Rewriting Cricket History

THE CRICKET WAR

The Story of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket

GIDEON HAIGH

Published by Wisden – 1 December 2017 AU $22.99 | NZ $24.99
Paperback

The Cricket War is the definitive account of the split that changed cricket on the field and on the screen, exploring the end of the game as we knew it – and the beginning of it as we now know it.

Named one of The Times’ 50 Greatest Sports Books ‘A fascinating account in masterly detail of an extraordinary episode in Australian cricket. Highly recommended’ – Peter Roebuck

‘Haigh towers over the cricket writing landscape in Australia’ – Guardian

‘Haigh shows a supreme gift for old-fashioned journalistic footslogging and the art of telling a great story with a brisk, unfussy narrative’ – Richard Whitehead,The Times

‘There are various claimants to the title of ‘world’s best cricket writer’, yet no dispute about who, today, is the best writer on cricket. This is… Gideon Haigh’ – Ramachandra Guha

The Cricket War is the definitive account of the split that changed the game, both on the field and on the screen. In May 1977, the cricket world awoke to discover that a businessman called Kerry Packer had signed thirty-five elite international players for his own televised ‘World Series’.

In helmets, under lights, with white balls, and in coloured clothes, the outlaw armies of Ian Chappell, Tony Greig and Clive Lloyd fought a daily battle of survival. In boardrooms and courtrooms Packer and cricket’s rulers fought a bitter war of nerves.

With a new introduction by author Gideon Haigh to mark WSC’s 40th anniversary, The Cricket War explores the end of cricket as we knew it – and the beginning of cricket as we now know it.

GIDEON HAIGH is an award-winning independent journalist, who has written for more than a hundred newspapers and magazines over a thirty-four-year career, including The Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Australian, The Age and The Cricketer. He has published thirty-two books, twenty-one of them about cricket, and edited seven others. Born in London, Haigh went to school in Geelong, and now lives in Melbourne.

*** GIDEON HAIGH IS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW ***

For further information, to request a copy, or to arrange an interview, please contact: Genevieve Nelsson | Marketing & Publicity Manager | 02 8820 4901 | genevieve.nelsson@bloomsbury.com Bloomsbury Publishing Australia www.bloomsbury.com/au