News
Bob Simpson, 1936-2025
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Sydney Scribe, Kersi Meher-Homji, has written an obituary of Bob Simpson for the Sydney Morning Herald. It's online here. And Gideon Haigh's tribute on Cricket et Al is here.
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New Bert Oldfield book
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Ginniderra Press has published a new book by Gavin Gleeson on the life of Bert Oldfield. Bodyline Casualty: The Bert Oldfield Story explores "previously unknown details of his war service, his part in the Bodyline series, his role in the development of women’s cricket, his kind gesture to England captain Douglas Jardine, his testy relationship with Don Bradman and friendship with former combatant England fast bowler Harold Larwood as well as how the knocks he sustained on the battlefield and the cricket field may have contributed to his eventual death." It's available here.
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Ric Sissons on The Golden Age of Cricket
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You can hear Ric Sissons discussing his recent book (with Peter Schofield), Trumper Across the Tasman, on the Golden Age of Cricket podcast, here.
Red Rose Books publishing Charles Marriott biography
On 29 August, Red Rose Books will publish Father Marriott's Summer Holidays, Max Bonnell's new biography of the England leg-spinner Charles Marriott. Advance orders can be placed here.
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Marriott bowling in his one Test for England, against the West Indies at The Oval in 1933.
He took five for 37 and six for 59.
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Greg de Moore in conversation with Richard Cashman on 7 August
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Tickets and further information available here.
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Rick Smith on The Golden Age of Cricket
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Rick Smith joins Tom Ford on the Golden Age of Cricket podcast, discussing his work on the Trott brothers, here.
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Nathan Anderson on the history of St George
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Nathan Anderson has been writing on the history of the St George club on the Cric Connect platform. You can read his latest piece here.
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Tim Wigmore on the latest Golden Age of Cricket podcast
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English journalist Tim Wigmore is the author of the recently-published Test Cricket: A History. He joins Tom Ford on the Golden Age of Cricket podcast, and asks, was it really so golden after all? You can listen here.
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2 July 2025
A new book on Bert Folkard
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Sydney writers Pat Rodgers and Peter Lloyd have just published a new book on Bert Folkard, who played for New South Wales between 1910 and 1921.
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The book comes in a limited edition (of 50) hardback, numbered and signed by the authors, for $85, plus postage, and there are also signed unnumbered copies available for $50 plus postage. Copies can be obtained by contacting Peter Lloyd at peter.lloyd21@bigpond.com.
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Trumper across the Tasman
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Peter Schofield and Ric Sissons have published Trumper across the Tasman, an account of the 1913-14 private Australian tour of New Zealand, on which Victor Trumper made his last appearances in first-class cricket. It contains immaculate research and several photographs not previously published. It's a limited edition of 100, but copies are available from Roger Page. You can read Gideon Haigh's take on it here.
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New book: Pat Rodgers on Syd Emery
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A cricketer with the nickname "Mad Mick" must be worth a book. Pat Rodgers' latest biography explores the life of Syd Emery, who played for New South Wales and Australia just before the First World War. Details below.
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Bernard Whimpress OAM
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Bernard Whimpress has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the recent King's Birthday Honours List. Bernard has published around twenty books on sports and cricket history, including (most recently) George Giffen, A Biography (2020), Adelaide University Cricket Club, A History (with Robert O'Shannassy, 2022) and Adelaide Oval, 1865-1939, A History (2022).
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New Golden Age podcast
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The latest podcast from The Golden Age of Cricket is available now. You can hear Tom Ford discuss the 1912 Triangular Tournament with Patrick Ferriday here.
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Charles Tyrwhitt's Book of the Year is Richie Benaud's Blue Suede Shoes
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Richie Benaud's Blue Suede Shoes, the account of the Fourth Test in 1961 by David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts, has been named Cricket Book of the Year at the Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book of The Year Awards in London.
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Brick by brick
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Brick by brick, Max Bonnell's book on the 1964 Australian tour of England, was published by ACS on 1 May. It can be obtained here.
Shortlist announced for the Charles Tyrwhitt Book of the Year awards
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The Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book Awards will be announced in London on 1 May. The shortlist in the cricket category is:
Bill Edrich: The Many Lives of England's Cricket Great, Leo McKinstry (Bloomsbury Sport)
Getting Out: The Ukrainian Cricket Team's Last Stand on the Front Lines of War, Jonathan Campion (Pitch Publishing)
It's Not Banter, It's Racism: What Cricket’s Dirty Secret Reveals About Our Society, Azeem Rafiq (Trapeze)
LARA: The England Chronicles, Brian Lara with Phil Walker (Fairfield Books)
On Cricket, Sir Trevor McDonald (Renegade Books)
Richie Benaud's Blue Suede Shoes: The Story of an Ashes Classic, David Kynaston & Harry Ricketts (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Simon Lister wins Cricket Society/MCC Book of the Year
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The 2025 Cricket Society/MCC Book of the Year Award has been presented to Simon Lister for his Frank Worrell biography, Worrell, the brief but brilliant life of a Caribbean pioneer (Simon and Shuster). The presentation was made at a dinner at Lord's on 14 April.
