Overview

Monday 9 May 1977 was an historic moment for world cricket. It was the day Kerry Packer announced he'd bought the cream of Australia's cricketing talent, to play in his own private competition. Over the next two years, the game became bitterly divided between two parallel competitions: the rock-star realm of Packer's World Series Cricket and traditional Test cricket, now depicted as stodgy and obsolete. While Packer and his glamorous brigade won the war, Test cricket survived due to those who carried the Australian banner for the game: younger, poorly paid men representing their country. Those players became known as the Establishment Boys. Many of their names have long been forgotten and their deeds lost in the footnotes of Australian cricket history. Here, ABC journalist and former cricketer Barry Nicholls tells their story at last.

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9781743058589

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'An unheralded, virtual Aussie second XI under 42-year-old Bobby Simpson took on the might of the West Indies' quicks in the Caribbean and the result was bloody carnage. This controversial, forgotten tour and the two-year period when Australia was torn apart by World Series Cricket are recalled through fascinating interviews with the men Kerry Packer didn't want. ABC journalist Barry Nicholls shines a sympathetic light on the men who remained loyal to traditional cricket during one of the most tumultuous periods in its history.' - Ashley Gray, author of The Unforgiven

Author Information

Barry Nicholls presents Early Mornings in Western Australia. For five years Barry presented a digital show for ABC Grandstand about sports books, 110 Percent, that was regularly heard across the country. A keen writer about sports Barry has written six books, including the best-selling You Only Get One Innings: Family, mates and the wisdom of cricket (ABC Books/Harper Collins). He has also written for publications including Wisden Cricketers' Almanac, Inside Edge, Baggy Green, Cricket Lore and The Allrounder.

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