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Steve Smith's Men: Behind Australian Cricket's Fall
He was top of the world, with numbers bettered only by Don Bradman – then captain Steve Smith led his Australian team into a cheating scandal that stunned cricket. Media exploded and million-dollar contracts were torn up. Australia’s prime minister expressed the public anger and disappointment: ‘Our cricketers are role models, and cricket is synonymous with fair play.’
But there was more to the story than the actions of a few young men. A tangle of personality, politics and culture had led them to this point.
Geoff Lemon witnessed that story from commentary boxes and press conferences, and was there in South Africa for its final act. This is a frank, fearless and often humorous account of the path from Ashes high to Cape Town low, from someone who watched it all unfold.
But there was more to the story than the actions of a few young men. A tangle of personality, politics and culture had led them to this point.
Geoff Lemon witnessed that story from commentary boxes and press conferences, and was there in South Africa for its final act. This is a frank, fearless and often humorous account of the path from Ashes high to Cape Town low, from someone who watched it all unfold.
304 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
December 3, 2021
Some books you never want to end. I can tell this is the book you wanted to write, as you admit in the acknowledgements, Geoff Lemon. What a skilled writer you are. You blew me away with, "Every ride into a sunset is followed by a cold night's camping." And, "Life went on, with its stupidity and inconsistencies." I hope to write like you. With regard to the subject matter of the book: you dress down the character of Australian cricket without flinching. Watching Sandpapergate, I couldn't fathom the hubris of the Australians. I do think "good, hard cricket" or sledging, hides something uglier about the Australian national character: something related to the genocide of indigenous people. I hope, for the sake of everyone who enjoys the game, that Australia finds another way to win.
January 5, 2019
...Bancroft did what any kid shoplifting a Milky Way would do: he shoved the evidence down his pants...it can seem absurd to imbue this action with such drama. But altering a ball can alter the course of the match, the worth of a legacy, the history of the game. This ball would alter some of the world's most prominent careers.
Sports writer/broadcaster Geoff Lemon's account of 'how the hell it came to this' is superbly researched and crafted. Steve Smith's Men isn't about what happened in Cape Town, so much as it is about what allowed, enabled and encouraged it to happen. Lemon examines the politics and culture of Australian cricket with an emotional intelligence that the sport (and the world) needs more of.
I've long enjoyed Geoff's cricket writing, not just for his poetic turn of phrase and ability to resist dramatisation, romanticism and cliché, but because he strikes me as a magpie among seagulls in the cricket media. Where others flock and flap their wings over the latest hot chip, Lemon edges cautiously towards an unnoticed tidbit that hints at something beyond a headline or grab. His insightful character assessments of Smith and Warner reflect careful observations collected in this manner over many years. He is fairer and franker than most, and succeeds in humanising both men without ever placing himself at centre-stage. Meanwhile, his documentation of an extraordinary few days in cricket from the perspective of a small but dedicated caravan of cricket broadcasters gives fellow cricket-tragics (and those intrigued by the life of the travelling sportswriter) a glimpse of the creative resilience required to live life on the road.
Lemon dissects Australian cricket's failings in twenty-four sharp chapters, each adding more depth to our understanding of how the hell it came to this. His documentation of several Australian cricket tours is astounding in both detail and observation - now there's a tour diary I'd pay good money to read! Steve Smith's Men will run you through the full gamut of sports-induced emotions: I felt angry, sad, disappointed, amused, perplexed, cheated and hopeful. Indeed I was compelled several times to read passages aloud to my significant other after laughter erupted from within - "he jangles about the field like a sack full of coathangers" (to describe Nathan Lyon) now has a home in my kitbag for future use!
I was, of course, reminded of Jock Serong's brilliant The Rules of Backyard Cricket (http://dogeared.reviews/reviews/The-R...), which could easily be a fictional companion book to this book if your little cricket-loving heart could take it. I'll be coming back to Steve Smith's Men, likely more than once, but hopefully not in the aftermath of another scandal.
