The Rules of Backyard Cricket is a 2016 crime fiction novel by Australian author Jock Serong.
[1] It was described as a "bestseller" on the Publishers Weekly website in October 2016.
[2] This is the story of two Australian brothers who start off playing cricket against each other in their backyard: Wally Keefe who ends up a professional cricketer; and Darren who ends up shot in the knee, bound and gagged in the boot of a car.
Writing in Australian Book Review reviewer Craig Billingham noted: "Reminiscent of Malcolm Knox's A Private Man (2004), which also featured a professional cricketer, the subject under investigation in The Rules of Backyard Cricket is a recognisable variant of the Australian male: white, laconic, barrel-chested, hands shaped by long exposure to bats and balls and beer bottles.
"[3] In the Sydney Morning Herald Sue Turnbull called the novel "Beautifully written and acutely observed, The Rules of Backyard Cricket is a noir tour de force.