Geoff Armstrong on ABC Listen
Geoff Armstrong discusses his favourite sports books of 2024 with Rod Quinn on ABC Listen here.
MCC and Cricket Society announce shortlist
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The shortlist for the MCC and Cricket Society Book of the Year award for 2025 has been announced.
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The shortlisted books are:
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Striking Summer, How cricket united a divided nation, Stephen Brenkley, Fairfield Books
One Hell of a Life, Brian Close, Daring, defiant and daft, Stephen Chalke, Fairfield Books
Worrell, The brief but brilliant life of a Caribbean pioneer, Simon Lister, Simon & Schuster
The Cricketers of 1945: Rising from the ashes of World War Two, Christopher Sandford, Pitch Publishing
Blood on the Tracks, England in Australia, The 1974-75 Ashes, David Tossell, Fairfield Books
Forgotten Pioneers, The story of the original English lady cricketers, Giles Wilcock, Pitch Publishing
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Longlisted books that did not reach the short list were:
Batting for Time, The fight to keep English cricket alive, Ben Bloom, Pitch Publishing
Echoing Greens, How cricket shaped the English imagination, Brendan Cooper, Constable
Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes, The story of an Ashes classic, David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts, Bloomsbury
Lara, The England Chronicles, Brian Lara with Phil Walker, Fairfield Books
An Unusual Celebrity, The many cricketing lives of Bill Bowes, Jeremy Lonsdale, Pitch Publishing
Clyde Walcott, Statesman of West Indies cricket, Peter Mason, Manchester University Press
Bill Edrich, The Many Lives of England’s Cricket Great, Leo McKinstry, Bloomsbury Sport
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The winner will be announced at Lord's on 14 April.
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Mike Coward on ABC Listen
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You can catch Mike Coward's interview with Rod Quinn of ABC Listen here.
Michael Fahey on The Baggy Green
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Michael Fahey has spoken with ABC Listen about his updated book (with Mike Coward), The History of the Baggy Green. You can hear it here.
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6 February 2025
New Golden Age podcasts
New podcasts are now available from Tom Ford's Golden Age of Cricket: Peter Lloyd completes his podcast on Charles Macartney, and Richard Tomlinson discusses WG Grace.
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1 February 2025
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James Rodgers OAM
James Rodgers, a member of the Company of Cricket Scribes, has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to primary and secondary education and services to cricket. James' publications on cricket include two histories of the Sydney University Club (Summertime Blues and Golden Blues), and he was also a contributor to the centenary history of the Sydney Grade competition (Making the Grade) and the Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket.
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26 January 2025
Pat Rodgers on The Final Word
You can now hear Pat Rodgers discussing the career of Mick Pierce and the first ever Sheffield Shield match on The Final Word podcast with Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins, here.
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20 January 2025
New Trumper title coming from Red Rose
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Young Vic, Max Bonnell's study of Victor Trumper's early life, is due soon from Red Rose Books. This short book traces the first twenty years of Trumper's life, exploring the uncertainty over his origins, the poverty and tragedy of his early life and the mysterious process by which a boy with no cricket in his family and no material advantages developed into the greatest batsman of his age. It's due for release on 15 March 2015, and available for pre-orders here.
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9 January 2025
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Peter Lloyd discusses Charlie Macartney
You can now hear Peter Lloyd discussing his new biography of Charlie Macartney on Tom Ford's Golden Age of Cricket podcast, here​.
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6 January 2025
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Peter Schofield and Ric Sissons win 2024 Jack Pollard Trophy
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The Jack Pollard Trophy, for the outstanding Australian cricket book of the year, has been awarded to Peter Schofield and Ric Sissons for When the Kangaroo Met the Eagle, their outstanding account of the 1913 Australian tour of the United States.
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The book was published in a limited edition of 100, which sold out rapidly. A review published by Cricketweb can be found here.
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4 January 2025
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Four new cricket titles coming from Pitch Publishing in 2025
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English sports publisher, Pitch Publishing, is offering four new cricket titles in 2025. In March, there’s Deadly, a biography of the late Derek Underwood by Mark Peel, whose previous subjects include Douglas Jardine and Ken Barrington. Also due in March is The Club, Rod Lyall’s history of the ICC. Andrew Murtagh’s Cricket’s Black Dog, scheduled for May, is a study of depression among cricketers. And also coming in May, Ian Lockwood’s Ten Clowns and a Parson is a biography of the nineteenth century Yorkshire left-armer Ted Peate.
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4 January 2025
