y separately published work icon Stroke of Genius single work   biography  
Issue Details: First known date: 2016... 2016 Stroke of Genius
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Victor Trumper (1877-1915) was our first internationally recognised cricketing genius, acclaimed by the legendary W.G Grace and others, who died at 36 in 1915. He has entered Australian sporting folklore and is still one of the great names in sport, with a stand named after him at the SCG. Trumper is a figure that has long held intrigue for Australia's favourite cricket writer, Gideon Haigh. In Trumper, he takes the phenomenon and specific focus of Trumper and particularly a famous, groundbreaking photograph of him by Englishman George Beldham preparing to drive to ask a much larger set of questions. Haigh argues Trumper changed the way cricket was perceived and played in a way that reflects on Australia's relationship with England, the start of the 20th century (photography, marketing, professionalism) and eternal themes of sport and beauty. In the spirit of Simon Wincester, he explores the relationship between Trumper, the photograph, the game, the country and its people.'

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2016 .
      Extent: 1vp.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date 01 September 2016
      ISBN: 9781926428734

Works about this Work

Gideon Haigh, Stroke of Genius FL , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 3 September 2016;

— Review of Stroke of Genius Gideon Haigh , 2016 single work biography
'Go Scheery" Bernard Whimpress , 2016 single work review essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 387 2016; (p. 62)
'Fifty years ago, Brian Scheer, a tall, sinewy Imperials fast bowler, thrilled a handful of boys by driving bowlers of all descriptions straight over their heads, depositing their deliveries in clumps of thick weeds on a low hill at the northern end of the Murray Bridge High School No. 2 Oval. Imps practised on Thursday evenings, and Scheer was the regular opening bowler in B grade, with just the occasional appearance in the first eleven. He was a useful batsman and made the odd twenty or thirty in matches, but the glory of his strokes, which resembled majestic seven irons by their steepling trajectory, was reserved for practice. I remember he would point his left toe high down the wicket, raise his arms shoulder high, his bat would point vertically skyward and his swing would carry through freely like a golf stroke to its completion. If the Murray Valley Standard had ever sent a photographer to Imps practice sessions or a keen amateur snapper had been on hand, one or the other might have captured something special, a small-town version of Victor Trumper’s ‘Jumping Out to Drive’.' (Introduction)
Gideon Haigh, Stroke of Genius FL , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 3 September 2016;

— Review of Stroke of Genius Gideon Haigh , 2016 single work biography
'Go Scheery" Bernard Whimpress , 2016 single work review essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 387 2016; (p. 62)
'Fifty years ago, Brian Scheer, a tall, sinewy Imperials fast bowler, thrilled a handful of boys by driving bowlers of all descriptions straight over their heads, depositing their deliveries in clumps of thick weeds on a low hill at the northern end of the Murray Bridge High School No. 2 Oval. Imps practised on Thursday evenings, and Scheer was the regular opening bowler in B grade, with just the occasional appearance in the first eleven. He was a useful batsman and made the odd twenty or thirty in matches, but the glory of his strokes, which resembled majestic seven irons by their steepling trajectory, was reserved for practice. I remember he would point his left toe high down the wicket, raise his arms shoulder high, his bat would point vertically skyward and his swing would carry through freely like a golf stroke to its completion. If the Murray Valley Standard had ever sent a photographer to Imps practice sessions or a keen amateur snapper had been on hand, one or the other might have captured something special, a small-town version of Victor Trumper’s ‘Jumping Out to Drive’.' (Introduction)
Last amended 25 Aug 2017 13:31:24
Subjects:
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X