Spirit of Cricket

If someone were to say ''it''s not tennis'', or ''not football'' of shabby behaviour in any walk of life, he or she would not be understood. If they said ''it''s not cricket'', they probably would be (though less reliably than a century ago). Is there some special spirit of cricket?

The laws of cricket, like the laws of the land, aim at a sort of justice or balancing between different factions. The...