2015

Review: Death of a Gentleman

After the success and positive feedback of my last review, which looked at the quirky cricket book “The Grade Cricketer”, it seems high time that I have a closer look at another cultural cricket offering out this month.

“Death of a Gentleman” is a documentary film from cricket journalists Sam Collins and Jarrod Kimber and has been highly anticipated in the cricketing world for years. Now showing regularly in the UK, the film is set to come out on DVD soon in Australia – and it’s sure to be already turning heads amongst the cricket establishment. Continue reading →

The Grade Cricketer: recommended reading

Grade cricketer_bookcoverBased on the cult Twitter account of the same name, “The Grade Cricketer” tells the story of a mythical 30-something Grade cricketer and his club, as he struggles from minor success to failure every Saturday, summer after summer.

As you can probably imagine, I’ve read a lot of cricket books in my time… a lot of them. But here is a book I wanted to write about especially, as it really stood out for me. “The Grade Cricketer” is unique for two reasons. Firstly, because it unmasks the often forgotten engine room of Australian cricket, known to those that play it, simply as “Grade.” Secondly, because it dances a cheeky and at times crude jig in the face of the new, highly-marketed image of Aussie cricket. Let me explain what I’m getting at…
Continue reading →

When news stops …

When the news stopsAfter finishing my final day of work at DW in mid-June, ahead of my impending return to Australia, these last two weeks of my life have been a real seachange. To start with: it’s the first time I’ve stopped working as a journalist for nearly 10 years. It’s also the first time I’ve taken a self-imposed Twitter break for over five years.

In fact, since stopping work, I’ve even avoided watching the evening news. After all, there’s been no need to appear informed at the next day’s morning meeting, so why bother to put yourself through the non-stop happiness of a typical German evening news program? Continue reading →

The perfect assignment?

Germany v Australia, March 2015I’ve waited a long time – nearly 10 years in fact – but finally I was able to cover my beloved Socceroos playing against Germany, in Germany! After such a long wait, I can definitely say it was worth the suspense. From an Australia supporter perspective, it was both entertaining and satisfying. But first… I should probably explain a bit about why I was there.

Together with my DW colleagues Barbara Mohr and Peter Wozny, I journeyed to Kaiserslautern to cover the evening of the game and to do a heap of social media reporting ahead of the fixture. It was a bit of a new experiment for us, focusing on video production and exclusive social media content. Continue reading →