Cricket in the Manning 1893-2015
Australian History Social History Regional History Biography & Memoir Sports Reference Collectible Sports Books Cricket History
Cricket in the Manning 1893-2015 is the definitive social history of Australian country cricket, tracing 122 seasons of club, district and rep games played along New South Wales’ Manning River. Author Les Eastaway—former captain, statistician and lifelong Manning Valley resident—has compiled batting averages, scorecards, team photos and newspaper clippings into a single chronological narrative that shows how Saturday cricket shaped rural identity, kept towns alive during two world wars and produced Sheffield Shield players from paddock wickets. Every premiership, every drought-affected season and every touring English side that passed through is recorded, making the book both an encyclopaedic reference and a captivating true-story collection for cricket tragics and local-history buffs alike.
What lifts this copy above the usual second-hand find is that it is hand-signed by Les Eastaway on the title page—an increasingly scarce signature because the book was only ever sold through Manning Valley newsagencies and most copies were heavily used on pavilion benches. The paperback itself is in very good condition: no previous owner markings, no dog-eared corners, no smoke or moisture odours, and the square spine is still tight enough for comfortable photocopying of family member stats or regional research. It is ready for immediate shelving or gift-wrapping without the usual ex-library stamps or inscriptions that plague regional sporting histories.
Collectors of Australian cricketana, teachers looking for authentic local-history resources, or former players chasing their own 1970s bowling figures will all find value here. The detailed index lets researchers trace a surname in seconds, while the anecdotal chapter introductions read like fireside stories from the club captain—perfect for young adults discovering how sport stitched colonial towns into modern communities. Keywords: signed Australian cricket book, Manning Valley cricket history, country NSW sport reference, Les Eastaway autograph, district cricket statistics Australia.
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