Hans Pomeranz’s thinking helped bring Test highlights to Australia and ignited his distinguished film careerWhen Hans Pomeranz died in 2007, the Sydney Morning Herald’s obituary described “a force in Australia’s film industry”. Born into a Jewish family in Enschede, Netherlands, in 1938, he survived the second world war in an orphanage and, later, by masquerading as the son of a Protestant minister. At the end of the conflict he and what remained of his family – his sister is believed to have died at Auschwitz – were reunited and emigrated to Australia, where he went on to secure an apprenticeship at a film laboratory. He became, in time, an editor of considerable renown, the husband of the film critic and...
With England looking pallid and Australia showing only faint signs of recovery, this summer’s Ashes could be thrillingly closeThe traditional role of Poms in Australia is to accept graciously the humorous insults directed at the England cricket team, responding politely without resort to obvious cliches, particularly those involving convicts.For all kinds of reasons, it is a little different this time. For a start, British visitors are now greeted with a kind of affectionate pity mixed with honest curiosity: “What exactly is a backstop?” On enervating Australian afternoons, when the mind turns only slowly, it seems best to say that backstop is a fielding position, employed by captains of incompetent teams who can’t trust their wicketkeepers. Related: Significant win for Australia...
The India batsman has three hundreds in four Tests this summer – Australia are beginning to appreciate his rare talentsRespect is often described as grudging, and it doesn’t get more grudging than from Australians for Cheteshwar Pujara. Yet as this Australia v India series plays out its final stanza, the admiration from the home players and supporters is real. Here’s a player who does what their own cannot: bats as long as he wants, puts distractions aside, and refuses to go away.Australians tend to celebrate impulsiveness. We like to think we have a national style summed up by Adam Gilchrist pulverising hundreds, or Shane Warne twirling out bunnies. But with no talents like theirs in the national team, people suddenly...
Ball-tampering in Cape Town led to sacking of captain Steve Smith and two other players and a softening of macho cultureTo some, scratching a cricket ball would be innocuous rather than infamous. But when the Australian batsman Cameron Bancroft did it during a Test match in Cape Town, the cricket world lit up. At the height of a viciously tempered series he used bright yellow sandpaper to rough up the leather in an attempt to aid his bowlers. Ball-tampering is a fact of cricket, but no international player had been caught so blatantly, using a foreign object smuggled on to the field. This time the offence was caught in lush high-definition by South African television. Related: Steve Smith's media re-emergence...
Jack Fingleton’s delightful take on Don Bradman’s Invincibles details the escapist pleasure of the series for post-war EnglandThis past week, I bought something for nine pence. It felt something of an achievement, even in a charity shop. Perhaps the manager of this one didn’t see much value in sport or perhaps she cared about it so passionately that it inspired her to rare feats of generosity. Either way, the cricket books on the shelves were being offered at a price as nostalgic as their contents.Which is why I have finally read Brightly Fades the Don. My previous experiences with some of the so-called classics of cricket writing had put me off – I’d rather eat corrugated cardboard than read any...