From Darkness into Light
From Darkness into Light tells the fascinating story of how a handful of intrepid cricketing soldiers helped save the game from oblivion. English cricket emerged from the Great War in a bruised and battered state. A four-year hiatus in the first-class game had left administrators, players and aficionados anxious about whether life on the field could ever be the same again. The state of Test cricket was even worse after the disastrous experiment of the Triangular Series of 1912. Into this maelstrom of uncertainty stepped the Australian Imperial Forces team. Comprised of men waiting for demobilisation, the XI toured England and Scotland in the summer of 1919. They were well received by cricket-hungry crowds and provided a great fillip to ailing county finances. The popularity of international cricket was confirmed, and the tour paved the way for the resumption of Ashes contests the following year. This book traces the origins of the AIF XI and examines the myriad of controversies and confusion that surrounded its inception.
Dr John Broom has written books about many aspects of 20th-century warfare and culture, including Cricket in the First and Second World Wars. Dr Anthony Condon is an Australian historian. He is interested in how culture and society perform to create identities. He has published scholarly work on cricket in the mid-19th century and commentates on cricket for White Line Wireless and Guerrilla Cricket.