A few questions race through your brain when you hear about a cricket-themed music project. Is this some sort of elaborate joke? Did I miss the memo which announced that cricket is now ‘cool’ and therefore rife for all sorts of mainstream pop culture tie-ins? Is this just a cynical attempt to cash in on the current Ashes test series? Have the artists involved gone totally round the bend or, worse, been paid by the International Cricket Council? After all, it’s always worse to be a sell-out than a madman.

Then you find that the collaborators involved are Pugwash’s Thomas Walsh and The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon, and the worry abates somewhat. Nonetheless, persistent is the anxiety that, for all the well-meant intentions of both parties, the end product will turn out to be as naff as all those novelty songs and acts which accompany other sports and sporting events.

Ultimately, this too proves to be overly pessimistic. The evident warmth and love which Walsh and Hannon reserve for the game that inspires them serves to dispel any concerns that The Duckworth Lewis Method was a project borne out of a shameless desire to jump on the bandwagon of any ‘Ashes fever’ that might be floating around. Overwhelmingly clear is the amount of effort and imagination that has gone into creating the overall sound and whimsical atmosphere of the record.

Regardless of how you feel about cricket, The Duckworth Lewis Method turns out to be a simply brilliant pop album. It’s certainly one of the most original concept albums ever released; Hannon and Walsh describe it as, “a kaleidoscopic musical adventure through the beautiful and rather silly world of cricket.”

Lyrically the subject matter is suffused with cricketing terminology, but even if the sport and its complexities are completely alien to you, it’s a fair bet that you will simply devour this album such is its abundant sweetness.

Presenting a familiar sound of melodic folk pop that any Divine Comedy and/or Pugwash fans will easily recognize, the overall atmosphere is one of good-natured, nostalgic, affable, humorous festivity, pretty well vaudevillian in style. If you’ve heard the first single, Age of Revolution, then you should know what to expect from the rest of the record because it’s highly representative of what is thoroughly enjoyable fare.

Walsh and Hannon are to be congratulated to creating such a unique, melodious, quirky and jovial musical celebration of the game of cricket. That it is unquestionably an enjoyable record regardless of whether the listener is a fan of the sport is to the duo's credit, as it means that they did not let their adoration for the intricacies and indiosyncracies of the game distract them from the work of making a fine pop album.

You might not know your Silly Mid-Off from your Deep Backward Point, or your LBW from your C&B, but if you know your music then you will definitely find The Duckworth Lewis Method to be a scorcher of a delivery.

- Sebastian Clare

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