Cooper Not Out

Cooper Not Out is the story Australia needs right now. This beautifully written book highlights life’s simple pleasures, like a game of country cricket, but its emotional complexity is what makes the book really sing. .. Frankly, it’s a ripping read that will make your heart swell. Roy Cooper is a hero for our times.

Tracey Spicer, OAM

An uplifting, inspiring, fun story, to make our hearts sing … I didn't want this book to end. I wanted it to drag on for the full five days, to go into overtime, to mix my sporting metaphors. In the words of the late, great Richie Benaud, it's simply marvellous stuff.

Canberra Times

This is one of the best books I have read in a while. It’s a big call, but it just filled my heart.

Merc's Book Nook

I’m calling it…this is THE book of summer. Set in the Aussie summer of 1984, cricket is a big player in the story but there’s so much more. The story is uplifting, poignant and beautifully Aussie!

GOOD READS

It’s summer, and who doesn’t love a story about small country towns, cricket and the triumph of an underdog.

Gourmet Traveller

This warm bear-hug of a book had me grinning from the first page.

Maya Linnell

‘Justin’s magical way with words had me enthralled from the first paragraph.’

iforstyle

Smith's irreverent, uplifting sports comedy is a nostalgic celebration of cricket that gives a cheerful up yours to the misogyny and homophobia of the era.

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald

I’ve read many a cricket book in my lifetime …but I haven’t read a cricket book as downright fun as Cooper Not Out. Here, Justin Smith transports us back to the heady days of summer 84/85 and the Windies tour of Australia…This book is exactly what it says it is: a feelgood, charming story about an unlikely hero, full of scones an delightful characters.

Readings

I am gobsmacked. I love cricket. I love stories. I love books so I have just won the trifecta! Think The Castle, think Phar Lap, think Rocky all rolled into one. I laughed, I cried, I couldn’t put it down. This beautifully written tale has everything – it’s funny, heartwarming, nostalgic and most importantly manages to brilliantly create an atmosphere of anticipation that keeps you coming back for more. I’d give it 6 stars if I could!

Better Reading