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Indian Summers
Allen & Unwin (2024)
On the eve of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a collection of writings on the long cricket rivalry between Australia and India.
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My Brother Jaz
Melbourne University Publishing (2024)
I lost my brother thirty-seven years ago, have spent a lot of time reckoning with the event and its personal impact, and finally decided to do so in print.
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The One Indiscretion Of His Life
Archives Liberation Front (2024)
William ‘Barlow’ Carkeek played six Tests for Australia as a keeper and won a premiership for Richmond FC as a rover. But that’s not the half of it. He was….quite a character.
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Ashes 2023: A Cricket Classic
Scribe Publications (2023)
A great series described. Available November 2023
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The Girl in Cabin 350
Archives Liberation Front (2023)
In November 1949, nineteen-year-old nurse Gwenda McCallum boarded the liner Orcades in Sydney. Twenty-four hours later, her cabin was found empty. How does someone disappear? And what happens next?
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On The Ashes
Allen & Unwin (2023)
Atlantic Books (2023)A selection from more than thirty years of opining and exploring Test cricket’s definitive rivalry, on the eve of a series that can’t possibly fulfil expectations, can it? Out on 6 June.
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Sultan: A Memoir
Hardie Grant (2022)
Harper Collins India (2022)The autobiography of Wasim Akram, history’s foremost left-arm bowler, whose thoughts and reflections are every bit as incisive as he was with the ball.
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An Unfinished Masterpiece
Department of Parliamentary Services (2022)
A handsome, copiously-illustrated history of Victoria’s Parliament House, the title making a virtue of its remaining incomplete 170 years after they started it. Far more interesting than you might think…..
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The All-Rounder
Harper Collins (2022)
A year of Zoom calls with that excellent man Dan Christian as he travelled to India, UAE, Bahrain, England, Bangladesh and West Indies and I travelled as far as Frankston – thanks to the other Dan.
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The Night Was a Bright Moonlight and I Could See a Man Quite Plain
Archives Liberation Front (2022)
The true story of an Edwardian cricket murder – the accused was the son of an Ashes hero, the murder weapon a bat, the backdrop a remote sheep station in Queensland that was serving as the dustbin of empire. Sold out!
UPDATE: Now available in paperback from Simon & Schuster.
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The Brilliant Boy: Doc Evatt and the Great Australian Dissent
Simon & Schuster (2021)
How should the law deal with trauma? A close look at Chester v the Council of the Municipality of Waverley (1939), a landmark in the history of the High Court, and a new perspective on a brilliant, flawed, enigmatic Australian.
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The Momentous, Uneventful Day: A Requiem for the Office
Scribe (2020)
Yes, back to the office for me, at a time of flux. A short history, a few speculations.
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Shelf Life: Journalism 2000-20
Edited by Russell Jackson, outstanding journalist in his own right. Cover photo by Cecilia. Sold out!
UPDATE: New edition published by Simon & Schuster.
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Cricket In Mind
Some stuff. Sold out, I’m afraid.
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The Dictionary of Made-Up Creatures
Wilkinson Publishing (2019)
By far the most important book here, and it’s not mine, but by my daughter Cecilia and her friend Harvey. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius etc. Well, great fun anyway.
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This Is How I Will Strangle You
Wilkinson Publishing (2019)
A remarkable tale of the toll and survival of incest featuring Natasa Christidou, a very brave and resourceful woman.
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The Standard Bearers: Australia v India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka 2018-19
Wilkinson Publishing (2019)
Despatches from eight Smithless Tests, plus Peever Agonistes.
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Crossing the Line: How Australian Cricket Lost Its Way
Slattery Media (2018)
A short guide to Australian cricket’s last decade, on the field but mainly off. All gone, I’m afraid.
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From Flock to Baggy Green
Australian Wool Innovation (2018)
A little monograph on the ties that bind Australian cricket and the wool industry.
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Shadows on the Pitch: The Long Summer of 2017-18
Wilkinson Publishing (2018)
It wasn’t much of a season, but it got more interesting as it went. But all sold out, sorry to say.
