About this episode
As Max Bonnell details early on in his new book Brick by Brick, the Australian Cricketers in England 1964 , the Ashes series of that summer gets a pretty bad rap. To an extent, that’s understandable given only one of the five Tests had a winner and one of the draws, the Old Trafford batathon, is seen as an emblem of where much of that decade was less than captivating. But off the field, it was transformative. Specifically that summer, with Beatlemania at its peak and the election of an ambitious Labour government just around the corner. And cricket was changing at a rapid pace too, even if it wasn’t immediately obvious at the time. Max does a fine job of threading these themes together and casting the cricket in a more flattering light than is usually so, when Bob Simpson’s men went to England and got the job done. Buy Brick by Brick, The Australian Cricketers in England 1964: https://shop.acscricket.com/?product=brick-by-brick-the-australian-cricketers-in-england-1964 Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Tickets for our Wormsley match, August 18: uk.emma-live.com/WormsleyFinal2025 Check out Noobru to give your brain a boost: 15% off at our link: noobru.com/finalword Subscribe to Wisden and never pay full price for the Almanack again: www.wisdenalmanack.com/subscribe Get your big NordVPN discount: nordvpn.com/tfw Maurice Blackburn Lawyers - fighting for the rights of workers since 1919: mauriceblackburn.com.au Get 10% off Glenn Maxwell's sunnies: t20vision.com/FINALWORD Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com Title track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices