Australasia

Regions of Oceania. New Zealand is considered both Australasia and Polynesia. Varying amounts of Melanesia, traditionally all of it, are also counted as Australasia.

Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes (1756). He derived it from the Latin for "south of Asia" and differentiated the area from Polynesia (to the east) and the southeast Pacific (Magellanica). It is also distinct from Micronesia (to the northeast). Australasia sits on the Indo-Australian Plate, together with India.

Human geography[link]

Geopolitically, Australasia is sometimes used as a term for Australia and New Zealand together in the absence of another word limited to those two countries. Sometimes the island of New Guinea (Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian part of the island) is encompassed by the term. There are many organisations whose names are prefixed with "(Royal) Australasian Society" that are limited to just Australia and New Zealand.

The 1908–12 Australasian Olympic Flag

In the past, Australasia has been used as a name for combined Australia/New Zealand sporting teams. Examples include tennis between 1905 and 1915, when New Zealand and Australia combined to compete in the Davis Cup international tournament, and at the Olympic Games of 1908 and 1912.

Ecological geography[link]

Wallace's line separates Australasian and Southeast Asian fauna.

Aoraki / Mount Cook in the Southern Alps of New Zealand

From an ecological perspective the Australasia ecozone is a distinct region with a common geologic and evolutionary history and a great many unique flora and fauna. In this context, Australasia is limited to Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and neighbouring islands, including the Indonesian islands from Lombok and Sulawesi eastward. The biological dividing line from the Indomalaya ecozone of tropical Asia is the Wallace Line – Borneo and Bali lie on the western, Asian side.

Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia are all fragments of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana, the marks of which are still visible in the Christmas Island Seamount Province and other geophysical entities. These three land masses have been separated from other continents, and from one another, for millions of years. All of Australasia shares the Antarctic flora, although the northern, tropical islands also share many plants with Southeast Asia.

Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania are separated from one another by shallow continental shelves, and were linked together when the sea level was lower during the Ice Ages. They share a similar fauna which includes marsupial and monotreme mammals and ratite birds. Eucalypts are the predominant trees in much of Australia and New Guinea. New Zealand has no native land mammals, but also had ratite birds, including the kiwi and the extinct moa. The Australasia ecozone includes some nearby island groups, like Wallacea, the Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, which were not formerly part of Gondwana, but which share many characteristic plants and animals with Australasia.

See also[link]

• Sundaland

References[link]

• Richards, Kel (2006). "Australasia". Wordwatch. ABC News Radio. http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s1587644.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-30. 
• Australasia Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition

External links[link]

Media related to Australasia at Wikimedia Commons

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Wasim Akram
وسیم اکرم

Personal information
Full name	Wasim Akram Chaudhry
Born	(1966-06-03) 3 June 1966 (age 46) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Nickname	Sultan of Swing, The Two W's (with Waqar Younis), King Of Swing
Batting style	Left hand bat
Bowling style	Left arm fast
Role	(All-rounder) bowler and batsman
International information
National side	Pakistan
Test debut (cap 102)	25 January 1984 v New Zealand
Last Test	9 January 2002 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 53)	23 November 1984 v New Zealand
Last ODI	4 March 2003 v Zimbabwe
ODI shirt no.	3
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2003	Hampshire
2000–2001	Lahore
1997–1998	Lahore
1992–2002	Pakistan International Airlines
1988–1998	Lancashire
1986–1987	Lahore
1985–1986	Lahore
1984–1986	Pakistan Automobiles Corporation
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	104	356	257	594
Runs scored	2898	3717	7161	6993
Batting average	22.64	16.52	22.73	18.90
100s/50s	3/7	0/6	7/24	0/17
Top score	257*	86	257*	89*
Balls bowled	22627	18186	50278	29719
Wickets	414	502	1042	881
Bowling average	23.62	23.52	21.64	21.91
5 wickets in innings	25	6	70	12
10 wickets in match	5	0	16	0
Best bowling	7/119	5/15	8/30	5/10
Catches/stumpings	44/0	88/0	97/0	147/0
Source: ESPNCricinfo, 4 April 2012

Wasim Akram (Punjabi: وسیم اکرم; born 3 June 1966) is a former Pakistani cricketer. He is a left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International (ODI) matches.

