And I just heard on the radio a violinist say he used to practise the violin while watching cricket on TV because the game’s gaps and quietudes let him drift in and out of subconsciousness.
Shortlisted for Cricket Society/MCC Book of the Year 2011
shortlisted for Most Beautiful Book, Australia & nz 2013
The original essay/pictorial cultural sweep. Essayists include –
Inga Clendinnen, Gideon Haigh, J.M. Coetzee, Robert Forster, Rahul Bhattacharya, Max Bonnell, Malcolm Knox, Kevin Mitchell, Elisabeth Holdsworth, Greg Baum, Tony Wilson, Mike Brearley, Ian Chappell, John Benaud, Jarrod Kimber, Peter Hanlon, Stephen Fay, John Harms, and more.
Published by Hardie Grant (2011)
Designer: Dominic Hofstede
“What this compilation of essays captures, quite superbly, is not simply the achievements of Australian cricket but the way our culture has been infused with its spirit, often as not providing the focus, the metaphor, through which we define ourselves.” – STEVEN CARROLL in The Age
“Beautiful book … As an editor, Ryan is every bit as attentive to detail as he is as a writer, and just as evocative. The photographs are accompanied by beautiful inscriptions.” – CHLOE SALTAU in ESPNCricinfo
“Certain to thrill any fan.”– JULIET RIEDEN in Australian Women’s Weekly
“Too big to read on the train but it’s a book you’ll revisit again and again: to reconsider an essay, to seek out a photo, or to just wallow in the experience.” – JOHN BUTLER in The Footy Almanac
“To summarise Australia in one word would be to say ‘magnificent’ … A book of great intelligence.” – BERNARD WHIMPRESS in Australian Book Review