Second Innings On Men, Mental Health and Cricket

Life is like facing an opening bowler: the pitch is unknown, the ball is new, and you don't know what will be delivered. A reflection on Barry Nicholls's life, Second Innings explores the author’s struggle with mental health and the road to recovery, using his love of the game of cricket to make sense of it all. Set partly in the present, Second Innings includes flashbacks through five decades of life and focuses particularly on the lives of the men across the generations of Barry Nicholls’ own family, and tells the story of Barry’s journey from teacher to print journalist to broadcaster.

A former A-grade district cricketer and schoolteacher, Barry Nicholls has written about cricket for decades and is a broadcaster with the ABC, where he has worked since 2003. After 25 years of playing cricket he now enjoys spending his weekends watching his children embrace the challenges and pleasures of participating in sport. Barry lives in Perth, and has learned a bit about second chances in life.