An Abounding Joy

Ian McDonald (1933-), the eminent poet, thinker and public intellectual, has written more than 1,500 articles over the last four decades.This book comprises 100 of his essays on sport, compiled, edited and vividly annotated by Clem Seecharan, the distinguished Guyanese historian. They cover tennis, squash, and boxing, but it is McDonald's revered sport, cricket, that predominates in this collection. The latter encompasses the history of the game, including its place in the soul of the West Indian people, in addition to its contemporary problems and challenges. There are also beautifully crafted pieces on his 'Uncle Bertie' Harragin (who played against WG Grace in 1906), WG himself, Frank Worrell, Joe Solomon, Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Shiv Chanderpaul and, his greatest hero of them all, the superb Guyana and West Indies batsman, Rohan Kanhai.