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Of Fathers, Sons and Timeless Tests: Wicket Tales from Kingsmead Latest book by
Of Fathers, Sons and Timeless Tests: Wicket Tales from Kingsmead Latest book by
Date: 2023-12-15
ProfessorAshwin Desai of the University of Johannesburg recently launched his book onthe history of Test cricket at Kingsmead. An iconic stadium that has showcasedthe talents of some of the greatest cricketers in the world. The Buglehighlights a synopsis of the book written by the author.
Thisstory begins in 1923 with a nondescript Test match in Durban, South Africa. Itwas a game played on a new ground, Kingsmead, that was soon spilling ink ontothe sporting pages of newspapers aroundthe world. The ground witnessed South Africa powering to a stunning victoryover England in 1928, pioneered the transition from matting to turf, and hostedthe mind-stretching Timeless Test on the cusp of the Second World War. All the time, Black cricketers, too, donnedtheir whites but were excluded from playing at the ground. And so, they playedthe game on the outfields, where incredible talents batted between despair andhope on the country's hardening racialboundaries. And then, as apartheid's pitches crumbled, India came to Kingsmeadin 1992, beginning a new innings. Of Fathers, Sons and Timeless Tests: WicketTales from Kingsmead is told with all of the attention a swinging medium-pacerpays to a seam, sensitively exploring the art of stitching the game's dividedhistories. Histories that, however bitter-sweet, inspire a mystifying pride ina ground squatting in the middle of the city, open to the winds of change butrefusing to be bowled over. It is a tale that spans the generations, lingeringover the creases in between, wearing its heart on an elbow guard.
AshwinDesai is Professor of Sociology and SARCHI Chair in Social Change at theUniversity of Johannesburg. His latest book (with Goolam Vahed) is Durban'sCasbah: Bunny Chows, Bolsheviks and Bisoscopes. His book Wentworth: TheBeautiful Game and the Making of Placewas awarded the 2021 Best Non-Fiction monograph by the National Institute forHumanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) in South Africa.
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