Now that England's cricket team have not only won the Ashes but also retained them by crushing the Aussies on their own soil, things aren't quite so rosy for Australian sport. When this book was published though they were firmly in the ascendancy. In an effort to find out why Englishman Richard Beard decides to take on Australians at various sports. He also hopes that in beating them it would help redress the balance, because at that time English sporting victories over the Australians were extremely rare.
I had expected this book to be a light-hearted read but instead it turns out to be a more serious investigation into why the Aussie's excel at sport, with humour being in short supply.
Whilst Beard makes his point and makes it well, it becomes a little laboured at times and I did not find this book a particularly enjoyable read. His conclusions are reasonable, but surely the simple reason why Australians tend to win more Olympic medals than the Brits is because their climate is much more suitable for taking part in sport.