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A Scandal in Bohemia: The Life and Death of Mollie Dean
Penguin (2018)
Poet, novelist, muse, bohemienne, twenty-five-year-old Mollie Dean was murdered in an Elwood laneway in 1930. This book is as much concerned with her life and her afterlife, in an unsympathetic world.
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Father and Daughter
A book of my daughter’s lovely stories – and a couple of my odds and sods.
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An Eye on Cricket
Wilkinson Publishing (2017)
Some Cricket stuff 2012-2017. Cover by my Yarras club mate John Scurry.
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Stroke of Genius: Victor Trumper and the Shot That Changed Cricket
Penguin (2016)
Simon & Schuster UK (2016)An ‘iconography’ of the legend of my favourite cricketer from history, with an accent on my favourite cricket photograph.
Winner of Jack Pollard Trophy
Short-listed for NSW Premier’s Prize for History -
Certain Admissions: A Beach, A Body and a Lifetime of Secrets
Penguin (2015)
It all started under the clocks at Flinders Street Station.
Buy from Bookworld
Buy from BooktopiaWinner of Ned Kelly Award for True Crime
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Ashes to Ashes: How Australia Came Back and England Came Unstuck, 2013-14
Penguin (2014)
I was there for all of them. It was worth it.
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Uncertain Corridors: Writings on Modern Cricket
Penguin (2013)
A sequel to The Green and Golden Age, despite popular demand.
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End of the Road?
Penguin (2013)
Long-listed for John Button Prize
Another short ‘un: 34,000 words about Australia’s much-maligned car industry, written for non-experts by a non-expert (and non-driver).
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The Deserted Newsroom
Penguin (2012)
Five essays on digital media. Gratuitous allusion to Oliver Goldsmith in title.
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On Warne
Penguin (2012) Simon & Schuster (2012)
An assessment of Shane Warne, as bowler, cricketer, phenomenon, personality, and Australian.
Winner of Jack Pollard Trophy
Winner of Waverley Library Prize
MCC/Cricket Society Book of the Year
British Sports Books Cricket Book of the Year
Short-listed for Australian Book Industry Awards Biography of the Year
Short-listed for National Biography Award
Short-listed for Victorian Premier’s Literary Award
Short-listed for Adelaide Festival Literary Award
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The Office: A Hardworking History
Miegunyah Press (2012)
I had always wished to read an appealing, accessible, colourful, discursive history of offices as locations for work and recreation, but couldn’t find one, so I decided to attempt my own. Lovingly produced by MUP.
Winner of Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction (NSW Premier’s Literary Awards)
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Out of the Running: The Ashes 2010–11
Penguin Books (2011) Aurum (2011) (as Ashes 2011)
3-1: never thought I’d see the day England beat Australia thrice by an innings in a series. A compilation of match reports from Business Spectator and columns from The Times.
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Sphere of Influence: Writings on cricket and its discontents
Melbourne University Publishing (2010) Simon & Schuster (2011)
A collection of essays and columns about the changing geopolitical and economic dynamics of international cricket and the rise of T20, beginning with a specially-written 25,000-word short history, ‘What Just Happened’.
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Good enough: The Ashes 2009
Victory Books (2009) Aurum (2009) (as The Ultimate Test)
Two average teams – five quite good Tests. This is a bind-up of match reports from Business Spectator and columns for The Times.
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Inside Out: Writings on Cricket Culture
Melbourne University Publishing (2008) Aurum (2009)
A collection of commentaries and essays about various aspects of cricket, its techniques, heritage and literature.
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The Racket: How Abortion Became Legal in Australia
Melbourne University Publishing (2008)
A work of reportage recreating the cruel and corrupt milieu of illegal abortion in Melbourne around the time of the landmark Menhennitt ruling. Probably the book of which I’m proudest; naturally, it was also among the least successful.
Short-listed for the Gleebooks Prize, long-listed for John Button Prize.
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Inside Story: Unlocking Australian Cricket’s Archives
News Custom Publishing (2007)
An immense commissioned history of Cricket Australia and its antecedent bodies drawing on original records and interviews. I wrote sixteen chapters, my friend David Frith five.
