Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes

The Story of an Ashes Classic

By: David Kynaston, Harry Ricketts

Narrated by: David Thorpe

Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

'An epic contest superbly retold . . . a fascinating slice of social history, it is a spellbinding read' Vic Marks
'A scrupulous and subtle evocation of one's of cricket's forgotten classics' Gideon Haigh

David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts relive the compelling story of a gripping Ashes-deciding Test match that heralded the dawn of an new era for English cricket.

The Ashes are on the line as England and Australia meet at Old Trafford in July 1961 for the fourth Test. For most of the match, England have their noses ahead – until a dramatic final day, of intensely fluctuating fortunes, as the tourists eventually storm to victory. In short, an Ashes classic, told here by David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts in vivid and immersive detail, recreating the sometimes agonising experience of millions of armchair viewers and listeners.

At the heart of Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes are two strikingly contrasting personalities: England’s captain, the Cambridge-educated, risk-averse, establishment-minded Peter May; and Australia’s captain, the charismatic, risk-taking, open-minded Benaud – a contrast not only between two individuals, but between two cricketing and indeed national cultures. Whereas Benaud and Australia symbolised a new, meritocratic era, May and England seemed, in what was still an amateur-dominated game, to look back to an old imperial legacy out of sync with the dawning Sixties.

The sharply observed final chapters take the story up to the present day. They relate the ‘after-lives’ of the match’s key participants, including Ted Dexter, Bill Lawry and Fred Trueman as well as May and Benaud; trace the continuing chequered relationship between English cricket and broader social change; and, after six more decades of fierce Ashes rivalry, wrestle with the perennial conundrum for all England supporters – why do the baggy green caps usually beat us?

©2024 David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts (P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

It will fascinate the keenest cricket followers, taking us back with shrewd insight to a famous Ashes Test match, but it is simultaneously an account of the social issues of the time, which are illuminated in numerous, often subtle ways throughout (Mike Brearley)

A highly enjoyable account with helpful historical context of one of the great Ashes test matches. The authors' evocation of the summer of 1961 paint the picture exactly as this superannuated 12-year-old remembers it as he sat on the grass behind the boundary rope, absorbed in the pendulum swings of the cricketing drama being played out in front of him (Colin Shindler, author of MANCHESTER UNITED RUINED MY LIFE)

Rekindled fantastic memories of a historic afternoon at Old Trafford…the detail offered by the authors revealed plenty of stories forgotten or maybe unknown to me. A comprehensive and interesting read (Graham McKenzie, Australia’s opening bowler in the 1961 Old Trafford Test)

David Kynaston is amazing: instead of sleeping between each magnum opus, he turns out a splendid jeu d’esprit. He and Ricketts have masterfully re-created the long-ago rivalry of the conformist Englishman and the inventive Aussie, and guess who wins? (Matthew Engel, writer and former editor of WISDEN)