Harbhajan Singh leaves behind his wicket ways, turns to diplomacy

On Sunday, the Cricket Australia top brass, including chief executive Nick Hockley were in Chennai to watch $4.4 million fast-bowler Mitchell Starc lead his Kolkata Knight Riders to victory in the Indian Premier League final.

A day earlier, the CA executives joined Australian diplomats, the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah (who just happens to be son of the country’s feared Home Minister Amit Shah) and a smattering of former test greats, including Aussie opener Matthew Hayden and ex-India stars Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar, at a special event put on by the Centre for Australia-India Relations to preview this summer’s test series.

But CBD was intrigued to spot former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (aka “The Turbanator”) also getting in the spirit of sport-infused diplomacy at an event sponsored by the Australian government, no less.

It’s a sharp turn from Harbhajan’s playing days, when his relations with Australians were a little less friendly. Seasoned cricket fans might recall his lead role in the 2008 “Monkeygate” saga where the spinner’s alleged racial abuse of the late Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds during that year’s controversial Sydney Test triggered a minor diplomatic incident.

When Harbhajan was banned for three matches for allegedly calling Symonds a monkey, India threatened to go nuclear and pull out of the tour. His ban was later revoked on appeal, and despite breathless media commentary, tensions eventually simmered down. While Harbhajan would later make up with Symonds, the all-rounder’s career, marred by off-field incidents, never quite recovered.

As for the Turbanator, he’s now spun his way into politics. But if that doesn’t work out – he hasn’t even been campaigning during India’s ongoing elections – a career in diplomacy beckons.

BOOKED OUT

We brought word on Tuesday of former prime minister Scott Morrison’s Christian-flavoured memoir struggling to take flight off the shelves of local mainstream booksellers.

The PM Years, one of Kevin Rudd’s earlier tomes. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Well, another ex-PM is about to enter the literary arena. Again. Kevin Rudd is making his own play for the bestseller list, with Oxford University Press set to publish the Ruddster’s latest work – On Xi Jinping: How Xi’s Marxist Nationalism is Shaping China and the World.

Kevin Rudd is giving Scott Morrison a run for his literary money.Credit: John Shakespeare

It’s a version of the vanity doctorate Rudd completed at Oxford on the Chinese leader back in 2022, before the Albanese government gave him the plummest of diplomatic postings as our ambassador in Washington DC.

Rudd is also flexing his muscles on the writers’ festival circuit, appearing on a panel at the Hay Festival in Wales on the weekend while on annual leave from his ambassadorial duties.

Now, Kevin 07 is no stranger to the bookshelves – in fact, he’s prolific. If we had to choose a favourite among his works, it’s tough to go past his 2018 effort, The PM Years, wherein he puts his side of the “betrayal” by his colleagues in the 2010 internal Labor coup “despite enjoying historically high personal and party ratings”.

That’s not quite how CBD recalls it, but Kev’s the expert, we suppose.

Then, of course, there’s Jasper & Abby and the Great Australia Day Kerfuffle, the children’s book jointly authored by Rudd and his mate, TV comic Rhys Muldoon, just as the former prime minister’s leadership was beginning to look wobbly.

We’ll be poring over the sales figures to gauge which former PM is the bigger hit with the Australian public.

But we’re going to have to wait – Kevin’s Xi book isn’t out until October.

THE GOOD BOOK

Just before we move on from that Morrison book, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney’s official shop The Mustard Seed, has been in touch to confirm that, no, they are not currently stocking Plans For Your Good: A Prime Minister’s Testimony of God’s Faithfulness.

But they are big fans of ScoMo at The Mustard Seed, it turns out, and they reckon that they might well order in a few copies at some point. They’ve just got to read it first, to make sure it doesn’t cross any doctrinal red lines.

EURO CASH

It hasn’t been the happiest time for ABC radio of late, with poor ratings results earlier this year and an ongoing unfair dismissal case over the sacking of part-time presenter Antoinette Lattouf.

But it’s a better story for those in management. In March, three senior staff from the content division – head of audio content Ben Latimer, manager of digital, audio and content development Andrew Davies and head of corporate strategy Jeremy Millar flew to Europe for conferences in Munich and Prague.

And according to documents recently released under freedom of information, the trio’s trip cost taxpayers just over $30,000 all up, with Latimer and Millar flying a mixture of economy and business, while Davies stayed in cattle class.

The broadcaster’s spinners declined to comment any further on all this – too busy hosing down false reports about an emergency board meeting to address 7.30 political correspondent Laura Tingle’s rather innocuous comments about racism.

But we hear the conferences are a pretty big deal in the radio world, and the kind of thing Aunty’s senior managers attend annually. Which just goes to show that all the grumbling we hear out of Ultimo about meagre pay and low morale don’t apply to everyone in the building.

SEEING THE LIGHT

Peter Hook and the Light, the former Joy Division and New Order bassist’s current musical venture, drew a packed crowd of Boomer and Gen X rockheads at their Sydney and Melbourne shows over the weekend.

Including some very wealthy ones. CBD’s spies spotted teal moneybags Simon Holmes à Court and his brother Peter Holmes à Court, a former chief executive of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, at the band’s Melbourne show on Saturday.

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