Max Bonnell

Black Swan Summer may primarily be about Western Australia's first season in the Sheffield Shield, but takes into account the events and people that made Australia what it was in the summer of 1947/48, giving it a richness and more context that evade other cricket books, particularly one as obscure as a domestic cricket season.

The story of Western Australia's first season competing in the Sheffield Shield, and its first Sheffield Shield, is well covered, with help from the surviving cricketers of that summer, including Basil Rigg, the sole survivor of Western Australia's Shield winning side, who provide some personal stories to what otherwise could have been a dry account of the cricket. However, Black Swan Summer also covers India's tour of Australia and the social and political history of the time, particularly focussing on race and the White Australia Policy.… (mer)

A multiple biography this (I'm sure there is a specific word for a book about four different people) and a quite enlightening one at that. Focussing on four different men (Tom Garrett, Sammy Jones, Rowley Pope and Reginald Allen), all Australian-born (the "Currency Lads" of the title) and all Test cricketers, although for some it was a brief career; Pope, for example, played one Test.

The highlight of the book is reading of the lives of "forgotten" cricketers, rather than, for example, another book on Bradman. Bonnell draws the four players out from their nooks of cricketing history, some better than others, with the most intriguing moments coming off the pitch, with Pope becoming the Australian cricket team tour manager for decades and Garrett, amongst other things, counting a rock star and federal politician amongst his descendants.

If you have the time and wherewithal, it's well worth hunting down this rare-ish book.… (mer)