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Ashley Gray

Unforgiven, The: Missionaries or Mercenaries? The Untold Story of the Rebel West Indian Cricketers Who Toured Apartheid South Africa: Missionaries or ... Cricketers Who Toured Apartheid South Africa Hardcover – 20 April 2020

by Ashley Gray (Author)

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In the early 80s, 20 West Indian cricketers were paid more than $100,000 each to take part in rebel tours of apartheid South Africa. When they returned home to the Caribbean they were banned for life and shunned by their countrymen. Some turned to drugs, some to God, while others found themselves begging on the streets. This is their untold story. Ashley Gray grew up fending off bouncers and sledges in Newcastle, New South Wales, before moving to Sydney where he works as a sports writer and subeditor. His stories have appeared in Wisden Quarterly, Fox Sports, The Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and All Out Cricket. He plays hard-fought backyard cricket with his young son and daughter, who are already showing a rare talent for destroying laundry windows.

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

PITCH PUBLISHING
Publication date

20 April 2020
Dimensions

16.51 x 3.05 x 24.13 cm
ISBN-10

1785315323
ISBN-13

978-1785315329
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Review

"It was a hopelessly naive comment but, rather than simply condemn, Gray’s skill is not just in unearthing these former cricketers ― including Rowe, living out his years in Florida ― but in allowing each to relive their fateful choice to go to South Africa... Gray paints a compelling portrait of each of them in a moving and thought-provoking read." Matt Dickinson, Sunday Times Sports Books of the Year; "Ashley Gray's thoroughly engaging dissection of the tours examines the moral complexity of the matter and the long-term effects on the rebels." Steven Carroll, The Age; "One can feel nothing but admiration for the tenacity of Gray's pursuit... The Unforgiven is richly sewn with tragedy... It is a truism to say history is written by the victors... The Unforgiven belatedly gives the losers their say." Gideon Haigh; "Possibly the biggest surprise of Ashley Gray's painstaking, sometimes harrowing, awkward and amusing, investigation of those tours is that it is highly nuanced. In The Unforgiven: Mercenaries or Missionaries?, Gray digs beneath the obvious motivation of money to discover that for many of the rebels, the tour was either their only hope of carving a career from cricket or their way of retaliating against the closed shop they perceived the West Indies side to be... We are left feeling the rebels were neither mercenaries nor missionaries, just lost souls." Alyson Rudd, The Times; "Sometimes it helps to come at these things from an angle. There's an excellent new book about cricket and race called The Unforgiven by the Australian writer Ashley Gray. The Unforgiven tells the story of West Indian rebel tours to apartheid South Africa in the 1980s, focusing on the later lives of those players who took the Blood Rand." Barney Ronay, The Guardian; "Gray, an Australian journalist, is unflinching in his portrayal of Murray and the other rebels... [he] is unsparing, if also deeply humane, in his account of the players' fates, those castigated by their communities as race traitors: "Cashed up, but ground down, some coped with ostracism by deserting their homelands, others sought refuge in drugs and religion. The tyranny of inter-island distance ensured that there would be no genuine rebel brotherhood. They were on their own"." --Alex Wade, The Times Literary Supplement; "A powerful and necessary book... brings the rebels out from the demonised whole and gives air and dignity to what are for the most lives blighted and broken by the decision to take the money and go." Wisden Cricket Monthly; "Gray tells the rebels' stories with insight and panache" David Brearley, The Daily Telegraph; "I finished The Unforgiven in one afternoon. It was compelling... one of the best cricket books I've read." Ken Piesse, Cricket Books (Australia); "The Unforgiven is riveting." Sharda Ugra, Senior editor, ESPNcricinfo; "The Unforgiven should be mandatory reading for anyone genuinely interested... in Caribbean cricket history." Fazeer Mohammed, Trinidad Express; "The Unforgiven is a fascinating and engrossing book and Ashley Gray deserves great credit for bringing the story of these West Indian cricketers to our book shelves." Andrew Roberts Cricket Statistics; "Gray, who travelled to the Caribbean several times for the book, has revealed a fresh voice and a talent to be rivalled among the best cricket writers in the world." Barry Nicholls, Australian Cricket Digest; "Cricket is a game enhanced by great books and Ashley Gray's The Unforgiven is an excellent dive into one of the most intriguing stories in the sporting world." Robert Craddock, The Courier-Mail;

About the Author

Ashley Gray works as a sports writer and subeditor. His stories have appeared in Wisden Quarterly, Fox Sports, the Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, and All Out Cricket.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ PITCH PUBLISHING (20 April 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1785315323
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1785315329
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.51 x 3.05 x 24.13 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 83,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 92 in Sporting Events
- 105 in English Cricket
- 173 in History of Sports (Books)

