Lazenby John F. Libri

John Lazenby's interest in cricket began with a glimpse of his grandfather's old leather cricket bag stored among the rafters. His curiosity piqued, one day he decided to climb up and explore its contents. The faded blazer, heavy ball and linseed-scented bats exerted a subtle influence on him. This re-emerged decades later when he discovered a box of letters written by his grandfather, the England cricketer J. R. Mason, while on a boat to Australia for the 1897-8 Ashes tour.Inspired by the letters, Lazenby retraced the journey, passing through Australian cities and remote towns that his grandfather had visited on the tour to tell the story of not only Mason and his fellow tourists but of late Victorian attitudes both at home and abroad.