The Rules of Backyard Cricket

The Rules of Backyard Cricket
AuthorJock Serong
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
PublisherText Publishing
Publication date
2016
Publication placeAustralia
Media typePrint
Pages291 pp.
ISBN9781925355215

The Rules of Backyard Cricket is a 2016 crime fiction novel by Australian author Jock Serong.[1]

It was described as a "bestseller" on the Publishers Weekly website in October 2016.[2]

Synopsis

This is the story of two Australian brothers who start off playing cricket against each other in their backyard: Wally Keefe who ends up a professional cricketer; and Darren who ends up shot in the knee, bound and gagged in the boot of a car.

Critical reception

Writing in Australian Book Review reviewer Craig Billingham noted: "Reminiscent of Malcolm Knox's A Private Man (2004), which also featured a professional cricketer, the subject under investigation in The Rules of Backyard Cricket is a recognisable variant of the Australian male: white, laconic, barrel-chested, hands shaped by long exposure to bats and balls and beer bottles."[3]

In the Sydney Morning Herald Sue Turnbull called the novel "Beautifully written and acutely observed, The Rules of Backyard Cricket is a noir tour de force."[4]

Awards

References

  1. ^ "The Rules of Backyard Cricket by". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  2. ^ Hoch, Francis (11 October 2016). "Behind the Australian Bestseller, 'The Rules of Backyard Cricket'". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  3. ^ Billingham, Craig (2016). "The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong". Australian Book Review. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  4. ^ Turnbull, Sue (24 August 2016). "Jock Serong and Zane Lovitt write Australian noir of the first order". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  5. ^ ""Round-up of the 2017 Ned Kelly Awards shortlist for best fiction. By Jean Bedford"". The Newtown Review of Books, 15 August 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2017 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 5 December 2016. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2023.