Cycling to the Ashes

Oct 21, 2024 9:40 PM

Author:Oli Broom

One man, one bike, two Mongoose cricket bats, one tropical disease, 16,000 miles and a lot of dead kangaroos …

Oli Broom loves cricket. So much so that in 2009 he left his 9 to 5 in London and set off to cycle to Brisbane for the Ashes. Along the way he played cricket in the shadow of the Blue Mosque, slept in a goat pen in Sudan, dodged a 5-metre crocodile in the outback, battled mountains in sub-zero temperatures in Bulgaria and successfully negotiated the treacherous highways of India.

Starring the colourful characters he met on his travels, this is a funny and poignant tale for anyone who’s ever dreamt of jacking in the day job to embark on an incredible adventure.

Reviews

Oli Broom loves cricket so much he cycled from Lord's to Sydney to watch the Ashes. His book is rather marvellous

—— Stephen Fry

Much more than a world cycle tour ... brilliant

—— All Out Cricket

An epic adventure

—— Bear Grylls

I think it's pathetic he isn't cycling home again

—— Ian Botham

Completely potty

—— Aggers

A moving, well-paced and thrilling story of the most noble of all gap years

—— Daniel Norcross , The Cricketer

I didn't like it; I loved it ... a cracking read

—— Tim Brooke-Taylor

If you love cricket, cycling, adventure, travel and sobbing - read this book!

—— Jim Carter, Downton Abbey actor and chairman of Hampstead Cricket Club

Oli's enthusiasm made even me consider getting back on a bike again

—— Mike Brearley

A funny and poignant tale for anyone who’s ever dreamt of jacking in the day job for an adventure

—— Western Morning News

The book is a very readable and often funny account of an unusual adventure on a bike

—— Cycling World

A funny and poignant tale for anyone who's ever dreamt of quitting their day job to embark on an adventure

—— Jude Brosnan , Wanderlust Travel Magazine

A salient overview of the past quarter-century

—— Times Literary Supplement

The deserving winner of this year's William Hill Sports Book of the Year award

—— Chris Maume , Independent

This is a breakthrough book by one of the leading young lights of Australian writing

—— Cath Turner , Nudge

Despite it being an almost impossible subject to write about, Krien has produced a brilliant, disarming, thought-provoking book

—— Malachy Clerkin , Irish Times

A thought-provoking book that every aspiring male footballer should be made to read…as part of their apprenticeship

—— Susan Egelstaff , Herald

A worthy, if unexpected, winner

—— Simon Redfern , Independent On Sunday

A depressing but essential read

—— Sharon Wheeler , Times Higher Education

an intelligent and unsettling exploration of how sport’s macho culture and exclusion of women enable abuse

—— David Evans, Four Stars , Independent on Sunday

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