HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd Tested.

by Pat Cummins

Tested ABISBOOK HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd.

Paperback

Reviews

[Peter Langston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written with the assistance of journalist Ben McKelvey, this book contains a series of interviews with a disparate group from former prime ministers, to Australians sporting heroes and Bollywood movie makers. Cummins is trying to get to the essence of how they managed their lives, success or failure and what it was about each of them that gave them the resilience or resolve (the word he chooses to highlight commonality among his different subjects) to get as far as they have. He usually relates this back to his own experiences, only some of which involve his roles as either one of the world's best cricketers or the captain of the world's most successful team. In fact, the latter he sees as just one of the important roles in his life, not THE important role in his life. It is frank and refreshing in both its honesty, integrity and thoughtfulness. For instance, you don't envisage the Australian Captain will be conversant with Edward deBono's six thinking hats.
The chapter which focused on Elizabeth Day revealed much about his attitude toward the tactical challenges as a leader and the encouragement and perseverance he has applied to players who are struggling for form. On several occasions he talks about the role of coaches and without placing all the crosses on the t's and dots on the i's, his reasons for wanting the former Australian coach replaced with the latter are made clear.
" Good cricketers do everything they can to avoid failure, training and preparing as best they cam but good cricketers know that 's not always going to be enough. Incidentally, the best coaches know this too; some of the worst coaches I've had were the ones who yelled and raged any time their team lost." QED Andrew MacDonald.
There are sections of real inspiration in this book and what was is abundantly clear is that as far as style and the philosophy of man management is concerned, the Australia captaincy "is not in Kansas anymore". The Cummins model is about as far from the Border model as it can be. The chapter about parenting with Rob Sitch is as real as it gets and the final chapter, written in conversation with wife Becky, shows just how far cricket has come in its journey from being a dog-eat-dog exercise in macho posturing, to being about building a sense of family responsibility where the joy of reaching the best possible version of yourself is an inclusive activity every bit as important to self as to others.
This is a well written book and it clearly conveys Cummins environmental and first nation sensitivities but could never be accused of being "preachy".
It would be nice to know just what role McKelvey played in this creation. Cummins is the only name on the cover.

[Lisa Dumicich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Interesting stories of leaders in varied fields and how they did not give up to achieve their goals.