Introduction to Great Australian Sporting Stories
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Middle Aged (35-54)Accents
AustralianTranscript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
McMillan, Australia Audio and Belinda Audio present this unabridged recording ofthe great Australian sporting storeys written by Ian Heads and Norman Tasca and Red like Chris Chappel. How these curiosities would be quite forgot did not such idle fellows as I put them down. John Aubrey, English writer and philosopher forward Ian Chappell, former Australian cricket captain. I made my Sheffield Shield a boom in February 1962 at the Adelaide Oval against the all powerful New South Wales team captained by Richie Benaud. Times were different then you paid your bills in pounds. The Beatles were an unknown band working in Liverpool, and more than 10,000 fans attended on the Saturday of that shield match. The players of all sports in that era had day jobs, and journalists like Norman, Tasca, Annie and heads covered many different sports. In more than 60 years of covering a variety of sports, both Tesco and heads have gathered together a multitude of storeys, all of which embody their similar attitude and commitment to the task of communicating to the public what the game is all about. I first met Tess CA in the 19 sixties, but I really got to know him on the Australian cricket team tour of the UK in 1972 It was a joyful tour and an important one for a developing team. The importance of the tour was emphasised by the strength of the media contingent following the time a group shot arranged by photographer Russell McPhee, Drin features Richie Benaud and Jack Fingleton, two former Australian players and renowned journalists. Then there was the voice of Australian cricket, the BBC's Alan McGilvray. The array of newspaper journalists was a strong one, including Tess Ca Might Coward and Graham Dassey Eccles or as he was also known, the famous Eccles after the character of the same name in The Goon Show. It was a talented and colourful group and it was great respect and report between the team and the media contingent. This was in a period when cricket writers were welcoming the home dressing room during tests and shield matches. There were two unwritten rules regarding these visits. The journalists would not divulge any private information gleaned in those moments, and I had to bring beer. Each team was only supplied with 12 bottles of beer, one for each player and consequently, it was a B y o establishment for the journals. Such was the respect between players and journalists that Rod Marsh would remove the top from a bottle of beer and place it in his locker a tee time. This was for the world renowned writer Ray Robinson, who is a diabetic and could only drink flat beer, having two of the UK in 1972 with Norman the Form and Tasca. I had the pleasure of repeating the ritual in 1977 only this time I was sitting with him in the press box. This was at a time when Kerry Packer's World Series cricket was in its formative stages, and it made for interesting and occasionally challenging times as a journalist. Not long after that. To her, I had another opportunity to mix socially with Seska. He was coach of the Gordon Rugby Club, and our mutual friend, John Fordham was the social secretary. He described himself as team manager, but we knew better, and I was invited to speak to the players after training, As you would expect from a club known at the time as the *** Gordons, it was a highly sociable Thursday night But that didn't stop the club amassing a record breaking win on the Saturday when they accumulated a century of points. Our relationship continued when Tasca asked me to write for the cricket magazine then known as Inside Edge. Tesco was easy to work for. He had good ideas for storeys and always aimed for a high standard magazine. The thing that has always stood out with Tasca is his fairness as a journalist and his decency as a human being. He was not afraid to write the difficult storeys, but I've never heard anyone out of the words. I was gutted by Norman Tasca Starting out in Adelaide, I didn't meet writer and heads, who by then was covering mainly rugby league until I arrived in Sydney to live. The first word that comes to mind when I think of heads as a journalist is prolific, whether it be newspapers, rugby league, week magazine or books. Hedges never idle. His collaboration with Tesco on the book that depicted the fulfilling life of Richie Benaud was a classic example of hard work and diligent dedication to the task. That book is not heads only cricket work of nurse. He collaborated with market Taylor on a book full of the insights he would expect from a daring captain working with the tireless co rider. The list of people who have engaged heads to work on their book reads like a Who's Who of sport, covering a wide variety of games. In addition, Heads is a superb historian, and his thoroughness and credibility has earned him great respect and many plaudits. Having had so much experience in the media world, I know readers will enjoy the many storeys and anecdotes that the pair have accumulated over more than a century. Combined in journalism of special interest to me are accounts of their early years in journalism, when the newspaper game was a highly competitive and colourful place.
Tags
Buddy, Everyman, Articulate, Trustworthy, Warm, Witty, Relatable, Australian