Full review at http://www.dogeared.reviews/reviews/S...
September 12, 2024
I was very fortunate to get an advance reading copy of this amazing book and this is THE best cricket book I’ve read in years!!
However this is not just a cricket book per se, it’s also a book about how culture,(in whatever industry or sport) can affect outcomes!!
The ball tampering debacle was the net result of unrelenting pressure on the Australian cricketers by their ruling or governing body the ACB!!
This book will shock many, not least me!!
The author was there, ( in South Africa) throughout this mess, but his sharp observations (of which many are acerbic and humorous) aren’t wasted - this was a disaster waiting to happen!! And the author nails all the protagonist to the cross of shame.
But it’s the last quarter of this brilliant book that truely blew me away, and it’s required reading for any cricket tragic!!
It covers the ACB, the culture, and how this has been able to prevail for too long in Australian Cricket. Historically it was called sledging, (but really it’s evolved into abuse) and the author exposes this for what it is!!
Every International cricket team hates Australia and the players and the ACB just don’t get it! Seemingly nor does the mates club that is the Australian cricket team!
The ACB is, in effect, to blame!! It could be argued a few players are as well, but the culture has allowed this to happen!
If nothing else comes out of this book it’s that something has to happen with the ACB and indeed the Australian Cricket team, and for the numerous fans, (of which I’m one) this can’t come soon enough.
Get this book!! It will change your opinion about cricket in this country.
However this is not just a cricket book per se, it’s also a book about how culture,(in whatever industry or sport) can affect outcomes!!
The ball tampering debacle was the net result of unrelenting pressure on the Australian cricketers by their ruling or governing body the ACB!!
This book will shock many, not least me!!
The author was there, ( in South Africa) throughout this mess, but his sharp observations (of which many are acerbic and humorous) aren’t wasted - this was a disaster waiting to happen!! And the author nails all the protagonist to the cross of shame.
But it’s the last quarter of this brilliant book that truely blew me away, and it’s required reading for any cricket tragic!!
It covers the ACB, the culture, and how this has been able to prevail for too long in Australian Cricket. Historically it was called sledging, (but really it’s evolved into abuse) and the author exposes this for what it is!!
Every International cricket team hates Australia and the players and the ACB just don’t get it! Seemingly nor does the mates club that is the Australian cricket team!
The ACB is, in effect, to blame!! It could be argued a few players are as well, but the culture has allowed this to happen!
If nothing else comes out of this book it’s that something has to happen with the ACB and indeed the Australian Cricket team, and for the numerous fans, (of which I’m one) this can’t come soon enough.
Get this book!! It will change your opinion about cricket in this country.
December 9, 2021
A timely read as England embark on their four year punishment beating at the hands of the Australians...I've come to really enjoy Geoff Lemon's fresh approach to cricket writing. It can be a bit one-note excitable but there is a zest, a range of contemporary reference, and a strong moral compass. The latter very much comes into its own, as he deals with 'sandpapergate' and the culture of Australian cricket that led up to it. Because for 20 years or more Australian cricketers had clearly been behaving pretty badly, and this culture was tolerated from the top. Makes you admire the South Africans who always managed to stand up to them, or wish that they had encountered a prime 1980's West Indian side who didn't say much but who ground you up like minced beef.
November 23, 2018
This is an excellent analysis of the current sorry state of the elite men's game in Australia. I fear it will be some time before it regains its standing, though there have been changes since this book was written, so there is a glimmer of hope. There is an excellent chapter on the way in which women are treated, and a close look at the board of Cricket Australia and some very shady goings on. There must be changes, and former cricketers must be involved, replacing those who are professional members of boards and know little or nothing about cricket at the top level if at all.
September 11, 2024
Great insight into one of the biggest sporting scandals of my lifetime. It explains on Australian cricket and its culture to set the context for the reader, such as David Warner being a knob. But we all knew Warner is a knob, so that’s not really new information.
January 16, 2021
Oof, this was great—illuminating and insightful, but also just written like a motherfucker. Probably the best sport book I've ever read.
