Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes

The Old Trafford Ashes Test of 1961 has everything - except a reverse lap, an epic contest superbly retold by David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts. In their expert hands, the match also becomes a trigger for a fascinating slice of social history, epitomised by the contrasting outlooks of the two captains, Peter May and Richie Benaud in his blue suede shoes. It is a spellbinding read even though most of us know the outcome of the match and an essential text for those of us who wonder why the Aussies beat us so often – Vic MarksA scrupulous and subtle evocation of one’s of cricket’s forgotten classics: the Ashes of 1961 – Gideon HaighIt will fascinate the keenest cricket followers, taking us back with shrewd insight to a famous Ashes Test match, but it is simultaneously an account of the social issues of the time, which are illuminated in numerous, often subtle ways throughout – Mike BrearleyThis wonderful book recreates a famous Ashes Test played more than sixty years ago, making it as vivid and enjoyable to the reader as if they were watching it enacted live on television. The research is extraordinarily rich, the prose utterly exquisite. The central characters in the story, whether Australian or English, players, commentators or administrators, are sketched with deftness and authority. And the narrative of the cricket itself is both deeply informative and hugely enjoyable. Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes is destined to become a classic of sporting literature – Ramachandra Guha, author of A CORNER OF A FOREIGN FIELDA highly enjoyable account with helpful historical context of one of the great Ashes test matches. The authors’ evocation of the summer of 1961 paint the picture exactly as this superannuated 12-year-old remembers it as he sat on the grass behind the boundary rope, absorbed in the pendulum swings of the cricketing drama being played out in front of him – Colin Shindler, author of MANCHESTER UNITED RUINED MY LIFERekindled fantastic memories of a historic afternoon at Old Trafford…the detail offered by the authors revealed plenty of stories forgotten or maybe unknown to me. A comprehensive and interesting read – Graham McKenzie, Australia’s opening bowler in the 1961 Old Trafford TestDavid Kynaston is amazing: instead of sleeping between each magnum opus, he turns out a splendid jeu d’esprit. He and Ricketts have masterfully re-created the long-ago rivalry of the conformist Englishman and the inventive Aussie, and guess who wins? – Matthew Engel, writer and former editor of WISDENCompelling … The authors elegantly capture the tensions of that final day, dexterously putting the game and its players in a historical context and drawing rich profiles of the individuals involved – Steve Cannane * Financial Times *Patient and scholarly storytelling, alert to nuance and eager for detail, captures something of the hypnotic, accumulating rhythm of the full five-day game in all its pregnancy – Jasper Rees * Telegraph *This entertaining new book … [is] eminently readable. Each day’s play is meticulously described, session by session, and is gripping reading for any cricket buff – Roger Alton * Sunday Times *David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts’s beautifully written book is a minor classic – Peter Oborne * Literary Review *I recommend Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes … there are so many contemporary echoes. David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts lay bare English cricket’s public school elitism, juxtaposing the stiff home captain Peter May with the charismatic Benaud – Ian Herbert * Daily Mail *An insightful account of the Australian cricket team’s victory over England in the1961 Ashes competition. Australia’s captain Richie Benaud, a small-town boy who paid for his team’s drinks on the boat journey across the world, outfoxed his English counterpart, Cambridge graduate Peter May – Simon Kuper * Financial Times, Best Summer Books of 2024 *Highly recommended … the authors are both exceptional writers, diligent researchers and above all lovers of our great game – CricketwebWhat makes the book so compelling is how Kynaston and Ricketts interweave the wider social changes already starting to take place with a blow by blow account of the match, providing not just an in-depth portrait of a memorable game but also a valuable slice of social history * Choice *Doubly successful, as both cricket book and social history … All derives from the life of the match, brilliantly retrieved from the aspic of the records – Patrick Hudson * Tablet *A lovely new book … Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes [is] a tale of one great 1961 Ashes match and the wider social and political revolution it encapsulated – Giles Coren * The Times *Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes … If that title grabs you, you should go out and buy it now, because the book is brilliant … The bulk of the book, though, is dedicated to a single Ashes Test … these chapters are sparkling. The authors say they have been wanting to write this book since they met at school in 1968; it is to our imperishable benefit that they have finally got round to it – Marcus Berkmann * Spectator *A masterful retelling … This recently published book about an “Ashes classic’’ will itself become a classic in the genre of cricket writing – Rudrangshu Mukherjee * The Wire *The prose throbs for the passion the authors still feel for this famously electrifying series – Emma John * Guardian, Sports Books of the Year *This is a book that passes any number of tests for a cricket book to be successful… It is literate, accurate, poses many questions…In short, everything works. Not only is this the best book by some margin that has crossed my desk this year, but if it doesn’t mop up all the awards going… it will have to be a remarkable book to put this one in second place. An essential purchase that will be read and reread over the years – John Symons * Cricket Society *

David Kynaston was born in Aldershot in 1951. He has been a professional historian since 1973 and has written eighteen books, four of which are based on different aspects of cricket history including the award-winning Arlott, Swanton and the Soul of English Cricket. He is currently a visiting professor at Kingston University.

Harry Ricketts is a critic and poet who, in addition to biographies of Kipling and the War Poets, has written the guide How to Catch a Cricket Match.