Calypso Cricket is Roland Fishman’s vivid, behind-the-scenes account of the Australian cricket team’s 1991 tour of the West Indies. 
 
While Calypso Cricket is lively and evocative, it also became infamous for the controversies it stirred. Roland Fishman’s reporting went beyond the boundary ropes, including candid—some argued intrusive—details about Australian players’ private lives, particularly their interactions with women during the West Indies tour. Many in the cricketing community felt this crossed the line of journalistic ethics, with the coverage seen as sensationalist rather than sporting reportage.
 
One of the most notable public fallouts came from Greg Matthews, the Australian all-rounder, who had initially helped Fishman gain access to the team. Matthews later accused Fishman of deception, claiming he had been misled into believing the project would be a respectful narrative about cricket and the Caribbean way of life, not a tell-all exposé. These accusations of dishonesty and betrayal of trust cast a shadow over the book and contributed to its notoriety.
 
Because of this controversy, Calypso Cricket occupies an unusual place in cricket writing. Unlike the celebratory or analytical tour accounts of the era, it is remembered more for the uproar it caused than for its contribution to cricket literature.
 
For collectors, its significance lies partly in this notoriety—it represents a rare instance where a cricket book itself became a story, highlighting tensions between journalistic freedom, player privacy, and the traditions of cricket writing.
Buy now from The Fine Art Hut.