January 3, 2021
What this book does so well is capture and detail incidents and events that lead up to the ball tampering storm in Cape Town. It reveals a damning look into Cricket Australia's administration. It gives personalities and characters to the names we know so well. Geoff Lemon writes with intelligence, humour and a social awareness that gives the reader a compelling and insightful read.
March 4, 2019
The ball-tampering scandal that engulfed Australia's cricket team in 2018 was our version of the Chicago Black Sox scandal. Captain Steve Smith, statistically the second-best batsman in history at the time, is the modern Shoeless Joe Jackson, a potential great who threw his reputation away.
Sports writer Geoff Lemon's account of the scandal covers what is publicly known, but also does a good job of filling in the background that led Smith and his vice-captain Dave Warner up to a point where they agreed to cheat during a break in a Test match. His views on the coverage of the incident and the aftermath also make interesting reading.
Lemon resists the urge to demonise the players and gives some well-thought-out assessments of the key players in the drama. He does a particularly good job of humanising the volcanic attack dog that is Warner, explaining the family situation that caused him to flip out in a stairwell fight, a major contributing factor to the drama. That's not to say that he lets Warner off the hook; far from it, but he does avoid the trap of painting him solely as a villain. He is less successful in trying to round out the character of the enigmatic Smith, whose public statements were mostly just as considered and practised as his endless batting stints. That's possibly because there is not much more to the man than his cricket, and also maybe because there has been far less adverse reporting of his past behaviour than there is of Warner, and so less grist for Lemon's mill.
Lemon is brutal on both the culture of the Australian cricket team and the maladministration that has plagued Cricket Australia. This is a saga that is yet to play out. When Smith and Warner return there will be an opportunity to measure the long-term impact on them and the team. As Lemon says, we probably won't know the real story until the players retire and write their inside accounts. Until then, this is an excellent account of a major Australian sporting drama.
Sports writer Geoff Lemon's account of the scandal covers what is publicly known, but also does a good job of filling in the background that led Smith and his vice-captain Dave Warner up to a point where they agreed to cheat during a break in a Test match. His views on the coverage of the incident and the aftermath also make interesting reading.
Lemon resists the urge to demonise the players and gives some well-thought-out assessments of the key players in the drama. He does a particularly good job of humanising the volcanic attack dog that is Warner, explaining the family situation that caused him to flip out in a stairwell fight, a major contributing factor to the drama. That's not to say that he lets Warner off the hook; far from it, but he does avoid the trap of painting him solely as a villain. He is less successful in trying to round out the character of the enigmatic Smith, whose public statements were mostly just as considered and practised as his endless batting stints. That's possibly because there is not much more to the man than his cricket, and also maybe because there has been far less adverse reporting of his past behaviour than there is of Warner, and so less grist for Lemon's mill.
Lemon is brutal on both the culture of the Australian cricket team and the maladministration that has plagued Cricket Australia. This is a saga that is yet to play out. When Smith and Warner return there will be an opportunity to measure the long-term impact on them and the team. As Lemon says, we probably won't know the real story until the players retire and write their inside accounts. Until then, this is an excellent account of a major Australian sporting drama.
August 15, 2020
Cricket is a sport like no other, at least that is what it is to me. Having grown up in a cricket crazy family, I have spent countless hours in the 90s and 2000s early morning watching the Australian cricket team perform to a level that no one else could and as an Indian fan envy them for what I thought our team never had. The Australian teams were fighters, their grit, and determination to perform and win at times overshadowed any lack of skill they may have. They were always setting the bar too high for anyone else. Australia was always interesting to watch, even as a neutral.
Geoff Lemon has been one of my favorite sports broadcasters through any medium he has chosen. I have followed him from when he did snippets on Youtube, to his articles, his commentaries, and podcasts. Steve Smith's men is a really well-researched work centered around one incident in cricket that had repercussions not everyone could have imagined. The book gives a far deeper point of view than is available in the usual narrative of Australia's really childish attempt at cheating the game and provides the much-needed perspective of why the events may have unfolded the way they did.
