About Me
James Knight
FounderCrackastory
https://crackastory.com
Canberra, ACT, Australia
Master of Education (Specialisation: Contemporary Literacies), Educator/presenter at schools and business. Founder of Crackastory.com and media contractor at Knightwriter Productions.
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My Activity
question
Q: G'day all. Just a heads-up about the middle grade kids' book 'Spirit of the Warriors' that will be released later this year by Crack-A-Story Publishing. The manuscript will soon be going to the printer and will be released in time for India's next cricket tour to Australia later this year. Here's a tease from the blurb. Smiles from afar, Knighty.
'It’s the start of an Australian summer, and a drought is raging in the bush. For strapping farm boy, Jack Riordan, swinging a cricket bat is the best way to escape from daily hardships. But what happens when an Indian family arrives in the small town of Stony Creek to begin a new life?
Suddenly, Jack is no longer the number one player in the district. That honour belongs to Ajeet Sharma who quickly becomes the star of the local school. Despite jealousies and misunderstandings, the boys must somehow work together on the field.
As their journey progresses, they learn each has painful secrets that have affected their lives. What are they? And what can the boys learn from them? The answers come from the strength of human spirit. From the author of 'My Life: Brett Lee' comes the story of Ajeet and Jack, and the unpredictable fortunes of the Stony Creek Public School cricket team.'
'It’s the start of an Australian summer, and a drought is raging in the bush. For strapping farm boy, Jack Riordan, swinging a cricket bat is the best way to escape from daily hardships. But what happens when an Indian family arrives in the small town of Stony Creek to begin a new life?
Suddenly, Jack is no longer the number one player in the district. That honour belongs to Ajeet Sharma who quickly becomes the star of the local school. Despite jealousies and misunderstandings, the boys must somehow work together on the field.
As their journey progresses, they learn each has painful secrets that have affected their lives. What are they? And what can the boys learn from them? The answers come from the strength of human spirit. From the author of 'My Life: Brett Lee' comes the story of Ajeet and Jack, and the unpredictable fortunes of the Stony Creek Public School cricket team.'
answered
Q: What does club cricket mean to you?
A: Club cricket is about a sense of belonging. Yet there is an irony in this belonging because many of the people we play with and against come from different walks of life and have different attitudes, philosophies and motivations.
Yet, the club and the cricket can, at their finest and most powerful, help us unite and shape vital community values including respect, understanding, tolerance, and empathy.
Club cricket is a place of learning that stretches far beyond the boundary.
It is unique among sports because we can spend as much time off the field during a game as we do on the field.
It's these times that so often provide the gold nuggets, such as the building of friendships and the growth of understanding about people and places.
I also find it fascinating that club cricket is, as expected, a nursery for youngsters learning about the game, yet at the same time it can be somewhat of a shelter for older players who find a purpose and comfort in familiar surrounds. (It can be so hard to let go!)
Above all, club cricket represents a micro community amidst bigger communities. If we lose our respect for club cricket, we are damaging cricket at large.
Yet, the club and the cricket can, at their finest and most powerful, help us unite and shape vital community values including respect, understanding, tolerance, and empathy.
Club cricket is a place of learning that stretches far beyond the boundary.
It is unique among sports because we can spend as much time off the field during a game as we do on the field.
It's these times that so often provide the gold nuggets, such as the building of friendships and the growth of understanding about people and places.
I also find it fascinating that club cricket is, as expected, a nursery for youngsters learning about the game, yet at the same time it can be somewhat of a shelter for older players who find a purpose and comfort in familiar surrounds. (It can be so hard to let go!)
Above all, club cricket represents a micro community amidst bigger communities. If we lose our respect for club cricket, we are damaging cricket at large.
question
Q: The plastic green bowl sits on a ledge just inside the entrance to my mother’s home. Once, many years ago---indeed way back to my childhood---it was used for mixing salad, but nowadays, it holds nothing but golf balls that are in various stages of decay. They are dusty and scuffed, one is split, and another has evolved into a pimpled egg. Certainly not one of them is in good enough condition to grace a tee. However, it’s probable that is where they all spent their finer days before they surrendered to the same fate: plonked in a paddock to pass the seasons with the galvanised burr, prickly pears, and thistles.
My mum (who is closing in on Bradman's average) lives on a piece of dirt on the outskirts of the Australian country town, Gunnedah, in north west New South Wales. Its name comes from the local Indigenous Kamilaroi people. Translated, it is the ‘place of white stones’, a coincidence for an area in which Titlelists, Srixons, and Top Flites can be randomly found well away from the golf course.
My mum (who is closing in on Bradman's average) lives on a piece of dirt on the outskirts of the Australian country town, Gunnedah, in north west New South Wales. Its name comes from the local Indigenous Kamilaroi people. Translated, it is the ‘place of white stones’, a coincidence for an area in which Titlelists, Srixons, and Top Flites can be randomly found well away from the golf course.
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/311/james-knight/blog/1958/having-a-ball
blog post
The plastic green bowl sits on a ledge just inside the entrance to my mother’s home. Once, many years ago---indeed way back to my childhood---it was used for mixing salad, but nowadays, it holds ...
question
Q: The cap: Serviceman's Cricket Club, Gunnedah, back in the 1980's - we won a few premierships, but that's irrelevant.