Customer Reviews:
163 ratings

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Top reviews from Australia

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Revealing story of what happened afterwards to each and every player on the rebel tour

Reviewed in Australia on 14 August 2020

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Clearly a labour of love for the author.
I'm sure it would have been much easier, quicker and cheaper to just focus the narrative around the main players involved on the rebel tour.
Instead he set out to try and contact and interview every player involved in the two rebel tours.
Every player involved has his own individual chapter and story.
As a result, it becomes much more just than a sports story.
It is fascinating to compare and contrast the paths of each player, pre and post rebel tour.
Why we make the choices we do in life and why some of us succeed and some don't.
Highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

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Martin Newman

One person found this helpful

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HarryJoy

The best cricket book in decades

Reviewed in Australia on 10 October 2021

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Ashley Gray you have done your research into a forgotten chapter of world cricket, and have presented an entertaining and enjoyable read. Your writing style takes me to the Caribbean. I recommend this book to cricket tragics and non cricket tragics. It is a story that was waiting to be told.

Reviewed in Australia on 14 July 2020

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A huge effort in contacting, researching and interviewing these men. Insights into Windies challenges after dominating 70s and 80s cricket.

One person found this helpful

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Mr Timothy Byron

Great read

Reviewed in Australia on 17 August 2020

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A great read into a forgotten part of cricket’s history. So many tragic outcomes for so many of these West Indian cricketers.

One person found this helpful

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sam

Story worth reading

Reviewed in Australia on 15 January 2021

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Very interesting story - sad how they were treated post tour. Seems like a more fun time to play cricket.

Reviewed in Australia on 11 July 2020

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Great book

One person found this helpful

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Nigel Bowen

A magisterial effort

Reviewed in Australia on 18 October 2020

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Gray captures a slice of history of interest to even those of us with little to no interest in cricket

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Top reviews from other countries

Karen

Magnificent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 June 2020

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I purchased this book for my father, a proud Jamaican man who lives and breathes cricket. He has incredible knowledge of the Windies, but he found this book in his words ‘Magnifient’. He would recount many of the heartbreaking events that occurred after the players went back to their lives after the South Africa tour. Losing jobs, turning to alcohol, homelessness. The decision to tour had catastrophic consequences. I’m definitely reading it after, that’s if I can get it off him!

9 people found this helpful

Michael1966

A story of hypocrisy and betrayal

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 April 2021

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This well-written book exposes many harsh realities about the attitude of politicians and cricket administrators. The appalling condemnation and treatment of players who chose to express their talent in South Africa should be a source of national embarrassment for the West Indies. One of the most powerful chapters is about the captain, Lawrence Rowe, who reveals the myths and falsehoods uttered by the modern-day virtue signaller Michael Holding. An interesting sub-text is the drug abuse and sexual irresponsibility which characterised Caribbean cricketers. Equally unpleasant are the reflections of one Ray Wynter who revelled in inflicting injury on his opponents. The author provides minimal detail of the actual cricket played but, perhaps unwittingly, explodes the myth of carefree calypso cricket to reveal distrust, rancour, hypocrisy and betrayal.

2 people found this helpful

J. R. Emmerson

Excellent, interesting, readable, vital

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 October 2020

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Amongst the mass of cricket books there has been next to nothing produced about these 'rebel' tours to South Africa in the early 1980s. Ashley Gray's account of the West Indies teams that decided to tour in 1983/4 is absolutely fascinating and provides a wealth of detail and insight into the players involved. Little is realised of the quality of cricket played, nor the packed houses that the touring team played too and this book sheds light on that, and the very positive reaction the West Indies encountered as they played. Gray has tried to speak to everyone possible and let them tell their side, looking at the reasons why they went and what happened as a result. It's a very 'human' account too, as the 'rebel' players have had a range of experiences since those days, some encouraging and uplifting, many sombre, a couple deeply saddening. This is a proper journalist telling a proper cricket story and is one of the best recent cricket books you could buy.

One person found this helpful

JA

Interesting review

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 August 2020

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An interesting review of the West indian rebel tours of South Africa, compiled by means of a separate chapter for each player, looking at how they participated and were affected individually. The downside of this approach is quite a lot of repetition, but still a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the rebel tours and their consequences.

One person found this helpful

John R. Challis

West Indies cricketers in South Africa

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 August 2020

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A true story how the West Indies players who toured South Africa were treated afterwards when they returned home from the rebel tour? so truly shocking the way that they were treated? I had no idea and was glad that I read it as it happens as an umpire and cricket supporter I had met several players mentioned in this book.

One person found this helpful

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