Akram is regarded as one of the best fast bowlers in the history of cricket. He holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket with 881 and is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets with 502. He is considered to be one of the founders and perhaps the finest exponent of reverse swing bowling.^[1][2][3]

He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002 Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glen McGrath and Muralitharan.^[4] Wasim has taken 23 4-wicket hauls in ODI in 356 matches he played.^[1] On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.^[5][6] He is the current bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders.^[7]

Early and personal life[link]

Akram was born in Lahore, Pakistan on 3 June 1966, to a moderately affluent middle-class arain family.^[8] He was educated at Islamia College in Lahore, where he played as an opening bowler and batsman.^[8] Like several other Pakistani cricketers during the 1980s, his inclusion into the national side was at the behest of a senior player in the team, which in Akram's case, was Javed Miandad.^[9]

At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. "I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it."^[10] Since then he has actively sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes.^[11]

He married Huma in 1995. They had two sons Taimur and Akbar^[12] from their marriage of fifteen years. Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India on 25 October 2009.^[13]

International career[link]

First-class cricket[link]

In 1988 he signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England and went on to become their most successful overseas players. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their ECB Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup and National League tournaments. He was a favorite of the local British fans who used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain Lancashire won the ECB Trophy and Axa League and finished second in the championship tournament despite losing only five matches in all competitions throughout the season. Apart from the National League second division title in 2003, this was the last time Lancashire won a trophy.^[14]

Test cricket[link]

Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985^[15] and in only his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets.^[16] A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team.^[9] Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience. In the 1987 Cricket World Cup, when Pakistan played against the West Indies, Akram bowled to Viv Richards in the late overs of the innings but Richards, who is regarded as the best batsman during that period, struggled against Akram's bowling performances.

Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. When Pakistan toured the West Indies in 1988, he looked to be the fastest bowler between the two sides. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling.^[17]

One Day International[link]

Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the Captaincy of Zaheer Abaass.^[18] He rose to prominence taking 5 wickets in his just 3rd ODI against a strong Australian side in 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship who would be future winners of 1987 World Cup. His wickets included that of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones and Captain Allan Border.^[19]

Rise to prominence (1983- Dec 1991)[link]

In 1984-85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and 1985-86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup he took 5 wickets with a run rate of under 3.50. time. He started improving his bowling with the passage of time taking help from senior Pakistani member Imran Khan.

The 1985-1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka playing in UAE Sharjah. Wasim Akram with the help of Abdul Qadir bowled out New Zealand's batting line up for just 64 in the Second Semi final of Cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the Final against India he and Imran (captain at that time) shared five wickets between them. His wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. Akram was becoming the darling of swing in Sharjah. His bowling was difficult to read, causing batsmen problems especially during the latter half of innings.

In 1987 Reliance World Cup held for the 1st time in the sub-continent, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches where he managed only 7 wickets with an average of over 40 in 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan.

In 1988-89 Benson and Hedges World Series he managed figures of 4-25 against powerful Australia.^[20] He got his hundredth wicket at Sharjah in 1989-1990 Champions Trophy - 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was of Ambrose. In that match he took a five-wickets haul for the second time in his career.^[21] In the same match he took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All 3 batsman were bowled.^[21][22][23] Again on 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All 3 batsmen were bowled this time also.^[22][24]

His best years in late 1980s were from 1986-1989 when which he took 100 wickets at 22.71 apiece and economy rate of less than 3.9 run/over with 4 4-wicket hauls. His first two 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in bowler friendly conditions of Sri Lanka in 1986.^[25]

