AUSTRALIANA Cricket Australian Rules Football –

Every sporting fan, young and old, who has been to the Sydney Cricket Ground has a find recollection of a day or night, or days and nights, from the ground that captured the unique appeal of top-level sport at such a sacred venue. ‘Memories live longer than dreams,’ says 90-year-old Alan Davidson, one of the all-time greats of Australian cricket. ‘That’s the biggest thing about coming here. I can remember every game that I ever played, every incident, every shot.’ Davidson was sitting in the home dressing room, looking out on Cricket Ground’s hallowed turf, the same emerald green ground trodden on by so many Australia’s sporting champions over the last 140 years. He was in the company of his friend and old teammate Neil Harvey, and also Andrew Webster, Sydney’s No.1 sportswriter. The three of them, masters of their trades, were just yarning, about the glory days and what this great sporting cathedral means to each of them. This revealing conversation opens If These Walls Could Talk, Webster’s very personal look at what sets the Ground – and sport at the highest level – apart. Some famous names jump from the pages, including Steve Waugh, Tony Lockett, Mark Ella, Ray Baartz and Steve Mortimer. There is controversy, too, and the overwhelming sadness of the death of Phillip Hughes. Webster focuses on ten moments that hugely impacted on him, as a journalist and fan, in a way that will resonate with everyone who cherishes their own special memories of the ‘SCG’.

• x, 310 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour) ; 26 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-302) and index. #291225