Winner of the Jack Pollard Trophy
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The Green & Golden Age: Writings on Australian Cricket Today
Black Inc (2007) Aurum (2008)
A bunch of stuff about the all-conquering Australian teams of my generation published just in time for them to become a fading memory. A time capsule now, I guess.
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All Out: The Ashes 2006–07
Black Inc (2007) Aurum (2007) (as Downed Under)
Hard work to make this series interesting, but I had a go. This collects my bits and pieces for The Guardian and Cricinfo.
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Silent Revolutions: Writings on Cricket History
Black Inc (2006) Aurum (2007)
A selection of previously published writings on cricket history. Glorious cover image of Archie MacLaren in Australia, misleading rubbish cover in England.
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Asbestos House: The Secret History of James Hardie Industries
Scribe (2006)
A work of reportage on the scandal that engulfed Australia’s biggest asbestos products manufacturer. Written with a piece of crocidolite on my desk.
Winner of the Harry Williams Prize for Promoting Public Debate (Qld Premier’s Literary Awards), Gleebooks Prize (NSW Premier’s Literary Awards), Waverley Library Literary Award, Blake Dawson Waldron Business Book of the Year
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A Fair Field and No Favour: The Ashes of 2005
Scribe (2005) Aurum (2005) (as Ashes 2005)
A bind-up of my reports for The Guardian on the 2005 Ashes series. Great raw material to work with. Did my best to do it justice.
Wisden Book of the Year
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Game for Anything: Writings on Cricket
Black Inc (2004) Aurum (2005)
A compilation of cricket articles about issues and personalities written for various outlets. Longer pieces about the benighted Richard Wardill and Harry Trott.
Short-listed in the Centre for Australian Cultural Studies National Award
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The Tencyclopedia
Text Publishing (2004)
A sequel to The Uncyclopedia, superior and less successful. Features Ten Fictional Mice and Ten National Flags That Feature Weapons. Fun to do.
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Bad Company: The Strange Cult of the CEO
Aurum (2004) Avalon (2005) (as Fat Cats)
Started as an Australian Quarterly Essay, a counterblast to the deification of chief executives in western capitalism. Slightly rewritten for British and American readers; no real need to modify my views since.
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The Uncyclopedia
Text Publishing (2003) Hyperion (2004) Balans (2004) (as De OnCyclopedie) Orme Editori (2006) (as L’anticiclopedia) Edicoes tinta-da-china (2006) (as Inciclopédia)
A few weeks’ rummaging around my library. Suicide notes of the famous. Turkish pick-up lines. Japanese dumping phrases. Harmless enough. Also published in the US, Netherlands, Italy and Portugal too – why, I will never know.
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The Vincibles: A Suburban Cricket Season
Text Publishing (2002) Aurum (2002) (as Many A Slip) Victory Books (2009)
Originally a column in the Guardian: a diary of the 2001-2 season at the Yarras. It’s all as it happened – and as it continues to. While the names have changed, the vincibility persists.
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The Big Ship: Warwick Armstrong and the Making of Modern Cricket
Text Publishing (2001) Aurum Books (2003) Allen & Unwin (2013)
Again, I’d always wanted to read a book about Warwick Armstrong, but it seemed unlikely I would have the opportunity unless I wrote one myself.
Winner of the Jack Pollard Trophy
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One of a Kind: The Story of Bankers Trust Australia 1969–1999
Text Publishing (1999)
A commissioned history of the investment bank/fund manager Bankers Trust Australia. Its publication coincided exquisitely with their disintegration. Very long. Not bad, though.
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Mystery Spinner: The Story of Jack Iverson
Text Publishing (1999) Aurum Books (2000) Allen & Unwin (2013) Text Classics (2018)
Went looking for more information about the most interesting character in The Summer Game, originally for a piece included in Rob Steen’s The New Ball. This is what I found.
Winner of the Jack Pollard Trophy and English Cricket Society Literary Award.
Short-listed for the William Hill Sports Books of the Year.
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The Summer Game: Australian Cricket in the 1950s and 1960s
Text Publishing (1997) ABC Books (2006)
A history of Australian cricket in the generation before I was born, post-Bradman, pre-Chappell. A lot of pavements pounded and doors knocked on. Subsequently a source for the ABC documentaries Cricket in the 50s and Cricket in the 60s.
Winner of the Jack Pollard Trophy
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One Summer Every Summer: An Ashes Journal
Text Publishing (1995)
I came down with bronchitis during the last Test of the 1994-5 Ashes series, which I’d covered for The Australian. While recuperating, I started writing a book. Two months later I stopped. This is it.
Short-listed for The Age Book of the Year
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The Border Years
Text Publishing (1994)
A quickie about Allan Border’s life and career, on the occasion of his retirement from international cricket. Nice pics.
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The Cricket War: The Inside Story of Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket
Text Publishing (1993 and 1999) MUP (2007) Bloomsbury (2017)
This started with a piece I wrote for a short-lived magazine called FYI while I was staff writer at The Independent Monthly. I got to interview Craig Serjeant – a dream come true.
Winner of the Jack Pollard Trophy
One of The Times’ 50 Greatest Sports Books
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The Battle for BHP
Information Australia with Allen & Unwin (1987)
Having covered the takeover skirmishings involving BHP for The Age, a book contract came my way. I was 20 when I wrote most of it, which shows.
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Parachutist at Fine Leg and Other Unusual Occurences from Wisden
Aurum (2007)
A collection of the bizarre and the esoteric from Wisden.
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Peter the Lord’s Cat and Other Unexpected Obituaries from Wisden
Aurum Books (2006)
A wide-ranging selection of obituaries from Wisden’s well-thumbed pages.
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The Penguin Book of Ashes Anecdotes
Penguin (2006) Mainstream (2006) Mainstream (2012) (as ebook)
A lot of reading and, again, a lot of typing. I’m very analog.
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Endless Summer: 140 Years of Australian Cricket in Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack
Hardie Grant Books (2005)
Lots of stuff about Australian cricket from the big yellow book, introduced, chosen and in some cases typed out by me.
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Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack Australia 2000—2001
Hardie Grant Books (2000)
The third edition. Editing two was enough for me.
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Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack Australia 1999—2000
Hardie Grant Books (1999)
The second edition of the green companion to the yellow volume. Reckon I rewrote just about every word.
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Gideon Haigh’s Australian Cricket Anecdotes
Oxford University Press (1996)
It passed the time.
Revision of ON TOP DOWN UNDER by Ray Robinson (1996)
Entries in THE OXFORD COMPANION TO AUSTRALIAN CRICKET (1996)
Foreword to ANY OLD XI by Jim Young (2001)
Foreword to HOME GROUND by Megan Ponsford (2003)
Foreword to THE YEARS OF THE BALLS 2008: A DISRESPECTIVE by Jarrod Kimber (2009)
Foreword to 500-1: THE MIRACLE OF HEADINGLEY By Rob Steen and Alistair McLellan (2010)
Chapter in McGILVRAY: VOICE OF CRICKET (1996)
Chapters in TEST TEAM OF THE CENTURY (2000)
Chapter in SYMBOLS OF AUSTRALIA (2009)
Afterword in TWO HUNDRED SEASONS OF AUSTRALIAN CRICKET (2003)
Chapter in TOLERANCE, PREJUDICE, FEAR (Sydney PEN Three Writers Project with Christos Tsiolkas and Alexis Wright) (2008)
Included in THE PICADOR BOOK OF CRICKET (2001)
Included in THE BEST EVER AUSTRALIAN SPORTS WRITING (2001)
Included in OUR DON BRADMAN (2001)
Included in CRÈME DE LA PHLEGM (2006)
Included in THE BEST AUSTRALIAN ESSAYS 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009
Included in THE BEST AUSTRALIAN SPORTS WRITING 1996, 1998, 2003, 2006
Included in NEW WRITING 12 (2003)
Included in THE SLEEPERS’ ALMANAC Vol 1 (2004) and 2 (2005)
Included in BEST AUSTRALIAN HUMOROUS WRITING (2008)
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