Till Dec 1991 Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches with an average of almost 24 and economy rate of 3.84. He took 5 4-wicket hauls.^[17]

Career peak (Jan 1992- Dec 1997)[link]

Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia, when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final against England, his batting performance during his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls, pushed Pakistan to a respectable score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the important wicket of Ian Botham early on the English batting innings and when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final.^[26][27] In 1993 Akram took 2 consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either lbw or bowled.^[28] In 1992-1993 Total International Series in South Africa (Involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa) his magic was destructive where he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in 143rd match.^[29][30][31] Akram took 46 wickets in calender year 1993 certainly his best year ever in ODI.Another astonishment was average which was less than 19 with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs / over. He took 6 4-wicket hauls in 1993 most by him in any year.^[31] In 1996 World Cup he struggled as he missed crucial quarter final match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. From 1994 till 1996 he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.^[31]

From Jan 1992 - Dec 1997 Akram played 131 matches took 198 wickets at mere 21.86 apiece with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs.Run rate was also fantastic with less than 3.8 per over.^[17]

A tough period with some joys (Jan 1998 till 2003 world cup)[link]

In 1999, he led Pakistan to the brink of victory in the World Cup before they capitulated and was defeated by Australia in the final, by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare.^[32] This was the start of the match fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved.^[33][34]

He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup taking 12 wickets in 6 matches.^[35] However, Pakistan failed to reach the "Super Six" phase of the tournament and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result.^[36][37]

Records[link]

He got 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 tests. That is almost one per six matches and better than any other player in the history. He got 4 hat-tricks in International cricket - two in ODIs^[21][24] and two in Tests,^[38][39] which is another record. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In fact, Akram and Shaun Pollock (who also has 22) have the highest number of awards among players whose major suit isn't batting.^[17] In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls.^[17] His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in tests. He hit 12 sixes in that, most by anyone in a test innings.^[40]

Captaincy[link]

Wasim Akram captained Pakistan in 109 ODI matches out of 356 he played. Pakistan won 66 matches of them. His win loss ratio of 1.60 puts him ahead of Imran Khan's1.27 and on par with Waqar Younis's 1.60.^[17] The high points of his captaincy was the 1996–1997 victory in the World Series Cricket in Australia, two Test match wins in India in 1998–1999 and in 1999, when Pakistan reached the 1999 Cricket World Cup final. The low point was the 1996 Cricket World Cup in Pakistan and India, when he had to pull out of the quarter final match against India, citing injury. After Pakistan's defeat, there were angry protests outside his home and riots across the country from angry fans who accused the team of throwing the match and a government inquiry was launched into the failure.

Retirement[link]

On 18 May 2003, at the age of 36, Akram abruptly announced his retirement from international cricket, ending a career which spanned 19 years. He had suggested that he was ready to quit several times towards the end of his career, but Pakistan's sub-par performance in the World Cup proved to be the deciding factor.^[41] Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the Sharjah Cup in April 2003, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series.^[42] Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.^[43]

Post retirement[link]

Media career[link]

Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Coaching career[link]

In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach for the franchise.^[44] While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan.^[45] Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowler Muhammad Amir.

Skills in cricket[link]

During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis.

As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled.^[47][48][49] In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.^[50]

Akram was also skilled with the bat and was regarded as a bowling all-rounder. He was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply for a player of his talent. He did silence his critics and the media in October 1996 when he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable to the Pakistan ODI side, such as his match winning performance in the Nehru Cup, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match; he hit the first delivery he faced for six runs and secured the cup.

Modeling[link]

Akram walked the ramp at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011 which was an event of Style 360.^[51][52]

Award and records[link]

Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003.

