The Has-Beens and Never-Will-Bes - A Boy’s Own Adventure of Australian Cricket and the Raj  (Paperback, Megan Ponsford)

The first Australian cricket tour to India possesses an inherent intrigue that, for inexplicable reasons, was overlooked at the time and since has fallen further into obscurity. Megan Ponsford rectifies this through her investigation of the uneasy relationships between Australia, British India and Indian nationalism during the interwar period, using the 1935/36 tour as a lens. The unique liaison between the entrepreneurial tour manager Frank Tarrant and the Maharaja of Patiala, who financed the extravagant exercise, led the way. From the palaces of the Raj to the foothills of the Himalayas, the evolving social consciousness of the ragtag team of Australia cricketers defines the tour. The deeply conservative cricket establishment was also challenged as the tour broke cultural, racial and sporting codes that were intrinsic to the then-amateur game. Employing a unique methodology, this book interprets the material culture located in the archives of the Australian and Indian cricketers. The Has Beens and Never Will Bes is a brilliant new contribution to the study of cricket and history. It will fascinate not just sporting enthusiasts but also those with an interest in politics, sociology, and cultural studies. Megan Ponsford has spent a decade following the historical traces of the long-forgotten tour of 1935-36 and recreating its world. At last, in her excellent book, we have a literary testament to that great cricketing coup. – Gideon Haigh