2 cassettes, 'Cricket - The Golden Age' produced by the BBC Radio Collection. The entire recording is narrated by E W Swanton, who tells the story of cricket from 1870-1938.
Side 1, titled 'The Years of Grace', is 29 minutes and 24 seconds long and consists of the following anecdotes:
1. F A MacKinnon of Cambridge University recalls F C Cobden of Cambridge last over in the 1870 Varsity match against Oxford at Lord's, in which Cambridge won on the last ball.
2. Tom Barrow describes W G Grace's batting style and recalls seeing his hundredth hundred (for Gloucestershire vs. Somerset at Bristol in 1895) toasted in champagne.
3. C B Fry recalls how Grace could 'block shooters to the boundary' and 'made everybody else on the field look like a boy'.
4. Sir Charles Tennyson describes Grace's performance in the Gentlemen vs. Players match of 1898.
5. C J Kortright recalls advice given to him by Grace when playing for Gentleman vs. Players in 1898
6-9. Major James Gilman recalls batting with Grace for London County in 1900 against West Indies, and tells anecdotes about playing with Grace and W L Murdoch, Grace falling out of a cab for being too large, and a ball being bowled through Grace's beard.
10. F R D Monro talks about F R Spofforth's method of training his slip fielders.
11. C B Fry describes his rise from Repton to the England XI and how Grace's influence helped his career.
12. S F Barnes remembers his surprise selection for A C Maclaren's XI which toured Australia in 1901-1902 and being selected after taking 6-70 for Lancashire against Leicestershire in 1901.
13. John Gunn recalls his 5-76 at Adelaide for England against Australia in the Third Test in 1901-1902 after Barnes had broken down.
14. The Reverend E F Waddy, an Australian Country XI batsman, recalls facing his first ball from Barnes on the 1901-1902 tour and watching G L Jessop bat during the match.
15. Major James Gilman remembers seeing W G Grace for the last time.
Side 2, titled 'The Edwardian Era', is 31 minutes and 9 seconds long and consists of the following anecdotes:
1. L C Braund recalls the story of Fred Tate playing for England against Australia at Old Trafford in 1902, dropping a catch off Braund's bowling which helped Australia to win the match by 3 runs.
2. C B Fry describes G L Jessop's batting technique.
3. The playwright Ben Travers recalls watching Jessop at The Oval for England against Australia and watching Wilfred Rhodes score the winning runs for England.
4. George Hirst denies telling Wilfred Rhodes that they would reach their required target, of 15 to win from the last wicket, in singles, when they helped England defeat Australia at The Oval in 1902.
5. Wilfred Rhodes recalls the quick bowling of the Aboriginal cricketer Albert Henry who played for Queensland against MCC on their tour of Australia in 1903-1904.
6. George Gunn recalls seeing C B Fry arrive at Trent Bridge in a landau and practising his shots at the same time.
7. George Gunn recalls his first Test hundred for England against Australia at Sydney in 1903-1904.
8. P F Warner describes S F Barnes en route for Australia with MCC in 1911-1912.
9. F E Woolley recalls watching Barnes take 4 wickets for 1 run for England against Australia at Melbourne in 1911-1912.
10. George Gunn recalls watching Barnes take 4-1 for England against Australia at Melbourne in 1911-1912.
11. C B Fry outlines the England selection methods and his own relationship with cricket spectators.
12. F E Woolley recalls the behaviour of South African bowler 'Parker' during the Triangular Tournament of 1912.
13. P F Warner recalls the first four he ever made at Lord's on 30 July 1889 for Rugby against Marlborough.
Side 3, titled 'The Twenties', is 31 minutes and 1 second long and consists of the following anecdotes:
1. J B Hobbs recalls feeling nervous before scoring his 126th and 127th century (equalling and then breaking W G Grace's record of centuries), for Surrey against Somerset at Taunton in 1925.
2. R C Robertson-Glasgow recalls seeing Hobbs equal Grace's record, while bowling for Somerset in the same match and Hobbs drinking on the pitch to celebrate.
3. Hobbs reveals that he drank ginger ale on the pitch to celebrate the feat, and not champagne as believed by others.
4-5. Herbert Sutcliffe recalls the start of his Test partnership with Hobbs at Edgbaston in 1924 (for England against South Africa), and what he felt was their best partnership, against Australia at Melbourne in 1924-1925 (they made 283 runs).
6. Hobbs talks about his and Sutcliffe's partnership of 283.
7. Wilfred Rhodes talks about being recalled for England to play against Australia at The Oval in 1926.
8. C V Grimmett talks about Rhodes's slow bowling for England against Australia at The Oval in 1926.
9. Herbert Sutcliffe recalls batting for England against Australia's off-spinner Arthur Richardson at The Oval in 1926 and J B Hobbs' century in the same match which helped England to win the series. Swanton also recalls his memories of the match.
10. The playwright Ben Travers recalls his memories of watching the Australia vs. England Test match at Melbourne in 1928-1929, on what he described was a 'concrete wicket'.
11. Sutcliffe talks about the pitch used at Melbourne for the 1928-1929 Test between Australia and England, describing it as 'a real nightmare'.
12. Hobbs talks about playing for England against Australia at Melbourne in 1928-1929 which he described as a 'great occasion' and helping England to win the match.
13. George Gunn recalls celebrating his 50th birthday by making a century at Worcester for Nottinghamshire against Worcestershire in 1929, despite celebrating late into the night the previous evening.
14. Bill Bowes talks about playing for Yorkshire against Lancashire at Sheffield in 1931 and receiving advice from Lancashire bowler Ted McDonald during the match.
15. Len Hopwood talks about playing for Lancashire against Yorkshire at Headingley in 1930 and almost getting a hat-trick before scoring a century.
16. Bowes describes seeing D G Bradman play for the first time at Sheffield for Australia against Yorkshire in 1930.
17. W M Woodfull, Australia captain, describes J B Hobbs' last Test for England against Australia at The Oval in 1930.
Side 4, titled 'The Thirties', is 31 minutes and 5 seconds long and consists of the following anecdotes:
1. R E S Wyatt, vice-captain for the MCC tour of Australia in 1932-1933, outlines the origins of Bodyline bowling.
2. Harold Larwood talks about D G Bradman's dislike of leg theory bowling and 'flinching' when it was used at The Oval in 1930.
3. G O Allen talks about his dislike of Bodyline bowling.
4. Bill Bowes talks about bowling leg theory to Bradman at Melbourne in 1932-1933.
5. Jack Fingleton talks about his approach to batting against Harold Larwood and talks about W M Woodfull getting hit in the heart during the Adelaide Test match and Swanton talks about the tension among spectators during the match.
6. D G Bradman explains his approach to Bodyline bowling.
7-8. Eddie Paynter talks about his memories of the 1932-1933 series and how he came out of hospital to help England win the fourth Test at Brisbane.
9. Harold Larwood recalls his batting for England against Australia at Sydney in 1932-1933.
10. Herbert Sutcliffe applauds the tactics employed by MCC during the 1932-1933 tour of Australia.
11. Bill Voce talks about having no regrets over employing Bodyline tactics.
12. Douglas Jardine defines the qualities of cricket.
13. Learie Constantine recalls bowling leg theory to Jardine when West Indies played England at Old Trafford and Lord's in 1933.
14. W M Woodfull speaks at a reception to honour the 1934 Australian touring team.
15. Howard Marshall commentates for the BBC on the Lord's Test of 1934 between England and Australia, and the final wicket of the match, when Hedley Verity took 14 wickets in one day.
16. Maurice Leyland recalls seeing Len Hutton play for the first time at the age of seventeen.
17. Len Hutton talks about being 300 not out at the end of the second day of the England vs. Australia Test match at The Oval in 1938.
18. Howard Marshall commentates for the BBC on Hutton's innings of 364 for England against Australia at The Oval in 1938, and the moment he beat D G Bradman's record of 334 in an Ashes Test off the bowling of L O Fleetwood-Smith. Swanton ends the recording with his own memories of that match.
