Jack Fingleton

A life marked by a feud with Australia's greatest batsman, bravery in the face of Bodyline and relationships in the corridors of Parliament.

Jack Fingleton was a formidable Australian opener during the Bodyline series. He was noted equally for his courage as an offending batsman, and for his refusal to always go along with his often dictatorial captain.He was an implacable critic of The Don, with whom he corresponded, and this penetrating study sheds new light on their relationship.

After his cricket career, Fingleton became one of Australia's most respected sports journalists as well as a political journalist of note who had extensive personal correspondence with Prime Ministers Menzies, Curtin, Chifley, McMahon and even Whitlam. Greg Growden has had unfettered access to all his correspondence and other archival material, which sheds extraordinary new light on Australian sporting and political history.