Twelve Summers

Cricket fans, where were you during the disaster that was the 2013 Ashes? Adam Zwar was making a documentary about bodyline and filming a stunt that involved Brett Lee bowling bouncers to him while he wasn't wearing a helmet. Matthew Hayden warned him not do it. But the cameras were set up. What was he going to do - say no?

How about when Australia A nearly upset Australia in the 1995 World Series Cup and the players were rebelling against officials? Adam was working as a driver for an escort agency in Melbourne.

Or Australia v India in 2001? That was when Adam was stuck in a hotel with AC/DC.

For all the significant moments in Adam's life, cricket was in the background - or foreground. And you don't need to be a fan of cricket to be able to relate, because we all remember where we were when something important happened, whether that's a cricket test, an album release or a TV show ending. Twelve Summers is hilarious, moving and thought provoking. Even if you aren't a fan of cricket, you'll find a lot to love in this book.

Twelve Summers is a memoir by actor and writer Adam Zwar, structured around the retelling of several memorable performances by the Australian men's cricket team during the author's formative years. As a not-so-gifted player himself, and something of an outcast-first at primary school in Cairns, then at boarding school at Brisbane Grammar-Zwar becomes more of a watcher than a participant of the sport. He is obsessed with the players, the commentators and their little rituals, and his passion for cricket is an escape from incidents of bullying and abuse at school. The book recounts the 12 most significant cricket seasons in Zwar's life, beginning with the 1980-81 Australian Summer and ending with the 2006-07 England tour of Australia. Interspersed is the story of Zwar's professional life, from aspiring actor while at university to a career in journalism, and finally cracking it as an actor and producer for TV. The strength of Zwar's memoir is in the way he recreates the suspense from the historical cricket matches and tournaments. As well as covering the most dynamic and successful era of Australian cricket, the book also highlights the changes to the sport as it becomes professionalised and modernised. Sometimes, however, the serious aspects of the memoir-revelations about ritual abuse at Brisbane Grammar, and Zwar's mum's cancer diagnoses, for example-jar uncomfortably with the more lighthearted passages on cricket. Despite that, Twelve Summers is a fun trip through the glory era of Australian cricket, with enough anecdotes and research to appeal to serious fans as well as casual watchers of the game. Brad Jefferies is the digital editor of Books+Publishing.

Adam Zwar is an actor, writer and voice artist. He is the co-creator of the Australian comedy series Squinters, Lowdown and Wilfred, created the Channel 10 comedy series Mr. Black and the factual series Agony Aunts, Agony Uncles, The Agony of Life, The Agony of Modern Manners and Agony.

He also presented and produced the cricket documentaries Underarm: The Ball That Changed Cricket and Bodyline: The Ultimate Test, and hosted the podcast 10 Questions.

Cricket fans, where were you during the disaster that was the 2013 Ashes? Adam Zwar was making a documentary about bodyline and filming a stunt that involved Brett Lee bowling bouncers to him while he wasn't wearing a helmet. Matthew Hayden warned him not do it. But the cameras were set up. What was he going to do - say no?How about when Australia A nearly upset Australia in the 1995 World Series Cup and the players were rebelling against officials? Adam was working as a driver for an escort agency in Melbourne.Or Australia v India in 2001? That was when Adam was stuck in a hotel with AC/DC. For all the significant moments in Adam's life, cricket was in the background - or foreground. And you don't need to be a fan of cricket to be able to relate, because we all remember where we were when something important happened, whether that's a cricket test, an album release or a TV show ending. Twelve Summers is hilarious, moving and thought provoking. Even if you aren't a fan of cricket, you'll find a lot to love in this book.

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