Ashes to Ashes

Gideon Haigh, Australia's best cricket writer, analyses and captures the drama of every day's play in the historic double Ashes series of 2013-14.


Between July 2013 and January 2014 Test cricket's original rivals, Australia and England, played out their ultimate showdown- ten Test matches, five on each side of the world. The result was a sporting epic, contests of gruelling intensity in front of packed houses from start to finish, with the Ashes prised from England's grip of more than four years as Australia turned initial disarray into outright dominance.

How did Australia go from a 0-3 failure away to a 5-0 triumph at home? Gideon Haigh saw every ball bowled - a sportswriting odyssey in itself - and Ashes to Ashes collects his firsthand reporting from both hemispheres of this unrepeatable experience.

'Consecutive Ashes series were bound to produce an epic. Such scheduling seemed conceived for Gideon Haigh, given ten Tests, plenty of vitriol and one almighty reversal of fortune to weave into his latest cricketing master work...Like watching Test cricket, reading Haigh is about enjoying the accumulation of detail along the way.' Inside Sport

'Superlative...Even with saturation coverage of the Ashes, Haigh's account remains singular and compelling.' Sunday Age

'Sportswriter Gideon Haigh saw every ball of both series and he takes us on a wonderful journey.' South Coast Register

Praise for Gideon Haigh's On Warne

'Brilliantly incisive but also affectionate . . . Packed with insight and interpretation.' Weekend Australian

'Bloody brilliant . . . Haigh cuts out the extraneous information and concentrates on the essence.' The Guardian

'Exceptional . . . engrossing.' Herald Sun