'Cricket Ball' by Dannie Abse

The poem...

1935, I watched Glamorgan play
especially, Slogger Smart, free
from the disgrace of fame, unrenowned,
but the biggest hit with me.

A three-spring flash of willow
and suddenly, the sound of summer
as the thumped ball, alive, would leave
the applauding ground.

Once, hell for leather, it curled
over the workman's crane
in Westgate Street
to crash, they said, through a discreet
Angel Hotel windowpane.

But I, a pre-war boy,
(or someone with my name)
wanted it, that Eden day,
to scoot around the turning world,
to mock physics and gravity,
to rainbow-arch the posh hotel
higher, deranged, on and on, allegro,
(the Taff a gleam of mercury below)
going, going, gone
towards the Caerphilly mountain range.

Vanishings! The years, too, gone like change.
But the travelling Taff seems the same.
It's late, I peer at the failing sky
over Westgate Street
and wait. I smell cut grass.
I shine an apple on my thigh.

Commentary...

This poem is based on the speaker's memory of going to a cricket match when he was younger in "1935". The player "Slogger Smart" was "free from the disgrace of fame" but he was still the speaker's "biggest hit". The fact that fame is described as a "disgrace" by the speaker suggests that maybe fame inevitably changes a person and not in a good way, or maybe it's a disgrace how famous people have very little privacy, as being "unrenowned" and "free" suggests that famous people are trapped. The speaker's favourite player being the one that was "unrenowned" suggests that he likes him for genuine reasons such as him being a good player, rather than following the crowd like some people would when claiming to like famous players.

The speaker describes a positive and lively atmosphere at the cricket match, using words such as "three-spring flash of willow", "suddenly", "alive" and "applauding ground". Throughout the poem I get the impression that the speaker has a great passion for cricket. Although not cricket, this is similar with the passion for music expressed in some of Larkin's poems. These include 'Broadcast', 'Love Songs in Age' and 'For Sidney Bechet'.

The speaker then goes onto explain the movement of the cricket ball once it was hit. The ball left the "ground", "curled over the workman's crane" and then crashed through a "windowpane". This could metaphorically suggest that sometimes people get ahead of themselves and instead of achieving what they want, they end up crashing and failing, perhaps because they get caught in the moment and don't realise what they've done until they've got to suffer the consequences.

The day being called "Eden day" indicates a reference to the Garden of Eden in the bible where Adam and Eve first lived. This could suggest that the day was maybe so perfect to the boy that it was like paradise. It could also represent the potential the mid-air cricket ball has because of Eve's choice between right and wrong in the Garden of Eden. This idea reminds me of Larkin's poem 'As Bad as a Mile'. I think the day being "Eden day" could also reflect the speaker's passion for cricket as it made him feel that anything was possible. Such as the ball "scoot(ing) around the world".

The speaker saying he wanted the ball to go "higher", to "scoot around the world" shows potential, and how when in mid-air, the ball has the potential to go anywhere. This could be metaphorical for how cricket makes the speaker feel. It could also be a metaphor for life choices and how at the beginning, life is a blank canvas and could go anywhere, just like the ball. A particular poem of Larkin's which this idea reminds me of is 'Whitsun Weddings' with the "arrow shower".

The speaker felt it was relevant to mention that he was a "pre-war boy" when showing the potential the cricket ball could have/where he wanted it to go. This could suggest that the speaker may feel he was naive prior to the war, or maybe more optimistic.

The final stanza confused me a bit. However, I think it has become more philosophical compared to the rest of the poem. This structure is also often seen in Larkin's poems. I think the speaker means that although the years have "gone" and there's been "change", the "travelling Taff seems the same". I the Taff is referring to the speaker as it's slang for a Welshman. This could suggest that despite the changes that surround the speaker, at heart he is still the same person no matter where he goes. I think being Welsh and cricket are two of the speaker's passions which he feels will never change. The "years" and the speaker "peer(ing) at the failing sky" could suggest that he is waiting for some dream to happen that he's had for a long time and is maybe beginning to lose hope. I think maybe he dreams to be a cricket player because he smelled the "cut grass" at the cricket ground ready to be played on and "shine(d) an apple on (his thigh" like a cricket player would shine a cricket ball.