Blood on the Tracks

As the 1975 edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack put it, “Never in the ninety-eight years of Test cricket have batsmen been so grievously bruised and battered by ferocious, hostile short-pitched balls as were those led conscientiously by Mike Denness.” Led by tearaway speedsters Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, the Australian bowling attack terrorised the tourists during the six-match series – by the end of the first Test, two English batsmen had suffered broken 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 it could 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 have been expected to deliver stories of broken bones and frightening near misses. For that was the narrative of the doomed attempt by the England team to retain the urn in the face of a barrage of some of the most intimidating fast bowling ever witnessed. Nearly 50 years after Dylan’s generosity, David Tossell’s book offers a gripping and forensic account of this uniquely frightening and wince-inducing Australian summer and the indelible mark it left on cricket.