• In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64.^[53]
• In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.^[2]
• Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this.^[2][53]
• Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches.^[54] On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, "Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there."^[55]
• Akram took four hat-tricks in international cricket, two each in Tests matches and One Day Internationals. He is the only bowler in cricket to have achieved four hat-tricks. He was the third of only three bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble and Jimmy Matthews. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.^[56][57]
• Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.^[58][59]
• Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket.^[60][61]
• He also has the third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.^[62]
• He has scored the record number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred. His highest score was 86 runs.^[63]

Cricket controversies[link]

In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period.

A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that:^[64]

This commission feels that all is not well here and that Wasim Akram is not above board. He has not co-operated with this Commission. It is only by giving Wasim Akram the benefit of the doubt after Ata-ur-Rehman changed his testimony in suspicious circumstances that he has not been found guilty of match-fixing. He cannot be said to be above suspicion.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Player profile: Wasim Akram from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Wasim Akram from CricketArchive
• Player Profile: Wasim Akram from Yahoo! Cricket

v t e Pakistan squad – 1987 Cricket World Cup Semi-Finalists 1 Imran Khan (c) 2 Abdul Qadir 3 Ijaz Ahmed 4 Javed Miandad 5 Mansoor Akhtar 6 Manzoor Elahi 7 Mudassar Nazar 8 Rameez Raja 9 Saleem Jaffar 10 Saleem Malik 11 Saleem Yousuf (wk) 12 Shoaib Mohammad 13 Tauseef Ahmed 14 Wasim Akram

v t e Pakistan squad – 1992 Cricket World Cup (1st title) 1 Imran Khan (c) 2 Aamer Sohail 3 Aaqib Javed 4 Ijaz Ahmed 5 Inzamam-ul-Haq 6 Iqbal Sikander 7 Javed Miandad 8 Moin Khan (wk) 9 Mushtaq Ahmed 10 Rameez Raja 11 Saleem Malik 12 Wasim Akram 13 Wasim Haider 14 Zahid Fazal

v t e Pakistan squad – 1996 Cricket World Cup 1 Wasim Akram (c) 2 Aamer Sohail (Vice-captain) 3 Aaqib Javed 4 Ata-ur-Rehman 5 Ijaz Ahmed 6 Inzamam-ul-Haq 7 Javed Miandad 8 Mushtaq Ahmed 9 Rameez Raja 10 Rashid Latif (wk) 11 Saeed Anwar 12 Saleem Malik 13 Saqlain Mushtaq 14 Waqar Younis

v t e Pakistan squad – 1999 Cricket World Cup Runners-up 1 Wasim Akram (c) 2 Moin Khan (wk) 3 Saleem Malik 4 Ijaz Ahmed 5 Waqar Younis 6 Saeed Anwar 7 Mushtaq Ahmed 8 Inzamam-ul-Haq 9 Saqlain Mushtaq 10 Shahid Afridi 11 Azhar Mahmood 12 Abdul Razzaq 13 Yousuf Youhana 14 Shoaib Akhtar 15 Wajahatullah Wasti Coach: Mushtaq Mohammad

v t e Pakistan squad – 2003 Cricket World Cup 1 Waqar Younis (c) 2 Abdul Razzaq 3 Azhar Mahmood 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq 5 Mohammad Sami 6 Rashid Latif (wk) 7 Saeed Anwar 8 Saleem Elahi 9 Saqlain Mushtaq 10 Shahid Afridi 11 Shoaib Akhtar 12 Taufeeq Umar 13 Wasim Akram 14 Younis Khan 15 Yousuf Youhana Coach: Richard Pybus

Caitlin Thomas (8 December 1913 - 31 July 1994), née Macnamara, was the wife of poet and writer Dylan Thomas. Their marriage was a stormy affair, fuelled by alcohol and infidelity, though the couple remained together until Dylan's death in 1953. After her husband's death she wrote the book Leftover Life to Kill, an account of her self exile to Italy. She paints a picture of a grieving widow seeking solace in distance, a younger lover and alcohol.

