Foreword
Justin Langer
Former legendary Australian Test Opening batsman and then national coach, Justin Langer, writes an achingly beautiful foreword, concluding simply with, “Lest we forget.”
A photo essay by Dr Janie Collins
The Iraq Cricket Test
In a world of pain and barbarity, cricket fixes (almost) everything.
The match
“The Iraq Cricket Test” is a photographic essay of an “Ashes” cricket match fought between British Royal Marines and Australian Army soldiers, and played in 1991 Kurdistan at the conclusion of the coalition operation (Gulf War 1).
The photographs
The photographer
Dr Janie Collins
As the first female medical officer appointed to a combat-related unit in the history of Army, author, Dr Janie Collins, was deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Habitat, a point-and-shoot camera secreted in her military pack. Over the deployment’s duration, she shot off several rolls of slide film (the images now digitally preserved, and some archived in the Australian War Memorial), including photographs of the cricket “Test” in Batufa in the Kurdish north. A confessed cricket tragic, Janie can say it’s the only cricket match she’s been to where everyone arrived in a helicopter.
Meet Dr Janie Collins
Contributors
A crew of notable contributors
To support the photographic piece, Janie has assembled a crew of notable contributors, who’ve willingly and generously contributed to this endeavour.
The View from Canberra
Bill O’Chee
Former Australian Senator Bill O’Chee, at the time our nation’s youngest ever, was sitting in parliament at the time of the Australian deployment to Iraq, and pens an emblematic piece, “The View from Canberra” describing the 1991 geopolitical backdrop and his own perspective on committing Australian troops, including his school friend Janie Collins, to a warzone.
Essay
Gideon Haigh
Janie’s lifelong friend, Gideon Haigh, regarded widely as the world’s best cricket writer, contributes a stunning essay on the historical interface between cricket and soldiering from the Boer War to the present day.
Match Report
Dr Mark Little
Janie’s Army medical colleague from Iraq, then Major Mark Little, who was the Australian team captain for the Iraq Test, gifts us the joyous (and very funny) match report. A must read.
Introduction and image notes
Dr Janie Collins
Janie’s introduction describes her lifelong passions for cricket, the military and medicine, and how the photographs and then The Iraq Cricket Test book came to be, all with the help of her friends – and Australian Test player and coach.
Proceeds
Janie is indebted to all the generous contributors for their unqualified bonhomie and support for the Iraq Cricket Test Book, with proceeds from its sale to be directed through her charitable venture, Australian Maiden, Over Trust to veterans and cricketing charities.
Necessarily collaborative as armies and cricket teams must be, The Iraq Cricket Test book is a natural bringing together of good people to achieve a positive outcome. The book is the first and emblematic creative project of the Australian Maiden, Over Trust, an initiative of Dr Janie Collins, to support service veterans beyond their uniformed contributions. The proceeds of this endeavour and others to follow, will flow to organisations that support veterans’ and cricketing charities. We thank you in advance for your contribution now and welcome your interest and participation in our future plans to bring hope and joy beyond the barbed wire and sandbags. Freedom is not free, and as every service person knows, we must leave no soldier behind.
The Australian Maiden, Over Trust
The launch
Register interest
The hope of the Australian Maiden, Over Trust and Dr Janie Collins is that this historical cricket and military book will launch in Melbourne during the one-off, sesquicentennial Ashes Test to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in March 2027. More details on the publication of book and the proposed launch will be detailed on this site in the near future.
The Iraq Cricket Test
Book launch
- Where
- Melbourne Cricket Ground
- When
- 11-15 March 2027
- Occasion
- Sesquicentennial Ashes Test
Details are still being confirmed and will be shared here and by email.