Album: The London Quartet (Cantabile) Songs Of Cricket (Signum Classics)

This anthology of cricket-themed material is a mixed bag.

Brilliant moments – a droll psalm-chant recitation of the "rules" and an ingenious Pärt-style setting of a pleasingly circular explanation of the game ("Cricket Tea Towel") – show just what these singers can do. Less convincing is their medley of cricket themes, including "Soul Limbo", "Dreadlock Holiday", etc. There's rather a surfeit of this Stilgoe-style drollery, including an adaptation of Delibes (the "Andy Flower Duet"). But the saving grace is a take on Roy Harper's "When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease", with harmony humming replacing the brass band.

DOWNLOAD THIS: When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease; Cricket Tea Towel