The Captains

The role of the Australian cricket team can be seen like a glittering thread running through the course of our national history, personifying the hopes and disappointments of a nation which itself has been radically changing.

Within the team there are bowlers, batsmen and wicketkeepers, each with their own hopes and fears and performances great and ignominious. And the most singular individual inside that body of men is the captain, who is himself both a human being full of human ideals and frustrations and quarrels and personal triumphs, and also the steward of an office, which would become, symbolically, the second most important in the land. From Australia’s first Test cricket captain Dave Gregory, through to the current captain Ricky Ponting, Malcolm Knox’s new book tells the colourful story of how Australian cricket has evolved since it’s earliest days, how the captain has influenced or stood apart from that evolution, and how the captaincy itself has changed over time.