John Frederick Neville Cardus (1888-04-02)2 April 1888 Rusholme, Manchester, England
Died
28 February 1975(1975-02-28) (aged 86) London, England
Occupation
Writer
Critic
Education
Board School
Period
1912–1975
Genre
Musical criticism
Descriptive cricket reporting
Notable works
For The Manchester Guardian: chief cricket correspondent 1919–39 chief music critic 1927–40 London music critic, 1951–75
Spouse
Edith Honorine Walton King (died 1968)
Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus, CBE (2 April 1888 – 28 February 1975) was an English writer and critic. From an impoverished home background, and mainly self-educated, he became The Manchester Guardian's cricket correspondent in 1919 and its chief music critic in 1927, holding the two posts simultaneously until 1940. His contributions to these two distinct fields in the years before the Second World War established his reputation as one of the foremost critics of his generation.
Cardus's approach to cricket writing was innovative, turning what had previously been largely a factual form into vivid description and criticism; he is considered by contemporaries to have influenced every subsequent cricket writer. Although he achieved his largest readership for his cricket reports and books, he considered music criticism as his principal vocation. Without any formal musical training, he was initially influenced by the older generation of critics, in particular Samuel Langford and Ernest Newman, but developed his own individual style of criticism—subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast to the objective analysis practised by Newman. Cardus's opinions and judgments were often forthright and unsparing, which sometimes caused friction with leading performers. Nevertheless, his personal charm and gregarious manner enabled him to form lasting friendships in the cricketing and musical worlds, with among others Newman, Sir Thomas Beecham and Sir Donald Bradman.
Cardus spent the Second World War years in Australia, where he wrote for The Sydney Morning Herald and gave regular radio talks. He also wrote books on music, and completed his autobiography. After his return to England he resumed his connection with The Manchester Guardian as its London music critic. He continued to write on cricket, and produced books on both his specialisms. Cardus's work was publicly recognised by his appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1964 and the award of a knighthood in 1967, while the music and cricket worlds acknowledged him with numerous honours. In his last years, he became a guru and inspirational figure to aspiring young writers.
Sir John Frederick NevilleCardus, CBE (2 April 1888 – 28 February 1975) was an English writer and critic. From an impoverished home background, and mainly...
from NevilleCardus, telling the journalist that he wanted an early night because the team needed him to make a double century the next day. Cardus pointed...
cricketers who were judged by Sir NevilleCardus in 1963 to have been the most notable players of the previous 100 years. Cardus made his selection at the request...
Des Knaben Wunderhorn ("The Young Lad's Magic Horn"). Music critic NevilleCardus writes that this anthology nourished the composer's "pantheistic feelings...
(1916–1990), knighted in 1956 for services to cricket. Sir John Frederick NevilleCardus CBE (1888–1975), knighted in 1967 for services to music and cricket...
conceivable device of bowlers Hobbs reigned supreme. Obituary of Hobbs by NevilleCardus For much of Hobbs' career, critics judged him to be the best batsman...
Benaud Rahul Bhattacharya Lawrence Booth Dick Brittenden Robert Brooke NevilleCardus Stephen Chalke Ian Chappell David Foot Charles Fortune David Frith Saurav...
never hoped to see." NevilleCardus noted it was "perhaps the most skillful of all Test performances by a batsman." It also led Cardus to count Taylor as...
as "a sure sign of the weakling and the mollycoddle", according to NevilleCardus, writing in 1928. "Tim" Killick was the first professional cricketer...
values of Donald Bradman, his captain and later national selector. NevilleCardus referred to Miller as "the Australian in excelsis"; Wooldridge's response...
popular with teammates. However, he was a hero to the cricket writer NevilleCardus, who wrote prolifically on him. MacLaren died in 1944, aged 72. MacLaren...
flats opposite Platt Fields Park. The cricket writer and music critic NevilleCardus (1888–1975) was born in Rusholme, as were musicians Roy Harper (born...
Brown in South Africa in 1935–36 as part of Bill O'Reilly's leg-trap. NevilleCardus, once described the Fingleton-Brown combination as "crouching low and...
a sportsman, evidenced by the 1914 appointment as his secretary of NevilleCardus, the future cricket journalist who had joined the school in 1912 as...
whole of a piece became marked. His loyal friend and admirer the critic NevilleCardus wrote privately in 1969, "he seems so much to love a single phrase that...
in a tour of Oh! Letty, a "musical farce" in which he was praised by NevilleCardus for "a stretch of distinguished dancing". In 1932 he married Peggy,...
fell short by 75 runs. Cricket writers NevilleCardus and John Arlott acclaimed Compton's achievements. Cardus wrote: Never have I been so deeply touched...
activity." Harewood (2004) Cardus, pp. 19–20 Ferrier, pp. 14–16 Leonard, pp. 7–8 Leonard, p. 10 Leonard, pp. 12–14 Cardus, pp. 15–16 Leonard, pp. 19–20...
Madeleine Bunting Julie Burchill Simon Callow James Cameron Duncan Campbell NevilleCardus Alexander Chancellor Kira Cochrane Mark Cocker Alistair Cooke G. D....
in Germany. After World War II, leading critics included Eric Blom, NevilleCardus, Martin Cooper, Olin Downes, Harold C. Schonberg and Virgil Thomson...
character with a dry sense of humour and a solid sense of purpose. Sir NevilleCardus often wrote about him with great affection in his newspaper articles...
out of his ground, and he paid the penalty of rashness. " Cardus, Days in the Sun. (Cardus, of course, was not even born when this match took place. Nevertheless...
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