Heroes and Villains by Tim Bickerstaff

New Zealand sport’s triumphs, scandals and unforgettable characters

Good Condition – visible dust-jacket wear with edge and corner scuffing.

Drawing on decades at the centre of New Zealand sports broadcasting, Tim Bickerstaff revisits the personalities, controversies and mysteries that shaped the nation’s sporting memory. With characteristic candour and irreverence, he looks beyond the headlines to the highs and lows surrounding famous athletes, administrators and campaigns, from All Black legends Buck Shelford, Don Clarke and Keith Murdoch to cricketer Richard Hadlee, yachtsman Chris Dickson and the figures behind the 1982 All Whites World Cup campaign. Along the way, Bickerstaff examines professional rugby’s early stirrings, celebrated victories, public feuds and decisions that divided fans. Part memoir, part sporting history and part opinionated retrospective, Heroes and Villains offers a lively, nostalgic account of what happened—and who deserves to be remembered as a hero or a villain.