Book event for Second Innings: On Men, Mental Health and Cricket
Will Yeoman interviews Barry Nicholls
Around 30 people attended an evening hosted by Writing WA’s Will Yeoman at the Western Australian State Library. The event was a platform to discuss the profound themes of Second Innings: On Men, Mental Health, and Cricket. Below are some observations about the book and the night.
Barry Nicholls and Graham Lewis
Forty years ago, almost to the month, my long-time friend Graham Lewis and I shared a 150-run partnership for the Ashford Cricket Club in the annual fixture against the Presidents Eleven in England. Graham contributed most of those against an attack, including former Australian opening bowler Dave Gilbert and NSW all-rounder Phil Marks. My memories of the match are of Graham hoisting several sixes over the mid-wicket boundary so easily it was as if the ball was arriving in slow motion. Despite the short tree-lined boundaries square of the wicket, it was no mean feat.
Another memory was my father attending the game—he was in the UK continuing his collaborative work with the Royal Radar Establishment, which had begun in 1965 when our family lived in Worcestershire for nearly four years. The match against the Presidents eleven was one to remember. It was a long, midsummer’s day that stretched into the early evening, with the result coming in the final over of the match. The type of day that you hope will never end.
My point is that sometimes, life treats you well. It is as if you see the ball like a watermelon. Other times, you can barely lay bat on ball.
Graham and my father were significant figures in one way or another when I recently spoke about my book Second Innings: On Men, Mental Health and Cricket. My father had long since passed, although the memories of his indelible mark on my life remain. Graham had travelled from Adelaide and was seated in the front row. It is fair to say that the last decade had not been kind to Graham, whom I have known since we were both teenagers studying Phys Ed at the now-defunct SACAE campus at Underdale. Two bouts of blood cancer and the debilitating aftermath of stem cell treatment rendered Graham, for some years, barely mobile – his life turned around by his relentless will to live and recover, and more recently, a newly invented ‘walking bike’ called The Alinker (named after the Dutch woman who invented it to help her ageing mother – one of those ideas you wish you came up with yourself). Graham is, therefore, very familiar with the resilience required to overcome severe challenges in life.
And so here we were, all these years later, albeit briefly staying at my apartment in East Perth, within a lofted drive of the WACA, sharing the same roof as we had while playing in the Surrey Championship League. While it wasn’t quite a matter of turning the clock back four decades, for both of us, now in our early 60s, there was a great rekindling of stories: the friends made, the lager consumed, the miners’ strikes, and the West Indies trouncing England during that summer of 1984.
On the night of the book event, Will Yeoman skillfully led the discussion, delving into life and writing with great perception. The conversation touched on various themes, from resilience, stigma and growing up in a turbulent household to the role of sports in our lives and communities, the power of storytelling, and the writing process. Second Innings weaves these themes into its narrative, with cricket providing the through-line, not the book’s substance.
At the end of the talk, the audience asked questions. Graham was one of them. He wondered how he could have missed the tumult in my life described in Second Innings. I suppose that is the point about trauma and mental health—one learns to hide it well, much like a magician. It shows that no matter how well you know someone, you may not necessarily know what is happening in their life.
Barry Nicholls chats with Almanacker Peter Baulderstone
The stigma attached to poor mental health is still present, although thankfully less so now. Like many things in life, mental health is not life-defining, nor should it be. At some stage, most of us are affected and lead productive, vibrant and enjoyable lives. In cricketing terms, you can’t do much about the unplayable balls, but the ones on a good length just outside off stump can be quickly dealt with if you have the technique and willingness to do the work. Discussions surrounding mental health that reach beyond the superficial are not just worth having; they are crucial—for all of us.
Some of the audience from the event
Graham Lewis adds his observations of the event with Barry.
Observations
As a novice in literary circles, I had little idea of what and who I’d encounter. Would I be surrounded by ‘arty’ types articulating a well-formulated critical view of a piece.
I should have known differently. Barry’s ‘publicity team’ had assembled a mixed crowd, some with a keen eye for sporting history, others were health professionals, a few friends and the rest keen to hear from the author.
“He’s drawn a bigger crowd than the social researcher Hugh McKay”, observed Writing WA’s Will Yeoman.
Once all were seated it was clear that a career with the national broadcaster had made Barry very comfortable in front of the ‘microphone’. He eloquently spoke of Second Innings being a ‘different type’ of writing compared with his ‘once’ removed historical publications. It required putting himself in the story, to reveal details of the nightly ‘war’ that raged between his parents, to give graphic accounts of his elder brother’s suicide attempts and then his ongoing ‘battle’ to resist the dark clouds and inner rage which drove him towards the abyss.
Contrary to the experience of many who venture into the memoir genre, Second Innings was written quickly and painlessly. Also at odds with others was the fact that Barry did not find the exercise therapeutic, but rather an opportunity to tell a ‘ripping’ good story.
Once released Barry found many people approached him to share personal accounts of similar experiences, a perhaps unexpected but very positive effect. People seemed keen to linger after the Q&A, perhaps indicative that the event had a similar effect. It created a little space for people to talk about mental health in a deeper more meaningful way.
To see more about Second Innings: On Men, Mental Health and Cricket go to
Barry Nicholls is a former A-grade district cricketer who has written about the sport for three decades. He also broadcasted on ABC Radio for nearly 20 years. Barry has written nine books, including You Only Get One Innings: Family, Mates and the Wisdom of Cricket and For Those Who Wait: The Barry Jarman Story and The Pocket History of the Ashes. He has also contributed to Inside Sport, Wisden Cricketers’ Almanac Australia and other publications.
You can read more from Barry Nicholls Here.
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