This cap is a biography of time and place.
Of droughts and wash-outs. Of Dennis and Brian rushing off to the TAB at tea to place a few bets. Of utes parked nose-in to the boundary. Of cigarette packets to mark out run-ups. Of sex education lessons while listening to the banter in the weatherboard dressing rooms. Of playing a few players short coz harvest was on. Of the old fellas who weren't that old and us young fellas who were too young to know better. Of wearing my first pair of spikes, and marking centre in 'em for the very first time.
Of Mick and Wicksy and Old Tom and others giving their time to be umpires. Of drawing picket fences in the scorebook. Of thinking the longer the run-up, the faster they were. Of looking in awe at another Brian who had a bit of a finger missing, but still took blinders in slips. Of dreaming of big scores. Of seeing a duck next to my name in the local rag.
And, among many other priceless moments, the day Sam my skipper told me in no uncertain manner: "'F-off, the game's not about you, it's about the team."
This cap is a biography of time and place.
Of droughts and wash-outs. Of Dennis and Brian rushing off to the TAB at tea to place a few bets. Of utes parked nose-in to the boundary. Of cigarette packets to mark out run-ups. Of sex education lessons while listening to the banter in the weatherboard dressing rooms. Of playing a few players short coz harvest was on. Of the old fellas who weren't that old and us young fellas who were too young to know better. Of wearing my first pair of spikes, and marking centre in 'em for the very first time.
Of Mick and Wicksy and Old Tom and others giving their time to be umpires. Of drawing picket fences in the scorebook. Of thinking the longer the run-up, the faster they were. Of looking in awe at another Brian who had a bit of a finger missing, but still took blinders in slips. Of dreaming of big scores. Of seeing a duck next to my name in the local rag.
And, among many other priceless moments, the day Sam my skipper told me in no uncertain manner: "'F-off, the game's not about you, it's about the team."
question
Q: In country regional cricket men often play with teenagers. How does this affect leadership and captaincy when there is an understanding that cricket is a platform for personal growth beyond the boundary?
question
Q: Recently, I asked my son: ‘Who are your favourite cricketers?’
Two names stood out in his batch of answers: Pakistan’s Imam-ul-Haq and England’s Jack Leach.
‘Because they both wear glasses,’ said my bespectacled 11-year-old.
His statement struck me hard. It wasn’t so much an acknowledgement of the players he watched, but an acknowledgement of his own identity and sense of belonging. My son was like Imam and Jack. Or more tellingly, Imam and Jack were like him. Perhaps old-fashioned perception would shove all three of them into a class of nerds, but times change, and nowadays, perception walks
Two names stood out in his batch of answers: Pakistan’s Imam-ul-Haq and England’s Jack Leach.
‘Because they both wear glasses,’ said my bespectacled 11-year-old.
His statement struck me hard. It wasn’t so much an acknowledgement of the players he watched, but an acknowledgement of his own identity and sense of belonging. My son was like Imam and Jack. Or more tellingly, Imam and Jack were like him. Perhaps old-fashioned perception would shove all three of them into a class of nerds, but times change, and nowadays, perception walks
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/311/james-knight/blog/321/todd-murphy-you-make-my-heart-sing
blog post
Sentimental. The smell of linseed oil and horsh from the Showground stables. Kikuyu runners. Scoresheets on clipboards. Dads umpiring in sandals. Terry towelling ...
question
Q: Can anyone tell me what the protocols are for head-knocks in junior cricket? I witnessed an incident on the weekend when a young boy was hit in the helmet by a fast bowler. Thankfully, he appeared to be be okay. However, no one knew for certain what to do. On further digging, we found some guidelines from CA, but they were primarily directed at concussion incidents. As the research now suggests, a person doesn't need to be concussed to suffer head trauma.
In the case of children in particular, should there be more stringent guidelines in place to avoid any confusion? EG: If hit in the head or helmet a child should take no further part in the game.
In the case of children in particular, should there be more stringent guidelines in place to avoid any confusion? EG: If hit in the head or helmet a child should take no further part in the game.
blog post
The cap: Serviceman's Cricket Club, Gunnedah, back in the 1980's - we won a few premierships, but that's irrelevant.This cap is a biography of time and place.Of droughts an ...
blog post
Recently, I asked my son: ‘Who are your favourite cricketers?’Two names stood out in his batch of answers: Pakistan’s Imam-ul-Haq and England’s Jack Leach. ‘Because they bot ...
blog post
As Australia and India launch into another test series, there will be the inevitable discussions about the greatest moments and players that these two giants have given us. Perhaps one stands above ...
answered
Q: What is the most surreal moment you've experienced in cricket?
A: A grade game in the bush. We were in all sorts of trouble defending a score. The other team was one wicket down and cruising to victory. One of our players was called to the boundary by his wife and informed his father had died. He left, and our skipper called us together and said: 'Let's do this for so-and-so'. The opposition proceeded to lose 9 wickets for next to nothing and we won by a whisker.