Early history[link]

She was born in Hammersmith, London, to Francis, a would-be poet, and Yvonne Macnamara.^[1] The couple had a son and three daughters; she was the youngest.^[1] The Macnamaras were descended from an old Irish land-owning family, and her grandfather, Henry Vee Macnamara, was the squire of two estates in County Clare.^[2] Francis moved in literary circles, being friendly with a number of artists,^[3] but when Caitlin was about four or five, he began to live apart from his family.^[2] Yvonne left London, and she and the girls settled in Ringwood, near New Forest, where they were close friends to Welsh artist Augustus John and his family.^[2] Macnamara was a precocious child, and was attracting male attention when only twelve years old.^[3] In her early teens she fell in love with Caspar John, son of Augustus John, despite the fact that he was almost eleven years her senior.^[3] During this period she had an affair with Augustus himself, who also painted her.^[3] In 1930, at the age of 16, she returned to London and entered a dancing school, and at 18 was a member of a London chorus line. She lived for a brief time in Paris before moving to County Clare in 1934, when her father returned to the Macnamaras' reduced estates.^[2]

Life with Dylan Thomas[link]

Caitlin Macnamara was introduced to Dylan Thomas in a pub, either the Wheatsheaf or the Fitzroy,^[2] in Fitzrovia, London, in 1936 by Augustus John.^[4] She and Dylan bonded immediately, and that summer he travelled to Laugharne in Wales where Caitlin and John were staying at Castle House where Richard Hughes lived.^[5] Dylan arrived with a friend, Fred Janes, and after the four travelled to Fishguard to view a painting exhibition, Dylan became drunk and jealous and started an argument with John. John punched Dylan and drove back to Laugharne with Macnamara.^[5] By the end of 1936, Caitlin and Dylan Thomas had begun a relationship through correspondence.^[6] By 21 April 1937 the couple were together in London and on 11 July 1937 they were married in Penzance, Cornwall.^[3] They had a peripatetic lifestyle, moving from Chelsea to Wales, then to Oxford, spending time in Ireland and Italy before returning to Oxfordshire.^[2] They eventually settled in a rented cottage in Laugharne in the spring of 1938, before moving into the 'Sea View' a couple of months later.^[3] In 1949 the house which would become the Thomas' family home, the Boat House, came on the market for £3000, and was purchased by Margaret Taylor, wife of historian A. J. P. Taylor, one of Dylan's benefactors.^[3] Caitlin Thomas had three children by Dylan, Llewelyn Edouard (1939–2000), Aeronwy Thomas-Ellis (1943–2009) and Colm Garan Hart (born 1949).

Although Dylan tried to portray himself as a bohemian character, it was Caitlin who was the true rebel. Vera Philips, a childhood friend of Dylan's from Swansea, recalled Dylan had the proper Welsh background, ... He was brought up like me, worrying "What will the neighbours think?" Whereas Caitlin didn't care a bugger what anyone thought.^[7]

Their marriage was a notoriously stormy affair, fuelled by alcohol and infidelity.^[8] Thomas once famously described their relationship as "raw, red bleeding meat".^[9] Despite their fiery marriage, she jealously protected both Dylan and his reputation, and tried to protect him from others and himself.^[2] Although Thomas was known for her belligerent personality, some writers^[10] have shown sympathy for a woman who was at the receiving end of Dylan's sometimes foul-mouthed abuse and pouting silences. Thomas became more and more resentful of her role as a stay-at-home mother, compounded by the run-down nature of their home, the Boat House, which had neither electricity nor running water.^[10]

The relationship between the couple deteriorated further when in 1950, Dylan undertook the first of his tours of America.^[11] The trips were arranged as a lucrative venture to gain capital to fund Dylan's poetry writing while back in Britain, though by the time of his return, the money he had accumulated did little more than repay outstanding debts.^[12] Furthermore, Thomas had become more and more frustrated at being left behind, dealing with the children and the bills, while her husband spent his time carousing in another country.^[12]

