Story perspectives

Critics Mock Sassoon’s Dreamy Boer War Cricket Poem

8/10/2026

Summary

Story summary

Critics note Sassoon’s *The Flower Show Match* sets a cricket game amid the Boer War and mentions Ladysmith’s relief.
Guardian repeats a caricature that cricket stories of Sassoon, de Sélincourt and Macdonell exist in a dreamworld.
The poem’s umpire allegedly uses his wooden leg to dent the pitch.
De Sélincourt depicts a profiteer felling Tillingford’s trees for pit props while Macdonell follows a narrator questioning “team spirit” after World War I.

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Story summary

Critics note Sassoon’s *The Flower Show Match* sets a cricket game amid the Boer War and mentions Ladysmith’s relief.
Guardian repeats a caricature that cricket stories of Sassoon, de Sélincourt and Macdonell exist in a dreamworld.
The poem’s umpire allegedly uses his wooden leg to dent the pitch.
De Sélincourt depicts a profiteer felling Tillingford’s trees for pit props while Macdonell follows a narrator questioning “team spirit” after World War I.