The Rules of Backyard Cricket (41 page)

The characters in this book are not meant to be real people in disguise. They are all products of impressions and half-forgotten memories, with a couple of exceptions: Hope Sweeney, who was a much-revered figure in Victorian cricket, and Amy Harris, who it turns out shares a name with a real journalist based in Sydney. It goes without saying that the real Ms Harris has never investigated Pitbull Freer, nor interviewed the Keefes.

I only ever had one mentor in cricket and that was my father Julian: patient, ever-available and a deadly exponent of swing bowling. Lastly, because someone's bound to ask, yes I played backyard cricket against my brothers. Thousands of hours of it. We did microwave the ball and most of the rules herein are rules we used. It got pretty willing at times and the dog was struck once or twice, but no-one was ever seriously injured and we all remain the best of friends.