
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


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.
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
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
Title track by Urthboy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
By Adam Collins, Geoff Lemon4.8
7676 ratings
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.
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
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
Title track by Urthboy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

188 Listeners

32 Listeners

38 Listeners

22 Listeners

142 Listeners

89 Listeners

120 Listeners

66 Listeners

55 Listeners

65 Listeners

38 Listeners

7 Listeners

63 Listeners

17 Listeners

5 Listeners