Actor and author Adam Zwar chronicles a life devoted to cricket and finds its flawed stars and heroes in adversity provided the tent pole for an uncertain world.
Sunburnt bodies on The Hill, advertising jingles turned national anthem, the crump of a bouncer dug into the pitch with merciless intent and a minted commentary dramatising each sublime moment. Welcome to a summer gone by in Australia, where the wallpaper of Test match cricket was welded to terrestrial TV, gold chains hung in the chest hair of macho fast bowlers and it was mostly young boys who dreamt of some day playing the game for their country.
Now, edging 2022, the women’s team is arguably more successful than the men’s, competitions are fragmented across different streaming platforms and energy firms – rather than beer and cigarette companies – crowd the hoardings.