The book is both empathetic and unforgiving to the main culprits of the incident and goes deeper to explore the origins and reasons for the rot that led to it. It is a great read as a fan, and also should serve as a lesson for administrators of the game around the world on how little symptoms, if ignored, can sometimes lead to problems that are too mammoth to resolve.
Geoff Lemon has been one of my favorite sports broadcasters through any medium he has chosen. I have followed him from when he did snippets on Youtube, to his articles, his commentaries, and podcasts. Steve Smith's men is a really well-researched work centered around one incident in cricket that had repercussions not everyone could have imagined. The book gives a far deeper point of view than is available in the usual narrative of Australia's really childish attempt at cheating the game and provides the much-needed perspective of why the events may have unfolded the way they did.
The book is both empathetic and unforgiving to the main culprits of the incident and goes deeper to explore the origins and reasons for the rot that led to it. It is a great read as a fan, and also should serve as a lesson for administrators of the game around the world on how little symptoms, if ignored, can sometimes lead to problems that are too mammoth to resolve.
July 7, 2022
It took me nearly a year to complete the book but that was totally because of me slumbering into a deeply simultaneously both developed and undeveloped sleep on reading, or doing anything vaguely mind stimulating for a year.
Reading about 30% of the book in 9 months, being incredibly amused and amazed and intrigued by the writing everytime I picked it up, and then slipping back into the hibernation, only to complete 70% of the book in the last two days once I found what Geoff Lemon’s writing can make me do in itself should tell one the story.
If anything, the book is about what it teaches you, and for me this incredible book left over and beyond what it was supposed to do and introduced me to some incredible commentary and a great way to look at the world in general. Sure, the knowledge of the sport does help, the tampering saga helps, but the book is much more than that. It could have just been a repertoire; a cash grab attempt by another journalist after another “world changing” changing event happened for the 5th time in the week. It could’ve just gone “Steve Smith was the captain, great game of cricket, they cheat, results in BIG SAD.
But no, it wasn’t any of that (except for the BIG SAD; Mr Lemon managed to elaborate on that beautifully as well). It was a lesson, a report, a dictionary, a Pictionary, a story, a novel, a song, a musical, a theatre all by itself.
This is one great book and all the accolades it has gotten is less than what it deserves. Great Work Geoff!
Reading about 30% of the book in 9 months, being incredibly amused and amazed and intrigued by the writing everytime I picked it up, and then slipping back into the hibernation, only to complete 70% of the book in the last two days once I found what Geoff Lemon’s writing can make me do in itself should tell one the story.
If anything, the book is about what it teaches you, and for me this incredible book left over and beyond what it was supposed to do and introduced me to some incredible commentary and a great way to look at the world in general. Sure, the knowledge of the sport does help, the tampering saga helps, but the book is much more than that. It could have just been a repertoire; a cash grab attempt by another journalist after another “world changing” changing event happened for the 5th time in the week. It could’ve just gone “Steve Smith was the captain, great game of cricket, they cheat, results in BIG SAD.
But no, it wasn’t any of that (except for the BIG SAD; Mr Lemon managed to elaborate on that beautifully as well). It was a lesson, a report, a dictionary, a Pictionary, a story, a novel, a song, a musical, a theatre all by itself.
This is one great book and all the accolades it has gotten is less than what it deserves. Great Work Geoff!
October 15, 2019
A refreshingly honest exploration into cricket Australia and the culture that led to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft being suspended for ball tampering in South Africa.
Lemon explores an organisation that seems rotten to the core, where degenerate behaviour was not only accepted but actively encouraged. Looking at the win at all costs mentality that has been used as an excuse for misbehaviour.
At times I found the author navigated away from the subject matter at hand to celebrate some of the success that came as a result of the topics he was demonising. However Lemon as an Australian offers a damning verdict on his own countries cricket establishment and their descent.
