Jarrod Kimber
Australian writer and filmmaker (born 1980)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jarrod Kimber (born 7 January 1980) is an Australian cricket writer and film-maker. He came to prominence as the founder of the cricketwithballs blog, before working as editor of SPIN Magazine and then as a writer for ESPNcricinfo. He has written five books on cricket and was jointly responsible for the award winning film Death of a Gentleman.
Early life
Kimber was born and raised in Melbourne and attended Epping Secondary College. He studied film at Footscray City College before moving to London in 2008.[citation needed]
Journalism
Kimber first came to prominence as the founder of the cricketwithballs blog,[1] which according to Cricinfo: "invented a style that spawned an army of imitators who could never quite match him."[2] He was the editor of SPIN Magazine in 2011, and went on to work for ESPNCricinfo as global writer.[3] For ESPNcricinfo he created many online video shows, such as The Chuck Fleetwood-Smiths,[4] On the Road, #PoliteEnquiries and Two men out (with Andy Zaltzman). For a time he co-hosted Cricket Week [5] a show on Talksport 2.
He was nominated for Best New Writer in the National Sporting Club Book Awards 2010 for his book Ashes 2009: When Freddie Became Jesus.[6] In relation to his 2011 book Australian Autopsy, The Guardian described him as "one of the most original cricket writers around."[7] He also provided the cover photo for P Diddy's album Last Train to Paris.
Kimber has been also been published in Wisden,[8] Dawn, The Ringer, The Independent,[9] The Cauldron[10] and many other publications worldwide.
In 2020 he started hosting his own general sports show on talkSPORT called “The Dive”. [11]
On May 16, 2018 he announced via his Twitter feed that he was taking a sabbatical from ESPNCricinfo to work as an analyst for the St Lucia Stars.[12] Later he would work for several other cricket teams, including being analyst for the Scotland Men's team. [13]
Film-making
Along with Sam Collins, he co-directed and co-wrote the documentary film Death of a Gentleman (2015) which had theatrical release throughout the cricket world and now appears on Netflix. The film details what the film-makers see as the short-sighted governance of cricket by the leaders of the International Cricket Council, in particular that the sport was being run for the benefit of its richest members: India, England and Australia.[14][15][16] The film won the creators a Sports Journalists award for Best TV documentary.[17]
Commentating
Kimber was a regular guest on online cricket commentary show Test Match Sofa.[18] He was a member of the ABC Radio Grandstand radio commentary team for the Australian 2013–14 tour of South Africa and India's tour of Australia in 2014–15.[19] He has commentated for talkSPORT 2 for the Champions trophy, IPL and various England tours.[20]
Books
- Ashes 2009: When Freddie Became Jesus (2009)
- The Year of the Balls 2008: A Disrespective (2010)
- Australian Autopsy (2011)
- Test Cricket: The Unauthorised Biography (2016)
- The Lillee of Campbellfield (2018)
- Overthrowing Cricket's Empire (2024)
- The Art of Batting (2024)
Podcasts
Kimber started a podcast on Spotify named "Double Century with Jarrod Kimber" in June 2020. Nick McCorriston has co-produced the series.[21]
He presents unheard stories about history of cricket, and the people who have built the game. Over the years, five seasons have been released with a total of 67 episodes.