Brian Matthews (3)

Six 'recalcitrant' essays and shorter prose pieces on football within a larger collection on sport, the ‘Foreword’ describes the work as a series of ill-judged, colloquial, biased, uncalled-for, outpourings. The style is at times loose and rambling, with chaotic references to footy popping in and out of the narrative. Topics range from tales of airline travel to footy matches, the legitimacy of the term 'National' to describe the VFL competition, the lack of recognition for South Australian players in the VFL, criticism of the many non-Australian elements of the VFL Grand Final day celebrations, the flexible selection criteria for State of Origin matches and a piece first published in 1965 comparing the Tony Charlton Football Show with World of Sport, two popular television programs. Original publication details for each piece are not clear, with some, but not all, written or revised in 1989.… (mehr)

Every summer, I look forward to the cricket test match that starts on Boxing Day each year at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Brian Matthews' book isn't an official history of the MCG; rather, it's a series of snapshots of famous events at the ground, many of them attended by Matthews himself. Many of the anecdotes are wonderful, but the structure of the book means that it's hard to put them into context.

Despite the ground's name, many Melburnians think of the MCG first and foremost as an Australian Rules Football ground. The heavy focus on Aussie Rules in this book would delight readers interested in the sport, but didn't do much for me.

So, if you're a Melburnian or a big Aussie Rules fan, you should find this book fascinating. For me, it flared into life from time to time, but was somewhat frustrating overall.… (mehr)