It was a thoroughly interesting read and went into significant detail around the culture more than the events (as we simply don't know the whole truth due to the nature of cricket Australia's failings) - would highly recommend for all cricket fans.
Lemon explores an organisation that seems rotten to the core, where degenerate behaviour was not only accepted but actively encouraged. Looking at the win at all costs mentality that has been used as an excuse for misbehaviour.
At times I found the author navigated away from the subject matter at hand to celebrate some of the success that came as a result of the topics he was demonising. However Lemon as an Australian offers a damning verdict on his own countries cricket establishment and their descent.
It was a thoroughly interesting read and went into significant detail around the culture more than the events (as we simply don't know the whole truth due to the nature of cricket Australia's failings) - would highly recommend for all cricket fans.
February 18, 2021
The Best Cricket Book in a long time.
From charting the course of Steven Smith's career (when polar bears with skates would be encouraged to bowl), retelling the events of the Australian Tour of South Africa in 2018, digging deep into the psyche of David Warner (violent brawler, greatest T20 player, finding Candice Falzon & finding himself, the attack pit bull of the Australian, etc), articulating the culture of the Australian Team, Cricket Australia and the key figures surrounding Cricket Australia, to calling their bluff on appointing Justin Langer (Agent Provocateur), Geoff Lemon is in top form. Add sarcasm, wit (I walk the line - Johnny Cash) and other entertaining metaphors, makes this book, a must read for followers of Australian Cricket. Actually, scratch that. Followers of the great game of Cricket, World wide. There are so many parallels to the way Cricket is run across the world, it is not funny. #MaxwellBall #EdCowan #TheFinalWord
From charting the course of Steven Smith's career (when polar bears with skates would be encouraged to bowl), retelling the events of the Australian Tour of South Africa in 2018, digging deep into the psyche of David Warner (violent brawler, greatest T20 player, finding Candice Falzon & finding himself, the attack pit bull of the Australian, etc), articulating the culture of the Australian Team, Cricket Australia and the key figures surrounding Cricket Australia, to calling their bluff on appointing Justin Langer (Agent Provocateur), Geoff Lemon is in top form. Add sarcasm, wit (I walk the line - Johnny Cash) and other entertaining metaphors, makes this book, a must read for followers of Australian Cricket. Actually, scratch that. Followers of the great game of Cricket, World wide. There are so many parallels to the way Cricket is run across the world, it is not funny. #MaxwellBall #EdCowan #TheFinalWord
October 26, 2019
It's a book that, in retrospect, had to be written. Being in the cauldron, ie. a lifetime Australian used to our winning ways in cricket and sport in general, not much - or even no - thought was given in a lifetime about how they came about winning, and the manner in which they did it. The expectation, the arrogance, all culminated in such heavy expectation that cheating eventuated - the one thing Australians have always prided themselves on avoiding.
It really is sobering to realise how Australian cricket bullied their way through their years of dominance in such ugly fashion, and I am glad this book was written, but I also feel it dug the heels in a little too deep, at times it was just unnecessary, as if anger from someplace else was being thrown in for good measure.
Overall a decent read about a topic that definitely needed discussion, but not an essential purchase.
It really is sobering to realise how Australian cricket bullied their way through their years of dominance in such ugly fashion, and I am glad this book was written, but I also feel it dug the heels in a little too deep, at times it was just unnecessary, as if anger from someplace else was being thrown in for good measure.
Overall a decent read about a topic that definitely needed discussion, but not an essential purchase.
December 10, 2023
Everything you would want from a cricket book
The ball tampering scandal was huge news back in 2018, the English equivalent of KPs fiery resignation back in 2009 or the underarm back in the 80s. After being caught on camera, Bancroft and his captain, Smith sat down for a disastrous interview where they admitted to their cheating, a PR mistake. From there it just blew up becoming a global story of condemnation then forgiveness.
What Lemon does well is detail what happened in Cape Town (and the ugly build up), then move away from that to look at Australian cricket's wider culture of playing hard and mean. Smith bucked the trend of steely Australian captains (Ponting's sledging and Waugh's 'mental disintegration'), he passes the good bloke test.
