caption death_date death_place birth_name birth_place imagesize notableworks birth_date period spouse genre image article_title education name occupation
neville cardus , pictured in old age 28 february 1975 london , england john frederick neville cardus rusholme , manchester , england 250px for correspondent 1919 -- 39 chief music critic 1927 -- 40 '' london music critic , 1951 -- 75 the manchester guardian '' : chief cricket 3 april 1888 1912 -- 1975 edith honorine watten king -lrb- died 1968 -rrb- musical criticism descriptive cricket reporting cardus.jpg neville cardus
 board school neville cardus writer critic
neville cardus

sir john frederick neville cardus , cbe -lrb- 3 april 188828 february 1975 -rrb- was an english writer and critic .
from an impoverished home background , and mainly self-educated , he became cricket correspondent of `` the manchester guardian '' in 1919 , and that newspaper 's 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 companion of the order of the british empire and the award of a knighthood , 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 .
