New book honours life of cricketing legend – By Nathan Taylor
Source : parranews
Long-time North Rocks resident Doug Walters was an Australian cricketing legend back in the 1970s. His incredible performances at the crease inspired kids from all over the world, including one growing up Sri Lanka.
Nimal Chandrasena, now a Professor of Botany and published author, grew up listening to Walters’ heroics with the bat on a crackly wireless at his home in Sri Lanka.
Walters was Chandrasena’s boyhood hero, his cricketing idol. He followed every match right up until the Dungog product retired from the game in the early 1980s.
Years later, when Chandrasena migrated to Sydney for work, he set out on a mission to find the man that gave him so much joy as a youngster in Sri Lanka.
In 2009, 16 years after arriving in Australia and in the most bizarre of circumstances, he finally found him.
“I’ve been following the man forever. I was literally looking for him and then I found him,” Chandrasena told Parra News.
“Out of nowhere I was introduced to his son while I was at work. The son and I got talking and within five minutes, he realised that I knew more about his father than he did.
“I surprised him so much that he immediately called Doug, and Doug told me to visit him the following day.”
Feeling an array of emotions, Chandrasena picked up a case of beer and some other gifts, and went over to Walters’ North Rocks home. There, sitting in his man cave, was the person that had inspired him and brought him so much joy for decades.
“From that moment onwards, Doug and I have been very good friends, and I told him that I wanted to write a book about him,” Chandrasena said.
15 years after the pair first shook hands, that book was finally released in October.
Looking For Doug – Doug Walters: An Australian Cricketing Legend tells the story of a Sri Lankan-born cricket freak – Chandrasena – and his journey in following the life and achievements of Australian cricketer Doug Walters.
Through countless meetings over many years, Walters’ inputs have enriched the narrative and its veracity.
With Chandrasena’s extensive research, the book provides an interesting and accurate account of the era, the Test matches that featured Walters, and the main details related to the many series’ in which he played.
With enthusiastic inputs from former Australian skipper Ian Chappell and sprinkled with Chandrasena’s own personal opinions and perspectives on the game, Looking
For Doug is the ultimate Christmas gift for fans of the good old days of cricket. Limited copies of the book are now available to purchase on eBay, Booktopia, Amazon and other online retailers.
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