Since then Australia have had a huge rebuild and are thriving, just this year they've won silverware in the WTC and the ODI world cup. The Test on prime video shows them in a good light. Smith was forgiven and the game's better for having him
The ball tampering scandal was huge news back in 2018, the English equivalent of KPs fiery resignation back in 2009 or the underarm back in the 80s. After being caught on camera, Bancroft and his captain, Smith sat down for a disastrous interview where they admitted to their cheating, a PR mistake. From there it just blew up becoming a global story of condemnation then forgiveness.
What Lemon does well is detail what happened in Cape Town (and the ugly build up), then move away from that to look at Australian cricket's wider culture of playing hard and mean. Smith bucked the trend of steely Australian captains (Ponting's sledging and Waugh's 'mental disintegration'), he passes the good bloke test.
Since then Australia have had a huge rebuild and are thriving, just this year they've won silverware in the WTC and the ODI world cup. The Test on prime video shows them in a good light. Smith was forgiven and the game's better for having him
March 29, 2023
Five since this incident and having the knowledge of what comes after makes it all the more interesting. The fact this happened was no surprise given the history of the Australian team’s approach on the field for years. Aggressive is how they played and they have forever “head butted the line, but never crossed it.” Well it seems like they crossed it more times than enough and this culminated in the sandpaper incident. With reinforcement from Cricket Australia to play aggressive, unrelenting cricket helped create a culture that was extremely toxic and at times tough to watch. Something like this needed to happen to change the culture and from an outsiders view, it seems like that is the case.
Brilliantly written by Geoff Lemon who is always poetic in his coverage of cricket.
Brilliantly written by Geoff Lemon who is always poetic in his coverage of cricket.
September 12, 2024
I watched the events that emerged during the 2018 test match between South Africa and Australia at Cape Town (aka Sandpapergate) live on TV. What the heck happened there! Ball tampering is always lurking the background at most crocket matches. All sides are horrified that it happens, but then they are all serial offenders and they have to say that.
Whilst those that tamper with the ball usually decide to do so on the spur of the moment -i.e. they are opportunists, the Australian side hatched a plan and brought the materials onto the pitch after lunch on the third day. What next? Power tools?
Geoff Lemon absolutely skewers everything that was wrong with Australian Cricket up to that point. He writes eloquently, incitefully and respectfully.
A magnificent read.
Whilst those that tamper with the ball usually decide to do so on the spur of the moment -i.e. they are opportunists, the Australian side hatched a plan and brought the materials onto the pitch after lunch on the third day. What next? Power tools?
Geoff Lemon absolutely skewers everything that was wrong with Australian Cricket up to that point. He writes eloquently, incitefully and respectfully.
A magnificent read.
April 28, 2020
This firstly a beautiful piece of prose. I’d never heard of the writer but the blurb on the back says he written poetry and it shows. The book is also an essential companion piece to The Test - the fly on the wall doco about the Australian team post ball tampering. The latter portrays a team where the culture completely changed. Lemon questions that - highlighting the continuity before and after events in Capetown. He chronicles the absence of a proper investigation of what happenned; the hypocrisy surrounding much of the reaction; and as an Australian cricket tragic, the dreadful way wearers of the baggy green and their administrative masters have behaved for years.
December 30, 2018
My last book of 2018 is an excellent read on sandpapergate, which defined Australian cricket's year.
Geoff Lemon superbly explains how the Australian cricket team ended up here, with great insight, good humour and a desire to identify where responsibility really sits. While no individual is absolved from the poor decisions they made, their choices are placed in a context of a decades-long desire in Australian cricket for a relentlessly aggressive approach and an insatiable need to prove they were inherently better than any opposition.
Geoff Lemon superbly explains how the Australian cricket team ended up here, with great insight, good humour and a desire to identify where responsibility really sits. While no individual is absolved from the poor decisions they made, their choices are placed in a context of a decades-long desire in Australian cricket for a relentlessly aggressive approach and an insatiable need to prove they were inherently better than any opposition.
