What do you think?
Nathan Astle
Paperback
Published January 1, 2007
About the author
Phil Gifford
22 booksA prolific writer and broadcaster, Phil Gifford has reported on every Rugby World Cup since 1987, and will be in Britain to cover the 2015 tournament.
He has won nine New Zealand radio awards, has twice been judged New Zealand sportswriter of the year, and three times New Zealand sports columnist of the year. He has also won two Dulux national print awards for news reporting, in 1976 (on the Captaine Bouganville shipwreck) and 1981 (on the Springbok tour). In 1973 Phil invented the satirical rugby character Loosehead Len, and wrote his columns for 32 years. He continues to write a column in the Sunday Star-Times, and in 2014 was a member of the Fairfax Media team at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. In 2010 Phil was honoured with the SPARC lifetime achievement award for services to sports journalism.
His work includes biographies of Joe Stanley, Grizz Wyllie, Mike Brewer, Peter Fatialofa and Todd Blackadder. His own memoir, Loose Amongst the Legends, was named one of the biographies of the year in the New Zealand Listener’s 100 best books of 2014.
Phil lives in Auckland, with his wife Jan.
He has won nine New Zealand radio awards, has twice been judged New Zealand sportswriter of the year, and three times New Zealand sports columnist of the year. He has also won two Dulux national print awards for news reporting, in 1976 (on the Captaine Bouganville shipwreck) and 1981 (on the Springbok tour). In 1973 Phil invented the satirical rugby character Loosehead Len, and wrote his columns for 32 years. He continues to write a column in the Sunday Star-Times, and in 2014 was a member of the Fairfax Media team at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. In 2010 Phil was honoured with the SPARC lifetime achievement award for services to sports journalism.
His work includes biographies of Joe Stanley, Grizz Wyllie, Mike Brewer, Peter Fatialofa and Todd Blackadder. His own memoir, Loose Amongst the Legends, was named one of the biographies of the year in the New Zealand Listener’s 100 best books of 2014.
Phil lives in Auckland, with his wife Jan.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 19, 2026
I’m not really one for reading biographies.
However I have always admired the way Nathan played his cricket and as a spectator he provided me with so many highlights across his career.
Understanding what made him tick through reading his story has been really enjoyable - he was true to himself and stuck to his own principles as a person and player.
A wonderful career and reading his book confirms for me what a good man he is.
Thanks for all you did as a cricketer Nathan and I’m hoping your life has been successful post cricket career.
However I have always admired the way Nathan played his cricket and as a spectator he provided me with so many highlights across his career.
Understanding what made him tick through reading his story has been really enjoyable - he was true to himself and stuck to his own principles as a person and player.
A wonderful career and reading his book confirms for me what a good man he is.
Thanks for all you did as a cricketer Nathan and I’m hoping your life has been successful post cricket career.
July 23, 2021
This book is about Nathan Astle's life and his cricket career. I liked how much information it had about him. I learned a lot of cool things about him like how he is good at soccer and table tennis and How his batting technique is very unorthodox.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews