A Season of Tests, Turmoil and Twenty20 Few Australian cricket captains have had a tougher time than that experienced by Ricky Ponting in 2008-09 - a controversial test tour of India, series home and away against South Africa, more than 30 ODIs, the ICC World twenty20. And, finally, the fight for the Ashes.Ponting began the year with a better winning percentage than any other captain in test history, but this adventure ended in disappointment, as his young side fell just short in England after a typically dramatic confrontation. the task of replacing recently retired champions such as Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist and Hayden is still a work in progress. However, this is a story with many positives, as Ponting's Australians produced a number of impressive performances, most notably in South Africa, when they stunned the home side in consecutive matches, and at Leeds, when they completed one of the most decisive test wins of recent times. the emergence of young guns such as Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus, Phillip Hughes and Peter Siddle points to an exciting future. throughout the period of cricket recalled in Ashes Diary 2009, Ponting played with a steely spirit that impressed many observers, including the Guardian newspaper which, after the final Ashes test, wrote, 'Staring down the barrel of a loss that must have hurt more than any other in his career, Ponting showed what a class act he is.' During the series, he had become Australia's highest test run-scorer. At the end, the crowd at the Oval gave him an extended standing ovation.this insider's account follows the path that led to this increased respect. It had been quite a year ...

The retelling of Jane Austen's novel Persuasion from the point of view of Captain Frederick Wentworth by the author of Mr. Knightley's Diary. During his shore leave from the Navy, Frederick Wentworth falls in love with the elegant and intelligent Miss Anne Elliot' only to see his hopes of marrying her dashed by her godmother. Eight years later, Wentworth has realized his ambitions. A wealthy captain, he has pushed his memories of Anne to the furthest recesses of his mind, until he sees her again. And though Anne's bloom has faded, Wentworth is surprised to find that his regard for her wit and warmth has not.

The Max Gawn Captain's Diary relates how, after 57 long years, the Melbourne Football Club’s team won the AFL’s 2021 Premiership. How, over the course of the season, they rose to the top of the ladder and proved they were the team to beat if you wanted to win the flag in 2021. But given the long drought and lack of finals experience, it was never going to be easy. As the season progressed, Max Gawn and his team turned the tide of public opinion and their supporters began to dream big. The Demons showed the grit, talent and aggression that a true Grand Final challenger needed. Revealing and insightful, popular Melbourne captain Max Gawn takes us through the season, the talented players, their amazing coach, and a finals campaign where a Max Gawn goal after the siren put them in top spot on the ladder. And how, in the Grand Final, after a tense first half, the team claimed a Grand Final victory, with a 74-point triumph in front of a packed Perth stadium and millions of TV viewers locked down by COVID-19. Max and the Demons brought the cup home to Melbourne.

A savage satire of the United States in the throes of insanity, this blisteringly funny novel tells the story of a noble ship, the Glory, and the loud, clownish, and foul Captain who steers it to the brink of disaster. When the decorated Captain of a great ship descends the gangplank for the final time, a new leader, a man with a yellow feather in his hair, vows to step forward. Though he has no experience, no knowledge of nautical navigation or maritime law, and though he has often remarked he doesn't much like boats, he solemnly swears to shake things up. Together with his band of petty thieves and confidence men known as the Upskirt Boys, the Captain thrills his passengers, writing his dreams and notions on the cafeteria wipe-away board, boasting of his exemplary anatomy, devouring cheeseburgers, and tossing overboard anyone who displeases him. Until one day a famous pirate, long feared by passengers of the Glory but revered by the Captain for how phenomenally masculine he looked without a shirt while riding a horse, appears on the horizon . . . Absurd, hilarious, and all too recognizable, The Captain and the Glory is a wicked farce of contemporary America only Dave Eggers could dream up.

In the last three years, cricket has changed more completely than in the preceding three decades, revolutionised by a racy new format, Twenty20, and a glamorous new competition, the Indian Premier League. How did India come to run world cricket? How did clubs owned by billionaires and Bollywood stars begin to shove international competition aside? How did money unite players and divide administrators, amid allegations of massive corruption? Gideon Haigh has followed cricket's biggest story since Kerry Packer's 'World Series' from the beginning: Sphere of Influence is the result. This insightful collection brings the struggle to save cricket's soul into sharp and disturbing focus.

Who will ever forget Graeme Smith striding to the wicket with a broken hand in the third Test match in Australia? This after already winning the series. This title records his extraordinary 18 month journey, from Karachi to Newlands via Lord's, Leeds, Melbourne and Sydney.