A fascinating insight into cricket at the turn of the century from the greatest cricketer of all time.

Coaches are amongst the most visible figures in sport today but little is known about the history of their profession. This book examines the history of coaching from the early nineteenth to the late twentieth century. It uses a number of sports as case studies that includes: cricket, swimming, rugby union, athletics, football and tennis. The focus is largely English but international examples are used to illuminate the British context. A number of themes are explored. Initially, in the 1800s, the coach was like an artisan who learned his skills on the job and coaching was similar to a craft. Early coaches were professionals but from the late nineteenth century an amateur elite governed British sport, who inhibited and in some sports banned coaching. As the twentieth century progressed, though, different sports at different stages began to embrace coaching as international competition intensified. In addition, the nature of coaching changed as a more scientific and managerial approach was applied. Finally, in football, the export of early British coaches is examined in light of the migration of international athletes and also as a process of ‘knowledge transfer’. This book was published as a special issue of Sport in History.

Using contemporary accounts of W.G.'s greatest innings, many for the first time, Robert Low presents a radically new image of the sportsman who was recognised as the pre-eminent athlete of his day.From his emergence as a teenage prodigy to well past his fiftieth year W.G. dominated the game of cricket, taking 2,876 wickets and scoring 54,896 first-class runs in a career lasting an incredible 43 years, from 1865 to 1908. His beard and massive frame made him instantly recognisable wherever he went and his gamesmanship and wit were legendary.