In 1953, Dylan travelled to New York without her, undertaking recitals of his poetry to American audiences. On 5 November Dylan collapsed with breathing difficulties and was admitted to hospital. Caitlin travelled to America to be with her husband, though her reaction on arriving at his death bed was aggressive, reportedly shouting "Is the bloody man dead yet?".^[13] In her autobiography, Caitlin: Life with Dylan Thomas, she states that she had no recollection of using the words, but she was, by her own words, "stinkin drunk" by the time she arrived.^[14] Other reports state that when Caitlin found another woman tending to her comatose husband, she flew into a fit of rage, biting an attendant and fighting with bystanders until she was subdued.^[15]

In 1957 Caitlin published a frank account of her later life and reflections on her life with Dylan, titled Leftover Life to Kill, though she refused to collaborate with most of her husband's biographers in later years.^[8] In a memoir published in 1982, she described her relationship with Dylan as "Predominantly a drink story because without the first-aid of drink it could never have got onto its rocking feet."^[15] Although their relationship was tempestuous, writings in a personal journal uncovered over fifty years after Dylan's death showed Thomas' passion and love for her husband.^[16]

Later life[link]

After Dylan's death in 1953, Thomas returned to Laugharne, but she was desperate to leave the village, referring to it as a "permanently festering wound".^[17] Thomas spent less and less time in Wales, and made several journeys to Ireland and Italy. She spent an increasing amount of time in Italy, staying on Procida, until, in 1957, she decided to relocate to the country. She left Britain with her children in September 1957, and moved to Rome with a Welsh actor and writer, Cliff Gordon. Gordon was homosexual, and his main purpose in Rome appears to have been as a drinking partner for Thomas.^[18] Towards the end of 1957, while eating at a restaurant on Via Margutta she met Giuseppe Fazio,^[19] a Sicilian 'director's assistant'.^[2] The couple began a relationship soon after, which lasted until Thomas' death. Although they never married, they had a son together, Francesco, who was born on 29 March 1963 when Thomas was 49.^[20] In 1963, while in Italy, she wrote her second book, Not Quite Posthumous Letters to My Daughter.

By her own account, after the death of Thomas she experienced severe emotional and psychological distress, and was treated in clinics and asylums in London, Rome and Catania.^[21] She began to attend Alcoholics Anonymous^[21] in 1973, aged 60. In 1982 she and Fazio left Rome and moved to Catania, Sicily, eventually moving into a house left by Fazio's mother.^[22]

Caitlin Thomas died in Catania on 31 July 1994 following a long illness, aged 80. She was buried next to Dylan in Laugharne, though the burial request came as a surprise to her family, with her daughter believing that she would have preferred to have been buried in Italy after spending so much of her later life there.^[8]

In popular culture[link]

In 2008, a film portraying Thomas' life with Dylan was released. The Edge of Love, previously known by its working title The Best Time of Our Lives, saw Thomas played by Sienna Miller in a story that reflects the relationship between Thomas and Vera Philips,^[23] Dylan's childhood friend.^[7] A second movie, Caitlin, with Miranda Richardson and Rosamund Pike depicting the title character at different points in her life, was to be produced the same year,^[24] but failed to reach the screen.

The Australian rock band The Paradise Motel named their 1997 debut album after the title of Macnamara's autobiography.^[25]

American folksinger Joe Crookston wrote a song about Thomas's relationship with Dylan, entitled Caitlin at the Window, which was released on his 2011 album Darkling and the BlueBird Jubilee.

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Ferris, Paul (1993). Caitlin, The life of Caitlin Thomas. London: Pimlico. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/0-7216-6290-1|0-7216-6290-1]]. 
• Ferris, Paul (1989). Dylan Thomas, A Biography. New York: Paragon House. ISBN 1-55778-215-6. 
• Thomas, Caitlin; George Tremlett (1986). Caitlin, Life with Dylan Thomas. London: Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0-436-51850-3.