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Ashes 2023: a cricket classic
A great cricket series, as reported by a great cricket writer.
High hopes were held for the Ashes of 2023. They were exceeded in an instant classic of five Tests between a bold England and a battling Australia, finally drawn two-all. Ashes 2023 captures all the drama and skill, as well as the controversy over a stumping at Lord’s that followed in the tradition of Bodyline as a clash of cultures and of stereotypes. With a foot in both camps, Gideon Haigh wrote for The Australian in Australia and The Times in the UK. This book mixes his popular match reports with new material to create a priceless memento of an unforgettable series.
High hopes were held for the Ashes of 2023. They were exceeded in an instant classic of five Tests between a bold England and a battling Australia, finally drawn two-all. Ashes 2023 captures all the drama and skill, as well as the controversy over a stumping at Lord’s that followed in the tradition of Bodyline as a clash of cultures and of stereotypes. With a foot in both camps, Gideon Haigh wrote for The Australian in Australia and The Times in the UK. This book mixes his popular match reports with new material to create a priceless memento of an unforgettable series.
- GenresSportsNonfiction
228 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 26, 2023
13 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Gideon Haigh
101 books110 followersGideon Clifford Jeffrey Davidson Haigh (born 29 December 1965) is an English-born Australian journalist, who writes about sport (especially cricket) and business. He was born in London, raised in Geelong, and now lives in Melbourne.
Haigh began his career as a journalist, writing on business for The Age newspaper from 1984 to 1992 and for The Australian from 1993 to 1995. He has since contributed to over 70 newspapers and magazines,[2] both on business topics as well as on sport, mostly cricket. He wrote regularly for The Guardian during the 2006-07 Ashes series and has featured also in The Times and the Financial Times.
Haigh has authored 19 books and edited seven more. Of those on a cricketing theme, his historical works includes The Cricket War and Summer Game, his biographies The Big Ship (of Warwick Armstrong) and Mystery Spinner (of Jack Iverson), the latter pronounced The Cricket Society's "Book of the Year", short-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year and dubbed "a classic" by The Sunday Times;[3] anthologies of his writings Ashes 2005 and Game for Anything, as well as Many a Slip, the humorous diary of a club cricket season, and The Vincibles, his story of the South Yarra Cricket Club, of which he is life member and perennate vice-president and for whose newsletter he has written about cricket the longest. He has also published several books on business-related topics, such as The Battle for BHP, Asbestos House (which dilates the James Hardie asbestos controversy) and Bad Company, an examination of the CEO phenomenon. He mostly publishes with Aurum Press.
Haigh was appointed editor of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack Australia for 1999–2000 and 2000–01. Since March 2006, he has been a regular panellist on the ABC television sports panel show Offsiders. He was also a regular co-host on The Conversation Hour with Jon Faine on 774 ABC Melbourne until near the end of 2006.
Haigh has been known to be critical of what he regards as the deification of Sir Donald Bradman and "the cynical exploitation of his name by the mediocre and the greedy".[4] He did so in a September 1998 article in Wisden Cricket Monthly, entitled "Sir Donald Brandname". Haigh has been critical of Bradman's biographer Roland Perry, writing in The Australian that Perry's biography was guilty of "glossing over or ignoring anything to Bradman's discredit".[4]
Haigh won the John Curtin Prize for Journalism in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards in 2006[5] for his essay "Information Idol: How Google is making us stupid",[6] which was published in The Monthly magazine. He asserted that the quality of discourse could suffer as a source of information's worth is judged by Google according to its previous degree of exposure to the status quo. He believes the pool of information available to those using Google as their sole avenue of inquiry is inevitably limited and possibly compromised due to covert commercial influences.
He blogged on the 2009 Ashes series for The Wisden Cricketer.[7]
On 24 October 2012 he addressed the tenth Bradman Oration in Melbourne.
Haigh began his career as a journalist, writing on business for The Age newspaper from 1984 to 1992 and for The Australian from 1993 to 1995. He has since contributed to over 70 newspapers and magazines,[2] both on business topics as well as on sport, mostly cricket. He wrote regularly for The Guardian during the 2006-07 Ashes series and has featured also in The Times and the Financial Times.
