Not Test Cricket is a warm, nostalgic and distinctly Australian cricket memoir that celebrates the spirit of the game beyond the grand stage of Test matches. As its title suggests, Monfries deliberately turns away from international cricket and instead focuses on the joy, camaraderie and character of club, inter-state and social cricket in Australia.
Published in 1950, the book captures a fading era of pre- and inter-war cricket culture — when the game was as much about community, character and shared ritual as it was about results.
Monfries argues that the true soul of cricket often lies outside the Test arena. He reflects on:
Weekday and social cricket matches
Inter-State fixtures in Australia
Club cricket in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart
Informal matches involving prominent public figures
The social traditions surrounding the game
Rather than statistics or scorecards, the book offers personality, anecdote and atmosphere. Monfries provides vivid recollections of grounds, personalities and local cricketing culture in each city.
The foreword by The Earl of Gowrie, then Governor-General of Australia, reinforces the book’s social and civic dimension. Cricket is presented not merely as sport, but as a cultural glue linking Britain and Australia.
Not Test Cricket stands as a charming tribute to the grassroots and inter-state cricket culture of Australia in the first half of the twentieth century. It preserves stories that rarely make it into major cricket histories — stories of community grounds, weekday matches, shared teas and friendships formed around the pitch.
This is a true Australian imprint, not a London co-edition — an important point for collectors of South Australian cricket literature.
This book is genuinely scarce in jacketed first edition form. Likely print run: approximately 500–1,500 copies