March 23, 2022
less fact based and more opinion based- not much detail
This book started with promise. Instead it tries to explain the culture that led to the ball tampering period, without really getting to the facts of the ball tampering.
This doesn’t really explain why they did it, except it offers up excuses and blames environmental factors. Which, balanced with facts and a deeper understanding of the events would probably be ok.
Instead it became an almost get out of jail free card for those involved, citing it as almost inevitable and that doesn’t wash.
This book started with promise. Instead it tries to explain the culture that led to the ball tampering period, without really getting to the facts of the ball tampering.
This doesn’t really explain why they did it, except it offers up excuses and blames environmental factors. Which, balanced with facts and a deeper understanding of the events would probably be ok.
Instead it became an almost get out of jail free card for those involved, citing it as almost inevitable and that doesn’t wash.
February 26, 2020
Superb distillation of the ills that affected Australian cricket culture over decades, that eventually lead to the disgrace of ball tampering in South Africa. More generally a spotlight on an ugly male culture lurking in Australia. And also the perversion of corporate culture that took over Cricket Australia. Can we please return to the Australian cricket culture of the 1960 's - remembering the shining example of cricket at its best with the West Indies series of 1960/61.
January 22, 2021
This is not the exclusive exposé on exactly what was done by who and when in the ball tampering shenanigans at Cape Town in 2018, but it is the how and why it happened. How the win at all costs mentality built up and Australia’s simultaneous belief that they could ‘headbut’ the line without actually crossing and be the only team to play fair became so ingrained that they managed to be the victims of the affair.
December 29, 2018
An excellent read for anyone interested in what has happened to the Australian men’s cricket team this year, and the background. It’s funny in parts, tells the story of the key players, and a few of the chapters made me quite angry. Also very readable - I got it done in six days during Christmas festivities.
May 14, 2020
One of the better cricket books I have read. Mike Brearley, who I adored and was a super fan of his captaincy wrote a book 'The Art of Captaincy' which I read a few weeks ago and thought it was terribly boring. Great captains dont necessarily make great writers LOL....But, Geoff Lemon has a biting and witty style and this read pretty much like an unputdownable book.
January 24, 2022
For a cricket tragic like myself this was manna indeed..not just an examination of the events surround the debacle of sandpaper gate in south Africa but also a look that at the culture surrounding the team and how that all coalesced in the decisions of Smith, Warner and Bancroft..highly recommended for lovers of the 5 day game
December 3, 2018
Excellent insight into the characters in Aus cricket
Knowledgeable and insightful with excellent access into the Australian cricket team's set up. Excellent accompaniment to Gideon Haigh's Crossing the Line
Knowledgeable and insightful with excellent access into the Australian cricket team's set up. Excellent accompaniment to Gideon Haigh's Crossing the Line
January 27, 2019
A remarkable and frank record of what many Australians would consider a National disaster or disgrace, illustrating our perhaps unhealthy relationship and reliance on sport for our national identity.
This is a story of a team psyche and where the idea that ‘win at all costs’ can lead.
This is a story of a team psyche and where the idea that ‘win at all costs’ can lead.
October 5, 2019
Skewers aussie cricketers hypocrisy
A great read about how a team culture can go so wrong. The Aussie believe in the mythical and flexible line that they use to justify poor behaviour is brilliantly skewered by the humour and logic from the Author
A great read about how a team culture can go so wrong. The Aussie believe in the mythical and flexible line that they use to justify poor behaviour is brilliantly skewered by the humour and logic from the Author
April 12, 2020
A cricket book for our times
Incisive, long-form journalism around the “sand-paper gate” incident. An interesting read for cricket fans and also for those interested in organisational culture. I enjoyed it very much!
Incisive, long-form journalism around the “sand-paper gate” incident. An interesting read for cricket fans and also for those interested in organisational culture. I enjoyed it very much!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews