by Mayukh Ghosh
1972. The Ashes in England. ABC/BBC radio commentary in Australia.
And after the tour was over, Tiger among the Lions by Ian Chappell.
For nine-year-old Barry Nicholls all this ignited a life-long love for the game of cricket.
Being born and brought up in Adelaide he soon played the game at Don Bradman’s old club Kensington. He was good enough to play in Grade A District cricket.
“Playing cricket and footy consumed most of my time growing up and provided comforting distraction from dysfunctional upbringing. As a younger adult I collected cricket books but didn't read much really, just 'airport novels’.”
He, in fact, did read RS Whitington’s History of Australian Cricket and Ian Chappell’s Passing Tests.
But it was not until he was in his late 20s he began reading cricket books quite regularly.
A few years later, in 1996, he began writing for Cricinfo’s Interactive section.
The first piece, quite fittingly it seems, was a review of Charles Williams’ biography of Bradman.
Around the same time Barry met Bernard Whimpress and the connection led him to write pieces for the Cricket Lore magazine.
“He was an excellent early mentor”, Barry recalls.
Another couple of years later, at the age of 36, Barry quit his day job of teaching to study a master’s degree. That led him to a career in the media where, over the next two decades, he has been highly successful, mainly at the ABC.
Barry has remained a regular reader of cricket books and thought it was extremely difficult to just pick ten out of them.
He managed to restrict it to twelve but admitted that he could have interchanged/included many others.
1) Who Only Cricket Know by David Woodhouse
A compelling account of the MCC Len Hutton led trouble plagued 1953/54 tour of the West Indies.
Not only very strong on the cricketing descriptions but also providing an unrivalled political and social backdrop to the the tour itself and the aftermath.
2) Bodyline Autopsy by David Frith
The most complete retelling of arguably the most controversial series of all time. Frith managed to unearth details that I hadn’t read. He makes the old seem new in a seamless narrative of high-quality story telling.
3) The Summer Game by Gideon Haigh
Haigh tells the story of Australian cricket after Bradman’s retirement to Ian Chappell’s ascendancy as Australian captain. That the book covers several decades numerous players stories and is set in the context of Australia during the period and is a testament to the author’s research skills and ability to weave a narrative.
4) Golden Boy by Christian Ryan
A ripping story of the division lines of Australian cricket in the later 1970s and 80s through the career of Kim Hughes, a fine player destroyed by personal ambition and undermining. It is brutal but brilliant story telling.
5) The Unforgiven by Ashley Gray
A book of extraordinary research and vivid story-telling that reveals both the tragic and triumphant.
Gray sensitively tells the story through profiles of each of the West Indian ‘rebel tourists.’ Gray’s language outshines any other cricket books I’ve read.
6) Passport to Nowhere: Aborigines in Australian Cricket, 1850- 1939 by Bernard Whimpress
While writers have largely ignored the role of Aboriginal cricketers in the game’s history Whimpress delves into how the few that made it to first class cricket in the era managed to do so.
It’s full of intelligent and balanced observation and is an important story to be told.
7) A Long Half Hour by Stephen Chalke
Chalke mines the stories of some of the lesser knowns and tells them in such a way that it almost feels like you are in the room with him having a beer.
8) TJ Over the Top by Ken Piesse
Piesse’s ability to tell the story of Terry Jenner’s downfall (he was jailed for fraud to fund a gambling addiction) and his triumphant return as the Shane Warne mentor in such a sensitive and authentic manner opened doors of understanding for me.
9) Bradman by Irving Rosenwater
Probably the best of all the Bradman books. My Mum (who Irving tried to chat up at the Kensington District Cricket Club) gave it to me for my 14th birthday and that’s enough reason to include it in this list.
10) A Corner of a Foreign Field by Ramachandra Guha
Guha’s book is a sweep of Indian history that is as a grand in its story telling as it is in its content. Spell binding in its depth of research and illumination of history I hadn’t reads before.
11) Chappell’s Last Stand by Michael Sexton
Sexton tracks Ian Chappell’s 1975/76 quest to take South Australia from the bottom to the top of the Shield ladder in a way that shines the light not only on the former Australian captain but also lesser- known team mates. Sexton, one the best writers in Australia, always finds intriguing ways to reveal the unexpected.
12) Tigers Among the Lions by Ian Chappell
It was the first cricket book I read. Given to me by my father for my tenth birthday, it sparked a passion that continues to this day. Reading it again reminds of the straightforward nature of the prose and being captivated by on and off field events on tour in England in 1972.
Barry himself has written some fine books, the latest being Second Innings: On Men, Mental Health and Cricket published August 2021 by Fremantle Press.
And by the middle of next year he plans to bring out his much-awaited book on Ashes 1972.