Great Australian Test Cricket Stories

Book excerpt: An entertaining collection of insider yarns by an Aussie Test cricket legend. In the Test arena, Dennis Lillee wasnever beaten. West Indian champion Viv Richards had taken the sword to all theinternational bowlers of his era. But when he came up against Lillee, it was a heavy-weight fight between unrelenting combatants. Their contests werealways take-no-prisoners affairs. A bowler himself, author Ashley Mallett played 38 Tests during the heyday of Australian cricket in the 1970s and 1980s and has been hailed as one of Australia's best spinners. His divingleft-handed grab in the gully to dismiss Colin Cowdrey off Lillee at Adelaidein the explosive 1974-75 Ashes summer was a catch for the ages. Now Mallett shares his vast knowledge of the game and its heroes in Great Australian Test Cricket Stories, a collection of fascinating cricket yarns that spans centuries and continents. Stories of famous contests and clashes sit beside personal anecdotes as well as insights and opinion that only an elite cricketer could provide. All the greats get a guernsey, from Victor Trumper, to Keith Miller, Don Bradman, Boycott, Benaud, Border and Warne, in this engrossing read for fans of the game.