Haigh has authored 19 books and edited seven more. Of those on a cricketing theme, his historical works includes The Cricket War and Summer Game, his biographies The Big Ship (of Warwick Armstrong) and Mystery Spinner (of Jack Iverson), the latter pronounced The Cricket Society's "Book of the Year", short-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year and dubbed "a classic" by The Sunday Times;[3] anthologies of his writings Ashes 2005 and Game for Anything, as well as Many a Slip, the humorous diary of a club cricket season, and The Vincibles, his story of the South Yarra Cricket Club, of which he is life member and perennate vice-president and for whose newsletter he has written about cricket the longest. He has also published several books on business-related topics, such as The Battle for BHP, Asbestos House (which dilates the James Hardie asbestos controversy) and Bad Company, an examination of the CEO phenomenon. He mostly publishes with Aurum Press.
Haigh was appointed editor of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack Australia for 1999–2000 and 2000–01. Since March 2006, he has been a regular panellist on the ABC television sports panel show Offsiders. He was also a regular co-host on The Conversation Hour with Jon Faine on 774 ABC Melbourne until near the end of 2006.
Haigh has been known to be critical of what he regards as the deification of Sir Donald Bradman and "the cynical exploitation of his name by the mediocre and the greedy".[4] He did so in a September 1998 article in Wisden Cricket Monthly, entitled "Sir Donald Brandname". Haigh has been critical of Bradman's biographer Roland Perry, writing in The Australian that Perry's biography was guilty of "glossing over or ignoring anything to Bradman's discredit".[4]
Haigh won the John Curtin Prize for Journalism in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards in 2006[5] for his essay "Information Idol: How Google is making us stupid",[6] which was published in The Monthly magazine. He asserted that the quality of discourse could suffer as a source of information's worth is judged by Google according to its previous degree of exposure to the status quo. He believes the pool of information available to those using Google as their sole avenue of inquiry is inevitably limited and possibly compromised due to covert commercial influences.
He blogged on the 2009 Ashes series for The Wisden Cricketer.[7]
On 24 October 2012 he addressed the tenth Bradman Oration in Melbourne.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 8, 2023
Brutal, fast paced with match reports prefacing the match daily details.
Ripping reflection on Lords and the Spirit of Cricket.
Ripping reflection on Lords and the Spirit of Cricket.
January 12, 2024
An audience specific 5 stars
February 14, 2025
If you want to relive this Ashes series through a book summary, I would advise not reading this book unless you want to be bored out of your mind and constantly be confused by the preambles and side-tracks this author takes in actually talking about the subject of the story. At one point there is a chapter entirely devoted to talking about his podcast. Why??
This author also likes to use a thesaurus as he seems to want to use as many obscure words he can to describe something other than the very basic form of descriptor he could be using instead. Nine times out of ten simple is better.
There are occasionally interesting tidbits here and there but is drowned out by nonsense overall.
As I said, if you want to relive this exciting Ashes series and keep it exciting in your memory, avoid this book. Please.
This author also likes to use a thesaurus as he seems to want to use as many obscure words he can to describe something other than the very basic form of descriptor he could be using instead. Nine times out of ten simple is better.
There are occasionally interesting tidbits here and there but is drowned out by nonsense overall.
As I said, if you want to relive this exciting Ashes series and keep it exciting in your memory, avoid this book. Please.
November 20, 2024
The book's format is a tough one - bringing together match reports written for a newspaper every day of a cricket series. It could easily feel dated and pointless. Gideon Haigh's gift is to eke magic out of the mundane through his turn of phrase. While the book does not reach the stratospheric standards of his book on the 2005 Ashes, it remains a worthwhile companion to a classic cricket series.
February 6, 2024
Haigh’s prose on the game is always enjoyable. Particularly liked his commentary between matches as it added context or helicoptered above the detail of the series. Maybe a little too much elbowing in the word “Bazball” but I have a strong feeling it was done in jest.
July 14, 2024
Gideon Haigh has a way with words. He simply, succinctly and entertainingly describes cricket in a way that I really enjoy. He is also very clear headed, especially when describing controversies, which happened in this truly classic cricket series.
July 16, 2025
Generally a fan of Gideon’s writing and enjoyed reading his commentary on threads bigger than the game, especially the obnoxious behaviour of the Lords’ members.
Otherwise the reflection on bat versus ball is a little mundane by his high standards.
😎👍🏏📚✅
Otherwise the reflection on bat versus ball is a little mundane by his high standards.
😎👍🏏📚✅
July 29, 2025
Familiar ground but well written and with some wonderful similes. Good to get an Australian viewpoint, particularly on the Lords stumping incident and on Bazball.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews