The day the Australia’s cricketers came to Sunderland

Sunderland Echo Article: The day the Australia’s cricketers came to Sunderland, 11th April, 2013 "WEARSIDE cricket fans will be bowled over by a new book. Today we take a look. HOWZAT! A new book featuring Wearside’s links to a historic Ashes game planned for this summer has just been published by sports historian and archivist Keith Gregson. Australia in Sunderland: The Making of A Test Match details ten games played by Australia within the town between 1878 and 1977 – complete with archive photos and documents. “On August 9, 2013, the Australian cricket team will step onto the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground for a history-making Ashes Test – the first ever on Durham soil,” said Keith. “For cricket fans this is the final page of the final chapter of a fairy tale which started to turn into reality in the 1990s, with Durham County’s move to First Class cricket status. “However, there is a already a solid historical link between Australia and the County, and nowhere is this more obvious than in the ten matches played by Australia in Sunderland.” Wearside’s cricketing roots are thought to date to at least 1801, just before the Napoleonic Wars, when the first recorded local games were held on Monkwearmouth Shore. It would be another seven years, however, before Sunderland Cricket Club – whose members would later beat the Australians during their first visit to these shores – was documented...." Read the full article here. Keith Gregson will be at Waterstones in Sunderland signing books on Thursday, 1st August 12.00 - 2.00. Australia in Sunderland: The Making of a Test Match is available from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble and Amazon, in the UK Amazon and Waterstones. For other countries Book Depository offer free delivery worldwide.