Maxwell Thomas Bennett Bonnell (born 1962) is an Australian lawyer and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

historian.

Career

Max Bonnell attended Trinity Grammar School in Sydney (winning the

Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition The Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition is an annual competition in impromptu public speaking between representatives of each of the Great Public Schools (GPS) and Combined Associated Schools (CAS) in New South Wales, Australia. It was estab ...

in 1979) before studying Arts and Law at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

. He also studied at the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (202 ...

where he completed a master's degree in European Renaissance drama. He was appointed an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Sydney in 2009. He is a lawyer specialising in international

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or ' arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ...

. He was a partner in the Sydney office of the law firm

King & Wood Mallesons King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is the largest global law firm in Asia. It has 30 offices and more than 3,500 legal professionals in Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. Its predecessor firms include '' SJ Berwin'' of the United Kingdom's ...

for 18 years until he joined

White & Case White & Case LLP is a global law firm based in New York City. Founded in 1901, the firm has 46 offices in 31 countries worldwide and has been ranked among the top ten firms worldwide by revenue. History The firm was launched on May 1, 1901 wh ...

in 2017. In 2019 he joined the Sydney firm Henry William Lawyers. At the 2016 Australian ADR Awards, he was named International ADR Practitioner of the Year. He has acted as an Australian delegate to the

United Nations Commission on International Trade Law The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) (French: ''Commission des Nations Unies pour le droit commercial international (CNUDCI)'') is a subsidiary body of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) responsible for helping to fa ...

. He was counsel for the successful claimant in ''White Industries v India'', the first successful

ISDS Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) or investment court system (ICS) is a system through which countries can be sued by foreign investors for certain state actions affecting foreign direct investment (FDI). This system most often takes the ...

claim made against India. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Fellow of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration. In 2020, he became one of the first arbitrators included in the Arbitrator Pool of the Court of Arbitration for Art. Alongside his legal career Bonnell has been a prolific sports historian since he published ''Currency Lads'' in 2001, concentrating on Australian cricketers in the period between the mid-19th century and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He has received the

Jack Pollard Trophy The Australian Cricket Society is a fraternity of cricket lovers with branches in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. It was established in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1967. Ricky Ponting serves as patron. Activities Guest ...

, awarded for the best Australian book on cricket each year, three times (most recently for ''Black Swan Summer'' in 2023). He has also written a biography of John Walpole Willis, a 19th-century judge in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, as well as numerous articles for law journals. His writing on law, sport and theatre has appeared in several journals, including the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' and ''New Theatre Australia''. He won NSW Cricket Association Media Awards for his writing on New South Wales cricket in both 1991-92 and 1992-93. Bonnell played club cricket for

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The ...

in the

Birmingham and District Premier League The Birmingham & District Premier Cricket League is the oldest club cricket league in the United Kingdom, formed in 1888. It was the first England and Wales Cricket Board, ECB ECB Premier Leagues, Premier League, being designated such in 1998, a ...

, for Warwick University in the Universities Athletic Union competition, and for Western Suburbs and

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

Sydney Grade Cricket NSW Premier Cricket (formerly known as Sydney Grade Cricket) is a cricket competition played in Sydney, Australia. The competition began in 1893 when a number of clubs that had been playing for many years on an ad hoc basis voted to create a form ...

. He served as chairman of the board of the Sydney University Cricket Club. He was awarded a University Gold for cricket by Sydney Uni Sport and Fitness in 2017 and is a Life Member of the Sydney University Cricket Club and the Sydney Cricket Association.

Books

*''Making the Grade: 100 Years of Grade Cricket in Sydney, 1893/94 to 1993/94'' (with Richard Cashman, James Rodgers and Ross Dundas, 1994) *''Currency Lads: The Life and Cricket of T. W. Garrett, R. C. Allen, S. P. Jones & R. J. Pope'' (2001) *''How Many More Are Coming?: The Short Life of Jack Marsh'' (2003) *''Summertime Blues: 150 Years of Sydney University Cricketers'' (with James Rodgers, 2006) *'' Tibby Cotter: Fast Bowler, Larrikin, Anzac'' (with Andrew Sproul, 2012) *''Something Uncommon in the Flight: The Life of J. J. Ferris'' (2013) *''Golden Blues: Sydney University Cricket: 150 Years of the Club and its Players'' (with James Rodgers, 2014) *''Swift Underhand: John Kinloch and the Invention of Australian Cricket'' (2014) *''Lucky: The Life of H. L. "Bert" Collins, Cricketer, Soldier, Gambler'' (2015) *''I Like a Clamour: John Walpole Willis, Colonial Judge, Reconsidered'' (2017) *''Ebley Street Boys'' (2019; on Norman Callaway and

Frank O'Keeffe Francis Joseph Aloysius O'Keeffe (11 May 1896 – 26 March 1924) was an Australian first-class cricketer who played for New South Wales and Victoria. He was born in Waverley, Sydney. O'Keeffe played Sydney Grade Cricket for Waverley as ...

) *''Dainty: The Story of

Bert Ironmonger Herbert Ironmonger (7 April 1882 – 31 May 1971) was an Australian cricketer. He played Test cricket from 1928 to 1933, playing his last Test at the age of 50. He is the second-oldest Test cricketer. Life and career Before World War I Ironmon ...

'' (2019) *''Boyhood Hero: The Sporting Life of J. M. Taylor'' (2019) *''First and Foremost a Cricketer: The Life of Dr

Leslie Poidevin Leslie Oswald Sheridan Poidevin (5 November 1876 – 19 November 1931) was an Australian tennis player and first-class cricketer who played for New South Wales and Lancashire. Biography A right-handed batsman who was strong in defence, Poide ...

'' (2021) *''Black Swan Summer'' (with Andrew Sproul, 2022; on the 1947–48 Sheffield Shield) He has also contributed chapters to the books ''Australia: Sort of a Cricket Country'' (edited by Christian Ryan, 2011) and ''Rock Country'' (edited by Christian Ryan, 2013) and sections of the ''Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket'' (OUP, 1996),

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack Australia {{italic title ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack Australia'' (also known as ''Wisden Australia'') was a cricket annual and reference book, the Australian version of ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', generally known as ''Wisden''. The Australian editio ...

(Hardie Grant Books) and ''Warne in Wisden'' (Bloomsbury, 2023).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnell, Max 1962 births Living people People educated at Trinity Grammar School (New South Wales) Sydney Law School alumni Cricket historians and writers Australian biographers 21st-century Australian lawyers