The Rules of Backyard Cricket

'Blow me down if I didn't hang on every word.' -- Clare Wright * Best Books of 2016, Australian *

'Funny, sad and oddly touching...Beautifully written and acutely observed, The Rules of Backyard Cricket is a noir tour de force...Original Australian crime fiction of the first order.

-- Sue Turnbull * Sydney Morning Herald *
'The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong, while classified as 'crime', is a compelling literary novel dissecting toxic sporting culture and its fallout.' -- Paddy O'Reilly * Australian Book Review, 2016 Books of the Year *
'Suffice it to say the back cover blurb that draws a parallel between The Rules of Backyard Cricket and Peter Temple's best work is no exaggeration. Serong pulls off what I consider an Australian crime writer's most sought-after quinella (to use a metaphor from another sport): a literary crime novel that qualifies as genuine Australian noir.'
-- Angela Savage

'Serong writes pithy, pin-sharp dialogue...The book is expertly plotted, and its noirish climax with its dark drama and its final twists, is devastating. Get out and buy this book; it is the best new novel I've read this year.'

* Crime Time *

'The Rules of Backyard Cricket hits all other cricket books I've read to date for six. This tale is not just about cricket, it's about the good, the bad and the ugly and a timely story, too, with sporting integrity often in question.'

* Weekly Times *

'Serong is an elegant writer who can move effortlessly from laugh out-loud funny to elegiac to downright touching...Those of us who played back garden cricket and remember how seriously it was taken by all concerned will lap up every single run and wicket in this book.'

* Crime Review *

'The writing is sharp and the flawed characters compelling...Serong bowls with a wry eye.'

* Otago Daily Times *

'Jock Serong's gripping narrative is a compassionate exploration of masculinity and humanity as he chillingly questions whether we truly know those who are closest to us.' * Good Reading *
'One of the great novels written about sport...Delicious. It's the top read of the summer.' * Stuff.co.nz *
'My favourite reading experience of the year (and I don't even like cricket).' * Heather Taylor Johnson, Sydney Morning Herald's Year in Reading *