricket.