Blood on the Tracks

As the 1975edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack put it, “Never in the ninety-eight years of Test cricket have batsmenbeen so grievously bruised and battered by ferocious, hostile short-pitched balls as were those led conscientiouslyby Mike Denness.” Led by tearaway speedsters Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, the Australian bowling attackterrorised the tourists during the six-match series – by the end of the first Test, two English batsmen had sufferedbroken bones. There was plenty more suffering to follow as the Aussies blitzed their way to a 4-1 victory. When Bob Dylan released his album Blood on the Tracks a few days after the Ashes had been surrendered itcould have been timed deliberately to provide a future author with a book title that reflected events in Australia. Instead of songs reflecting a “bleak fatalistic view of love”, as one reviewer described it, the album might havebeen expected to deliver stories of broken bones and frightening near misses. For that was the narrative of thedoomed attempt by the England team to retain the urn in the face of a barrage of some of the most intimidatingfast bowling ever witnessed. Nearly 50 years after Dylan’s generosity, David Tossell’s book offers a gripping and forensic account of thisuniquely frightening and wince-inducing Australian summer and the indelible mark it left on cricket.

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