In this episode, we revisit Mike Coward's book about Australian tours to the subcontinent through the 1980s: Cricket Beyond the Bazaar.
Joining us to dissect the book – and its importance for Australian cricket literature – are two contemporary journalists - Russell Jackson and Daniel Brettig. They tell us about the effect the book had on them and how it continues to be a guiding beacon for Australians reporting on the subcontinent.
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Talking Points:
- The history of India-Australia relations and the blossoming of cricketing ties in the 1980s
- Mike Coward's love for India – and how he intuitively grasped how big the game would become in the subcontinent
- A delightful mess of a book - journalism, travelogue, observations, rumination, history, culture.. it has it all
- The cult status that Allan Border, Dean Jones, David Boon and so many others of that generation enjoy among Indians of a certain generation
- The 1986 tied Test and the start of the Australian renaissance
- How writers like Mike Coward helped several Australians grasp the complexities of the subcontinent
- Australia's triumphant World Cup in 1987 - and the historic win in Lahore
- Australia's controversial tour to Pakistan in 1988 - and the effect it had for the next decade
- How Mike Coward stayed true to his profession despite having such unbridled access to the players and team management
- The relevance of the book today and how young Australian readers can benefit from it
Participants:
Daniel Brettig (@danbrettig)
Russell Jackson (@rustyjacko)
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee)
Related:
Embracing the East: Suresh Menon on Cricket Beyond the Bazaar - ESPNcricinfo
When a tie was a victory for Border's battlers - Michael Sexton on his book about the tied Test in Madras - 81allout podcast
The Final Frontier: Mike Coward - The Greatest Season That Was podcast
Collection of Mike Coward's articles for ESPNcricinfo
'It long irked me that sports writing, in this country, has been devalued' - Mike Coward's speech at the ASC Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2015
Clueless Australia need a cultural shift - Daniel Brettig - ESPNcricinfo
Daniel Brettig: Books on Amazon.com
Russell Jackson - articles on ABC Sport